Sports Magazine

So I am here visiting Tampa for work and I was super excited to go out to a real grass driving range since I haven’t been able to go practice on anything but hitting mats since November. I went out to hit golf balls at a pretty awesome driving range at Tampa Downs that’s open until 9 or so at night.  It was nice….except for the fact that the golf swing tips I thought I had ingrained were not working so well in the grass hitting area on this first time out.  A good friend of mine who works in the location I was visiting showed me a video that a golf instructor had made of his typical golf swing.  The video also had a side-by-side comparison to the same swing of a well known golfer.  It was pretty amazing to see how something so simple could show you exactly what to work on at the driving range.

Even the pros need golf swing training now and then to tighten up their game and stay ahead of the pack. That’s the great thing about golf.  It is so challenging that you can never ever be perfect at it even if you get paid millions of dollars to play the game. No matter how good you are, you can always learn a little more about how to swing a golf club properly. It is exciting to try to improve, get better and be really special and yet anyone of any level can play and enjoy the game.

However, if you really want to excel and be the best golfer that you can be, you have to be willing to learn and also be willing to work hard to improve your game. One of the quickest (although not necessarily the cheapest) ways to do this is to visit a professional golf swing training instructor who will work with you and tell you what your weaknesses are. You should always take constructive advice and look at it positively as the straightest line to you to improving your game and really allows you to become a much better golfer.

TIP # 1: If you decide to take a lesson be sure you first reinforce your work on proper swing mechanics such as your grip, the proper takeaway, wrist positioning and the best move to start your follow through, etc.

TIP # 2: If you are confident in these basic setup factors then next you should be sure that you address one of the most value added golf swing tips a live instructor could give you and that is how to put increased backspin on the golf ball. You’ll see the best golfers do it all the time but it is tough to try to find ways to increase backspin yourself without changing your swing. Many golfers master it, so if you are spending the money and time to be with a professional, why not gain a little pizzazz with your game too?  NOTE: you need to be in the fairway or short grass to produce forced additional backspin on the golf ball. Therefore:

TIP # 3: An additional instructor focal point should be ensuring that you, in fact, end up in the fairway! Ensure that your irons have clubfaces that aren’t worn out because you absolutely need this for a backspin shot or it is just not going to work.  Also remember that once you are within 60 yards of the green your attention to detail matters greatly and you need to understand backspin even more because this is the place where your score hangs in the balance and you do NOT want to mess up here.  So make sure that you take care of your clubs by cleaning and inspecting all parts from the handle to the toe of the club.

TIP # 4: When shopping for a professional golf instructor, be sure to do your due diligence or you can kiss your hard earned $$ goodbye.  Any reputable trainer will let you talk to two or three satisfied, no, ecstatic customers.  It also helps if you ask for a 15 or 30 minute “test” lesson because you really do want someone that you are going to feel comfortable with, and this is an excellent way to check your gut reaction to the teaching methods.

TIP # 5: You should always take your own unique situation into account because each person’s game as well as personal makeup is so wildly different.  However, spending quality time with a competent pro, particularly for beginner golf tips is priceless if you can consistently improve your scoring!