Archive for July, 2010

How To Fix Fat, Thin and Topped Golf Shots

Friday, July 30th, 2010

At the top of most golfers’ “to fix” lists — right after the slice and hook — are the fat golf shot, thin golf shot, and/or topping a golf shot. The good news is, these common problem areas can be easily corrected with minor adjustments.

Cure Fat & Thin Golf Shots

For most golfers, the fat or thin shot occurs when the center of the swing is too far behind the ball at contact. When this happens, your club hits the ground first (resulting in a fat shot) or hits the top of the ball (causing a thin shot).

The primary cause of a fat or thin shot is having the head too far behind the ball, which tends to put too much weight on the right foot. You can fix this by moving your head more to the center and making sure your weight is on the left foot at address.

Some golfers get into the habit of tilting the spine to the right more than necessary. This will throw off your swing path and cause the club to hit the ground before it hits the ball. The easy solution is to square your shoulders when you address the ball.

Also make sure you turn your right hip — not allowing it to slide to the right — as you begin your backswing.

One of the more common causes of thin and fat shots with irons is standing too far away from the ball at address. This will cause you to over-reach your arms at impact to get to the ball.

Pulling the arms in at impact can also cause a fat or thin iron shot. The hips have to move out of the way as you bring your arms through or the left arm tends to bend, causing the “chicken wing effect”.

When you get your hips forward at impact, your arms will have room to extend at the bottom of your swing.

How To Stop Topping Golf Ball

There are two main things that can cause you to top the ball. The first is raising your body up at impact, which also raises the level of the clubhead and results in a topped ball. The main cause of this is tilting too far forward at address.

The second trigger is setting up with your arms too far extended. On the downswing, it can be difficult to make the sudden adjustment to get the arms back in. quickly enough. An unmistakable sign of this problem is the left arm going into the “chicken wing” form as you move through impact.

The effect of both of these mistakes is magnified as you move to the shorter clubs. By the time you get to the 9-iron, the problem may have worsened, resulting in severely fat, thin, or topped balls.

How To Correct Golf Slice in 8 Simple Steps

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

A lot of material has been written on how to cure the dreaded slice. Rather than go through all the tips you’ve already heard dozens of times before, I have put together a simple step-by-step guide to cure your slice once and for all.

Step 1: Visit the driving range and get a bucket of balls. This drill is designed for the driver, but can be applied to any club that hits slices.

Step 2: Spend a few minutes stretching and warming up, focusing on calming your nerves.

Step 3: Set a ball on the tee and take your normal address. Find a target out on the range with an unobstructed view.

Step 4: One very common cause of slicing the ball is lining up to the left of the target. To determine if you are doing this, simply hold a long club (such as your driver) straight across both of your hips as you address the ball. Check to see where the end of the club is pointing. A perfectly hit ball will follow that line.

Once you have your hips aligned properly, look down at your feet. They should not be too open or closed.

Step 5: Re-set your address, making sure your hips and feet are positioned properly. Hit four or five balls, aiming at your target.

If you are still slicing the ball, you know alignment isn’t the problem. Proceed to Step Six.

If your golf balls are no longer slicing, then your alignment was the cause of your slicing. Go play golf!

Step 6: Now that you’ve made sure you have proper alignment, check your grip on the club.

Step up to the ball and look down at your hands. Count how many knuckles you can see on your left hand (if you are right-handed).

If you do not see at least two knuckles on your left hand, rotate your hands until you do. If you see four, you went too far and need to back up. It’s very important to rotate just your hands, NOT the club.

Step 7: Address the ball again, using this new grip. Hit four or five balls, again aiming at your target, paying close attention to the flight path.

If you are no longer slicing the ball, your grip was the problem. If the balls are still slicing, move on to Step Eight.

Step 8: It is possible that your swing is ending up with the dreaded chicken wing. Take several practice swings, keeping your right elbow pressed against your body.

