Cures for back pain

Fixing faults in your golf swing can diminish back pain, as bad habits develop injuries will occur. So coaching is very important for you, as  you are constantly being  checked that you are getting into the correct fundamentals. Same goes for your equipment, if it doesn't fit you will be making compensations.

CORE STABILITY

Any core stability exercise will benefit your lumbar spine and your pelvic area.  A golf movement is very much stressed on this area. Many elite players are welcoming core exercise like yoga and pilates as part of their training. Please contact me if you need any help or advice on any of these issues. 

Hopeless Hacker to Good Golfer

Many people lack the discipline and the will to be good at something. This is true for golf, with the proper teaching any golfer can improve very quickly. It does take patience though Golfers say to me when will I break 100? 90? 80? 70? "When you are ready", I say. You have to be honest. You can  do it because you deserve it. Golfers have to prioritise their aims and ambitions and visualise how they are going to get there. The training and the practice never ends. You can never say "I can stop now, I've got it!"
 Top players achieve phenomenal success over years and they continue to do every thing they can to be better, striving for perfection.

Carla's Cowboys Society Round Up

                         Carla's Cowboys Golf Society 2012

The annual golfing trip took the guys and gals to Spain again and a great time was had by all. I managed to get myself off to Portugal at the end of January and also enjoyed plenty of golf in the sun. We now have two new members of the society, well one is an old one who we can’t get rid of, that’s Jesse James and Buffalo Bill who has been joining us occasionally for the weekly roll ups.

Our first outing at Frodsham came round in March and you would think it was middle of June. It was a fantastic month for weather after a pretty mild winter. There was a good turn out of 14 and it was nice to see everybody raring to go. I played with Steve, Julie and Mal and Mal really did keep his cool that day. Steve was his usual self, topping the ball and not making it past the ladies tee, then from nowhere he would just bang it down the middle and we’d all look on with amazement! J.C. had a couple of minor mishaps by loosing control of his trolley, I’ve never seen a pair of little legs move so fast downhill, then even faster uphill. I think he travelled about 80 yards before he caught it at the top of the hill saying to us “I’m knackered”. We were totally flabbergasted that he hadn’t collapsed after the chase! Anyway he made it to the finish but get this, he did collapse in the bunker on the 18^th hole after he played his shot out on a slope and fell backwards.  He climbed out, dusted the sand off and his playing partners missed it all! Nobody’s there when you need them! As you can imagine we all had a giggle at J.C telling the story while having a drink outside on the patio. We celebrated our winner with 34 points, Trixie Dixie and he couldn’t believe it!

April was a terrible month this year, worst on record for a century. We had 17 due to play at Aldersey Green, which dwindled down to 12 with some of the worst weather we have played in but the fighting 12 soldiered on in dreadful conditions and were the only golfers on the course. I was one of those who didn’t play as I had an appointment with a guy from London who was showing me a video camera system and launch monitor at the range. Lucky me, I can’t say I was disappointed! The next day Julie handed me the cards, which were all stuck together and damp. The winner, exhausted on the day from not riding the buggy and puffing up the 17^th, was Doc Dave with 33 points.

Pryors Hayes in May and we had a good turn out. I also missed this outing as my brother had the big 60. So we had a great family celebration at Centre Parcs. On the way home we had to play golf and stopped off at Telford Golf & Country Club which was a little gem. I would recommend it if you fancy a weekend away. The scores for Pryors Hayes seemed much improved, obviously the weather had made a difference. There were 3 players on 37 points but Jesse James managed to pip it from Julie and Bob.

June, flaming June, I don’t think so as it was the wettest June for 100 years! Antrobus was playing really long and lush, it was just like autumn. I played with J.C and John O C and you could feel the desire in their shots. I have to say on the front 9 J.C. was on fire, striking beautiful drives and irons but the fatigue set in a little on the back 9, even his banana couldn’t buck him up but he did enough to win with 29 points. We gathered on the patio where the sweat was building for Quosy. I glanced at George, he glanced at me and all he could say was PANTS!

A long awaited summer’s day was with us at Runcorn, yes some of us had our shorts on! I rolled out with bagpipe John and Bronco Brooks. To his amazement John chipped in on the 3^rd with his new chipper, he is still talking about it and he nearly knocked me down with a high five! Bronco Brooks played his usual steady stuff a bit more with his feet on the ground those stirrups can really make some sparks! Yeehaa! Not much galloping off the 18^th though as our third group was holding up the rear, need to make a charge boys! We had our drinks on the patio which made a nice change and congratulated John O’ Connell with 35 points. J.C. said his only highlight of the day was having a pine cone stuck up his ***!!

September was played at Peover. The winner was Julie O’ Belt it, nice to see a cowgal win. She had 33 points.

I was on holiday in Scotland playing a few famous courses, Carnoustie, Loch Lomond and some other great Scottish gems. It was a wonderful week.

The John Biss Memorial Trophy was played at his home club Sutton Hall. After a particularly wet day and floods around the country, John Biss made sure it was going to be dry for us and yes he did it again. I joined the gang for the presentation and the lovely trophy, I was pleased to present to J.C. with 34 points. J.C had played with John Biss regularly, sharing the same buggy and the same stories and the same cigs! They were like a pair of bookends coming from the same part of the world. I know J.C was thrilled to win John’s trophy. It was nice to see Jeff Lewis join us for the day and hope we see him in our Society when he retires.

