Tuesday 23 September 2008

Add A Computer to Your Golf Glove and Save Shots!

Senso glove golf swing training aid golf swing grip tips


When I first picked this up I thought this might be an expensive gimmick. But boy was I wrong! This has proved to be one of the most useful training aids I have tried and for £49.95 + p&p it’s good value too.

SensoGlove is simply a normal cabretta leather glove with a built-in computer that continuously reads your grip pressure. You can use it with any club and receive audio and visual feedback about the exact grip pressure on the club at address and during your swing.

Working on the “tight muscles are slow muscles” theory, I have been using this in my pre-round warm-ups and I have been hitting the ball further than ever before. By pinpointing areas of tension in my fingers at address and during my swing, I have managed to improve my rhythm and tempo resulting in more consistent ball striking. It’s even proved useful for chipping, pitching and putting.

What I like about this most is that it’s one of only a few golf training aids that you can use on the practice range and during a practice round. Replacement gloves are available for £11.20 + p&p from http://www.sensoglove.com/ .

Trueplane – Putting Training Aid

trueplane putting training aid improved my putting

I am getting used to hearing “nice putt” much more often during my rounds these days due to a few minutes regular practice with one of the simplest game improvement products around.

TruePlane could not be easier to use, simply slide the putter along the guide following the black line for the ideal inside-to-inside stroke. There is also a handy guide rod which attaches to your putter to aid correct putter alignment during the stroke.
It’s light and portable so it can be used indoors or outside and it is definitely something I will be using over the coming winter months, in combination with my 2Thumb grip and Scotty Cameron putter, to improve my putting at home. Trueplane can be ordered via http://www.trueplane.com/ for just £39.99 plus £5.99 P&P.

Monday 22 September 2008

How the Ryder Cup Was Won

Well the Ryder Cup is over for another 2 years and I'm already counting the days to Celtic Manor in 2010. I cannot believe the drama and the excitement - it was even better than the K Club....apart from the result obviously!

Well here's what I've taken out from my weekend in front of the TV watching the best players in the world (bar Tiger Woods) play unbelievable golf. Hopefully, learning some of these lessons will help me get to single figures, lower my scores and my handicap.

Lesson 1 - When Captaining a side that is behind going into the last day singles put your form players out first. Faldo should have led the side with Karlsson, Poulter and McDowell who were all playing brilliant golf and who were all clearly in the right frame of mind to succeed.

Lesson 2 - Don't let your opponent get 'in your head' in matchplay - Anthony Kim clearly got to Sergio Garcia and it affected his game. The game was won well before the 8th when Sergio missed that short birdie putt to get a hole back.

Lesson 3 - Work on your wedge play - the quality of the approach shots was outstanding all week. These players clearly can make the ball dance with a short iron in their hands. This ability to make birdies or to recover from a poor shot to make par is the key to keeping your round on track. I am going to devote a much greater proportion of my practice time to 8 iron to lob wedge from now on.

Lesson 4 - You've got to putt well. Casey didn't make nearly as many putts as McDowell, Karlsson, Poulter and Harrington (who seemed to hole everything from within 20 feet in the last 4 balls match). Work on your putting. And when you think you're getting good, do some more work on it.

Overall, it was an enthralling weekend of sporting achievement - disappointing for the Europeans and momentous for the Americans - but at the same time a glowing tribute to the fascination of matchplay golf; and hopefully millions of youngsters watching this weekend will have been inspired to take up the game as a result of the spectacle they saw this weekend.

Fingers crossed for 2010; if I can just work on lessons 2, 3 and 4 who knows I might even make the team.

Saturday 20 September 2008

Golf Practice - Dr Karl Morris Golf Tips Have Helped Me

I've been trying something really simple for my last couple of rounds and it seems to be working as my scores are slowly falling (I shot 10 over last week, which is my season's best). Following the advice of Dr Karl Morris one of Europe's leading sports psychologists I've been trying this simple 3 tasks approach.

Basically from the first tee to the last green for every shot just focus on the same 3 things only. In my case it has been;

1. Visualise the shot all the way, including its trajectory and reaction on landing.

2. Take 1 practice swing only standing behind the ball (only once I have a clear picture of the shot from point 1).

3. Make and slowly release a full deep breath before each shot and then approach the ball.

It's been working for me. You can see some of Dr.Karl Morris' golf video lessons on http://www.saveamillionshots.com/ or on http://www.golf-brain.com/.

Podcasts - Pocketshots video free golf lesson downloads to iPod, iTunes, mobile phones

Pocketshots - Free Golf Video Lessons from famous European Tour golf coaches