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Informative Articles

How Can Sports Psychology Help Athletes?
The question you need to ask yourself is this: Am I performing up to my capability? I’m sure you know some fellow athletes who have “great talent” or physical skills, but haven’t played up to their potential. One of the myths athletes buy into is...

How To Properly Check The Club Heads Of Second Swing Used Golf Club
Interested in Second Swing used golf club? No surprise there. Second Swing golf clubs are swiftly gaining popularity these days. And why not, they durable and with good quality. So with the rising demands I wrote this article on how to properly...

Increasing Your Golf Swing Clubhead Speed Isn't Everything
"I want to increase my golf swing clubhead speed!" I hear this one all the time from the members of my golf-trainer.com site and golfers sending me emails. I want to be a 'straight' shooter (pardon the pun) right now. Increasing your golf swing...

Senior Fitness
Staying fit and mobile plays a large role in senior health. It's not always easy to maintain fitness levels as we age. Naturally, our bodies change, but we don't want them becoming immobile! Here are some tips to make your senior years more...

The Wheel of Golf Success
Good sports coaches work on The Wheel of Success. There are four arcs to The Wheel of Success: 1. Hard Work makes people more Confident. 2. Confidence enables them to Win. 3. Winning is Enjoyable. 4. Enjoyment makes Hard Work easier. ...

 
Golf's Evil Secret

Ever go golfing with someone who is generous enough to offer you personalized tips every time you go to make a shot? You know, the type of golfers who tell you during your backswing that you should keep your head down? If that's not irritating enough, these golfers usually play worse than the rest of us but adamantly claim to understand the theory of golf.

Even if our resident Pro is a decent golfer, it is extremely difficult to maintain concentration and enjoy yourself when someone is criticizing your every shot. It's golf's version of the backseat driver.

While I can't speak for the majority, I personally have enough to think about during my 18 holes besides someone telling me how to change my 20 year old habits. I've come to terms with the fact that I will never be a great golfer. I understand and accept that I have neither the time nor the desire to bring my game to the next level. If I did, I'd take lessons and practice non-stop. All I have to gain from my round is pure enjoyment of the game, the beautiful outdoors, and being with the boys.

On the rare occasion I have had the opportunity to play with some scratch golfers who have either had a unique ability to keep their tips to themselves or simply just didn't care enough to comment. These are the times when my playing gets better. Ironically enough, these are also the times that I get the


best golf tips.

The last time I was with a scratch golfer, I was slicing terribly. At about the 5th hole, after I sent my ball deep into the adjacent subdivision, my scratch partner simply said, "slow down your swing." Sure enough, my next drive I kept my swing slow and easy and hit it straight down the fairway. Each hole from there on in got progressively better and this tip has helped me for years to this day.

The conundrum is obvious; do I like being told on the course how to play better golf? No, not really. But in this case, it really helped my game. I settled down after an opening 7 followed by a 10 and managed to squeak out a 103 for 18 holes. The key here, in my opinion, is to limit the golf tips provided by our well meaning partners. When you are told at each shot to try something different, it leads to nothing but disaster. It causes one to think too much. However, throw in the odd tip here and there and major improvements can be made.

So how does one deal with golf's version of the backseat driver? I personally think the best way is to ignore all comments if they keep coming in rapid fashion. Sure, the odd golf tip may help and should be considered. But, a relentless attack on your game leads to nothing but higher scores.

About the author:

Mike Wyman is co-owner of http://www.DateAGolfer.com and http://www.puttingforpar.com.