Get your slice of Golf!

2004-03-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

How to Save at Least 2 Shots a Round
by Neil Stelling
http://www.digilectual.com/golfsecrets/iprogolf

How many practice shots did you hit last week ? How
many drives ? How many chips ? How many putts ? How
many bunker shots ?

We've all done it ! Many hours on the range. Ball after
ball. Searching for that lower score.

When I started playing golf about 5 years ago, I almost
lived at the driving range. Okay now I'm more experienced
(?) I don't practice so much, but a few years ago I
wondered how I could play 'smart' rather than 'hard'. I'd
just finished playing a round where I had a couple of
disagreements with my match opponent. His ball hit my bag.
My ball went up against a boundary fence. We spent ages
studying a rule book, wondering what to do, and made
decisions which turned out wrong.

After the round, I realized that a complex set of rules
govern Golf. Trying to lower my score by better driving
and putting wasn't easy, so maybe I could find another way
? Okay I have to drive and putt during a round of golf !
But maybe I could lower my score by a couple of shots a
round if I could use the rules properly to my advantage ?
Here's just a few things I learned during my research.

I often asked Partners and Opponents for advice. What club
did you just use ? What's the yardage to the green etc.
Rule 8 covers this and you must be very careful ! It's
okay to ask anyone the distance from a permanent object
e.g. a tree, to the center of the Green (you must specify a
point on the green). But you can only ask your caddie or
partner the distance of a ball to the green.

When you're playing a new course, one of your group plays
there every week. When can you ask for his 'local
knowledge' ? When you can't see what you're aiming at,
then anyone can give you advice on what line to play. Maybe
he stands behind you and points the way to aim for a hidden
dog-leg shot or over the top of a hill. He must move off
the line before you hit your shot. If you can see the flag
stick, then he shouldn't give you a line. I'm often told to
'keep it left' or 'leave it short' but some of this advice
could be against the rules and lead to penalties in a
serious competition.

What happens when you get on the putting green and various
impediments lie between your ball and the hole. You can
repair ball marks, and brush off loose impediments (only
with your hand or a club), but you can't repair spike-marks
or push down any raised tufts of grass.

I hope this short report gives you some idea of the
complexity of the rules, but also shows you how you can
save shots.

So keep practising ~ but get yourself a Rule Book and study
it carefully !

Neil Stelling is Marketing Manager of DigiLectual Inc. and
a keen amateur golfer. For a free mini-series on 'How to
use the Rules to save at least 2 shots every Round' go to
http://www.digilectual.com/golfsecrets/ruleart or send a
BLANK email to mailto:golfsecretsminiseries@digilectual.com

This article courtesy of http://www.iprogolf.com.

Some more Golf Blogs and articles of interest...

How To Build Your Golf Swing
Golf Draw
The Most Important Golf Shot
Golf - how to get started?
Back To Golf
Are You Addicated to Golf?
Get your slice of Golf!
Building a Repeatable Golf Swing
Building a Better Golfer
Strength Your "Core" for Longer Drives
Developing the Right Attitude to Golf

2004-03-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Weather Affects Golf Ball Flight
by Ken Tannar
http://probablegolfinstruction.com

Have you ever noticed that on some days the golf ball
travels farther than on other days. It might be because
you're striking it more solidly, but it might also be due
to the weather. Golf is played in many different types of
weather. The type of weather affects how far the ball
travels and its amount of spin. Knowing how the weather
conditions affect your ball, therefore, is necessary to
making correct club selections.

The trajectory of a golf ball and the distance it
travels depends on its initial trajectory, speed and spin,
as well as what it's moving through (air). The air is not
always the same. It varies in temperature, pressure,
humidity and density. If there were no air whatsoever, the
golf ball would not travel far. Likewise, if a ball is hit
in air with no spin (what often happens when you top the
ball), it will not travel far. Check out the graph below of
a golf ball hit with a driver under 3 different conditions.

Note first of all that the horizontal and vertical scales
are quite different so as to depict clearly the differences
in the conditions.

Max Height/Distance

Trajectory under normal conditions 38 yd - 248 yd

Trajectory if no air 8 yd - 180 yd

Trajectory in air with no spin 6 yd - 120 yd

The spin on the ball creates lift, which increases the
height reached and increases the time of flight so that the
ball travels further. If there were no air, spin wouldn't
matter at all. If the air is changed (pressure,
temperature, density), the height and distance traveled
will change.

Under normal conditions, the air does not change very much,
but the amount can be significant and should be taken into
account, otherwise your ball will fall too short or too
long of its mark. Below is a table of distances for a 5-
iron and Driver under different atmospheric conditions.

5 degrees 100% humidity

20 degrees 50% humidity

35 degrees 80% humidity

Driver 244 yd - 250 yd - 262 yd

5-iron 168 yd - 175 yd- 182 yd

Note that temperature is in degrees Celsius. On the
Fahrenheit scale, the temperatures would be 41, 68 and 95
degrees respectively. The distances also depend on the air
pressure, which not only depends on temperature and
humidity but also on altitude. Hot and humid results in the
ball travelling further.

This article was written by Ken Tannar, author of
www.probablegolfinstruction.com, a site that provides free
golf tips to lower your score by using the latest
scientific research. He has developed an accurate
mathematical model of golf ball flight, which he uses to
provide many useful tips about club selection. If your are
interested in determining more about how the weather will
affect your shots, visit Ken~s site. If you'd like to
purchase more information now, click Weather Effects now.

This article courtesy of http://www.iprogolf.com.

2004-03-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Building a Repeatable Swing

2004-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Great Golfing links:

Golf Draw - The Best Step-By-Step System

Golf Swing - Hit The Ball Longer!

Proper Golf Swing - Save Yourself Time and Money!

Correct Golf Swing - Increase your shot distance!

Golf Club Swing Speed - Approach Each Shot With Confidence!

Golf Swing - Hit Crisp, Powerful, Consistent, Controlled Draws

Golf Tip - Hit The Ball 17 Yards Longer!

Golf Instructions - How You Should Be Gripping The Club For The Best Results!

Golf Exercise - Improve Your Arm Movement

Golf Swing Tip - Here's The Best Way To Consistently Draw The Ball