When the right elbow flies too far away from the body, it causes an out-to-in swing path that almost always results in a slice.

Use Your Memory Muscles

Once you fix your slice, hit several more balls using the new information you’ve discovered on your alignment, grip, or swing path.

Your body’s memory muscles already know how to make you slice the ball, now you have to retrain them to use the right process.

By repeating the proper swing over and over again, your memory muscles will begin to register the proper mechanics, making it much easier to replicate a good swing later.

The Sizes of Pool Tables – How to Know Which Billiards Table Size is Right For You

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Many people who come to buy a billiards table for the very first table are surprised to learn that pool tables don’t all come in one standard size. In reality, there are four standard sizes that a player can get for their home game room. Which one you settle on is going to be determined by your budget, your home size, and what style of play you like. To aid in your decision, here are the four major table sizes and pro and cons of each.

7 Foot Billiards Table

The smallest is the 7 foot billiard tables. This is much smaller than what you typically find in pool halls and bars, and you never find this size in pool halls. Since this size typically usually means you aren’t getting a very high quality pool table, there are only three reasons that a person should choose this table. Firstly, if you have an especially small budget and can’t afford a larger table, then this will be your best choice. Secondly, if you simply have too small a room to accommodate a larger table, then this should be your best table. And thirdly, if you are buying for kids who might have more fun on an easier and smaller table, then you should buy a seven foot billiards table.

8 Foot Pool Table

If you step into most home game rooms and bars, chances are you are going to find an 8 foot table. It’s a popular size because they are usually reasonable affordable, can fit in most people’s spare rooms, and is just plain easier to install than the larger nine foot tables. You can even find this size in some sanctioned tournaments. If you want a good billiards table that combines affordability with a high level of play, and eight footer is most likely your best bet. This is also an ideal choice if you want something that is challenging and fun to play on, but not quite as challenging as a nine foot table.

8.5 Foot Billiards Table

This is probably the least common pool table size out of the four. Eight and half foot tables are ideal if you want something a little bigger than what you might typically find in your average home, but can’t quite fit or afford a nine foot table.

9 Foot Pool Table

If you really want to get what the professionals play on, then your first choice is going to have to be a nine foot billiards table. It’s the size used in most sanctioned pool tournaments, and the larger size presents a considerable challenge to any player. Another nice little advantage of nine foot tables is that when you switch to playing on an 8 foot again, like when you visit your local pool hall or viist a friends pool table, it seems a lot easier to play on.

When deciding on a billiards table size, remember that you will have to allow for not just the size of the table in your game room, but also the length of the cues and room to walk around the game room. As a rule of thumb, make sure to accommodate at least nine feet of space around the billiards table in room you have the billiards table in.

Tips on Buying a Tennis Racket

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

If you compare the tennis rackets before from today, you would totally see a big difference. The tennis rackets widely available in the market may be different from what your grandfather used before. Despite of the diversity in these tennis rackets, the objective of the game is still the same. It is just that tennis rackets transcend through time. Before, the tennis rackets were old and heavy. It has the tendency to distort too. There will be a frame that needs to be fastened to the head when it is not brought into play. Unlike from rackets at these times that are light and easy to handle.

These equipments come in a very wide range. There are decent and high priced one but there are also cheap ones. They could be readily available in online stores or at a local sport house near you. Anywhere of these stores will do. The decision all depends on you because after all you are the one who will use it. So before you actually go out and explore for the best deal of this piece of equipment, it would be very ideal if you start off on a cheaper one. You don’t necessarily need to buy the most expensive one because you are still novice on this kind of venture. For now, just see how the game is played. At least if you discovered that you are not gifted on this venture, you can easily disregard this equipment without any regret.

Well all in all, tennis is a good form of exercise. It is a fun and enjoying experience once you learn the basics of it. As a matter of fact, everyone could play with it even the old ones. This is because the game swiftness isn’t always the determining issue. If you are just accurate with your moves and you know how to strategize, you are good to go.