Margo has donated a bench for John, engraved on it is “see you at the19th”. The bench now has pride of place on the 18^th hole at Sutton Hall. Most of us have used it and what a beautiful bench it is too in a lovely spot. We all still miss John, he was such a great character with such presence. He would be so pleased to know that every body is still battling away with their golf just like he did and enjoying his beloved Wednesdays with his golfing buddies!

31^st October was our last date at Lymm. As usual the leaves were a problem as there are lots and lots of trees! I had a lovely game with Bob and Nick but Nick was not on his best form. We did a fair bit of looking for balls and you could see Nick was really heading for Quosy! I’m not sure what happened to all the scores, I think the cowboys had lost their gallop for the year! Or was it the course, a little tight maybe? Anyway, we did have our usual laughs. Steve was missing his putts by a prostrate according to Bill, sounds pretty painful to me. Cool John O was cheered up as he got longest drive, so he’s booming them now! The winner on the day, streets ahead with 33 points, was Bronco Brooks.

It comes to the time now to mention the player of the Year. I think the winner really deserves it as she has worked so hard on her game and as a result has played the most consistently this year. Yes, it’s Julie. WELL DONE and congratulations from us all! Finally, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a healthy, happy new year and you enjoy your golf in 2013. That’s the joy and fun of this Society and it is a pleasure to know you all.

Best wishes from Carla.

THE GOLF BALL

There is a lot to learn about golf ball technology as there is golf club technology. What suits my swing? Club head speed must be matched to the compression of the ball for maximum velocity and distance. For example, a slower club head speed needs a lower compression ball. The speed of the club head  determines the velocity of the ball off the club face. However it's the dimple pattern that creates the lift to help the ball stay up in the air. Dimples on the ball are required to drag air around the ball to lift it, just like an aircraft wing. But to achieve this lift the ball must be spinning which is caused by the contact with the golf club as it rolls up the club face. The more lofted the golf club the greater the roll and lift.

HOW TO LOWER YOUR SCORES

A strong mental attitude is just as important as good technical skills for playing golf.

• It is impossible to hit good golf shots if you are thinking about your technique. Save the thinking for the practice area. Play golf, think of the target and get from A to B as economically as you can.
• Make your targets big ones, they are easier to hit and give you confidence.
• Never compare yourself to any other player - you are a unique golfer, with your own style, strengths and experiences. Play your own game!
• Always play the course, NOT your opponent.
• Use the clubs that work best for you.
• Utilize the teeing area to suit your shape of shot, e.g if you bend your shots from left to right tee off from the right hand side, making your landing area bigger and vice versa for if you bend your shots right to left.
• Stay in the present by dealing with one shot at a time. Don't get too far ahead of yourself thinking of the next shot.
• Don't count your score until the end and avoid 'all I have to do syndrome'.
• Don't listen to other peoples advice when you are playing.
• Be patient with yourself. No player hits bad shots on purpose. A bad shot will not hurt your golf swing, just your vanity!

Line up your putts

Physchology of putting

Amateur players usually form very unrealistic expectations about what distances they should be holing putts from because of what they see tour players doing on television. We are only watching the leading players on their good days and frequently  the best putts going in the hole. This can make amateur players think and feel that their putts should go in too. This comparison with the best in the world breeds very unrealistic and unhelpful thinking.

Check out these tour statistics from the European Tour, I bet you will be surprised.

Putt length                                                   Average Tour Player

1 ft                                                                   100%

2 ft                                                                     99%

3 ft                                                                     98%

4 ft                                                                     90%

5 ft                                                                     80%

6 ft                                                                     69%

7 ft                                                                     60%

8 ft                                                                     52%

9 ft                                                                     46 %

10 ft                                                                   40%

10 to 15 ft                                                          29%

15 to 20 ft                                                          18%

20 to 25 ft                                                          12%

25 ft +                                                                  5%

MARKETING VS. FITTING

Marketing campaigns of the big companies have an extremely powerful effect on making golfers believe their clubs are the best. It is almost impossible for a golfer who does not know much about equipment performance to not be susceptible to the claims made in all the ads for the big companies' clubs.

One of the more difficult things to explain to a golfer are the limitations of shot distance. We all want to hit the ball longer and from this desire we are being drawn to marketing claims made to promise more distance. Club head  speed is without question, THE MAIN controlling factor for shot distance. Second, are poorly fitted clubs that cannot maximise a golfers club head speed into the most distance possible. If the golfer is actually properly fitted and still thinks he or she should or could hit the ball longer, this becomes very difficult to explain, as you have to be BRUTALLY HONEST to inform them of the science behind the shot distance.

1 mph of club head speed  equals to 2.8 yards of carry distance with the driver, so a golfer with a 95 mph swing speed  is going to carry the ball 28 yards shorter than a golfer with 105 mph club head speed. So if golfers hit the ball further than you  they have a higher swing speed than  you do. IT'S ONLY SCIENCE. So when you see ads reading, "this club will make you hit the ball further " it won't.

In the end golfers want to buy the latest in club technology because of a never ending hope that they magically will find a club that will perform better than our swings will allow. In the long run the best fit golf clubs will NOT hit the ball perfectly every time because mistakes in our swings can always offset the best fir specifications. But the SMARTEST GOLFERS are the ones who realize their limitations and are not drawn to golf clubs, which we might hit well one out of five times when we happen to make that absolute perfect swing.
SMART GOLFERS use clubs that give them the best overall combination of distance + accuracy + consistency over hundreds of shots.

If you need any help regarding your golf clubs or enquiries of a fitting please contact me.

You can have a FREE loft and lie assessment on your existing clubs.