We naturally expect the words we read to be the words that are written on the paper or screen we are looking at. We expect the same when we try to read a green when we're playing golf. However, we are much more likely to be deceived by the green than by the written word, however difficult either is to read.

So let's have a look at an example. Quickly read the next sentence and see what you think it says.

Now raed tihs snectene aagin slwoly to see waht it auctlay syas hree in balck and wihte. I ssucept taht it may be vrey dfreneift.

If that one's a bit too easy for you, have a go at this next one. It's one of my favourite quotes from my golfing idol.

"I neevr hit a soht, not eevn in paccirte, whiotut hainvg a sahrp, in-fcous pcirtue of it in my haed. First I see the blal wehre I wnat it to fiinsh, ncie and wihte and siinttg up hgih on the birght geern garss. Tehn the secne qcikluy caeghns and I see the blal ginog tehre - it's ptah, tacejorrty and sahpe, eevn its baehiouvr on ladinng. Tehn tehre is a srot of fdae-out and the nxet snece shwos me maikng the knid of sinwg taht will trun the peioruvs pctruies itno raeilty."
Jcak Naciklus

So what's happening here and what's does all this have to do with golf? Well, firstly it suggests that you don't need to have the spelling absolutely correct for our message to be understood. However, we do have to have the right letters in each word and the first and last letters of each word have to be correct. Secondly, it says that we are unconsciously very good at making a well informed guess about what we are seeing. So why shouldn't the same skill apply to reading a shot or putt on the golf course?

Well, of course it does. When you throw a ball to someone, you look at your target and, without you thinking consciously about any precise measurements, your mind makes the necessary assessment of what you're asking your body to do and simply does it. If on the other hand, you were executing a similar "throw" with a cannon, you'd be wanting to know the exact distance, the wind strength and direction, the temperature and all the other factors you'd need to assess the trajectory, direction and amount of gunpowder you'd need to send the cannon ball to the target. It can be the same when you hit a putt, if you trust your unconscious mind to do all the necessary calculations for you without you consciously analysing things too much.

But what about a full shot, don't you have to calculate the distance precisely before you hit the shot? Well yes you do, especially if the distance can be deceptive, for example with a blind shot. Knowing the distance also helps with choosing the best club to use. However, note that I said the best club. The better golfers can hit the same distance with a wide range of clubs. I remember playing years ago with a group of people who would always look in my bag to see what club I had just hit. I remember totally confusing them one day by hitting every shot I could, from 100 to 220 yards distance, with my 2-Iron. That sure confused them! I also remember that the scores in club competitions where you're only allowed to take 3 clubs and a putter always seem to be just as good, if not better, than when people have the full 14 clubs.

So remember that you have an amazing computing resource in your head that bases it's assessment of what you see, feel and hear not on precise measurements., so trust your unconscious for better golf.

Just in case you found the scrambled quotation difficult to read, here's what Jack had to say about visualisation.

"I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes and I see the ball going there - it's path, trajectory and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality."
Jack Nicklaus

Andrew Fogg, the Golf Hypnotist, is an enthusiastic golfer, hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner. He is a practicing golf psychologist and author of a soon to be published book The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf and a series of golf hypnosis MP3 programmes.

Visit his website for information on how to get the most success, pleasure and enjoyment from the wonderful game of golf. More specifically, it is about how to improve your golf by working on the 90 percent of the game that is played in the 6 inches between your ears.

Sign up for the free Golf Hypnotist ezine at http://www.golf-hypnotist.com/ and get your free 25- minute Your Own Virtual Caddy golf hypnosis MP3 that goes with this article.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/the-power-of-your-unconscious-golf-mind-to-unscramble-your-golf-1602194.html

Let us continue to see Steve Stricker ‘s career, his success in golf world.

In the Mercedes Benz Championship, the opening event of the 2008 season, Stricker lost out in a play-off to Daniel Chopra. This result took Stricker to 3rd in the world rankings. He has spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings since 2007.

In the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, Stricker shot third and fourth round scores of 61 and 62, at the PGA West Palmer and Nicklaus courses, to set the 36-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour at 123, beating a record that Pat Perez had held for only two days. (This record would fall in October when Troy Matteson shot 61-61=122 at the Frys.com Open.) His four round total of 33 under par in the five round event also set the PGA Tour record for lowest score relative to par for 72 holes, exceeding Ernie Els' total of 31 under par in the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua. The third-round 61 is Stricker's best score on Tour. He shot a 77 in the final round and ended up finishing in a tie for third.

Stricker won his fifth tournament on tour at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial at the end of May with a playoff win over Tim Clark and Steve Marino. This was helped by a crucial 60 foot chip-in on the penultimate 71st hole of the championship.

Stricker won again in 2009 at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. Stricker's third win of 2009 came in September at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four playoff events. He began the final round tied with Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair, and birdied the final hole to win the event by one stroke over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank. It was Stricker's second FedEx Cup playoff win, a win that also vaulted him ahead of Tiger Woods to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and vaulted him to second in the Official World Golf Rankings. Stricker has been called "Mr. September" due to his success in the FedEx Cup playoffs, where he has never finished below the top-25 in any of his ten career starts.

happy day!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/steve-stricker-no-3-golfer3-1592180.html

Did you know that trunk rotation of the golf swing puts enormous pressure on your lower back? That’s why the back problems are the most common type of golf-related injuries.

Weekend golfers who have poor swing mechanics, lack of flexibility and core strength are more likely to get lower back pain. Golfers with poor swing mechanics tend to swing harder, causing larger spinal loads and increased muscle activity, resulting in more stress to the lumbar spine. Pro golfers who are physically fit and have good swing techniques are not immune to lower back problems either. Pro golfers tend to develop lower back pain from overuse due to repetitive one-sided movement.

Golfers who have degenerative disc disease or arthritis in the lumbar spine are more susceptible to overloading their spines. The discs lose their shock-absorbing capabilities, and loads are transferred to other structures within the spine that are unable to withstand these forces. A poor golf swing causes more shearing, compression and rotational forces on the low back. Can you believe that your body weight is forced through your spine eight times as you make contact with the ball? So, if poor mechanics are combined with a weak back, you are more likely to cause yourself a significant injury.

Poor posture is the most significant contributor to golfers’ lower back pain. Poor posture is caused often by muscle imbalances or visa versa. Poor posture and any amount of muscle imbalances cause biomechanical fault to your swing thus increasing risk of lower back injury. Golf swing requires that all elements of the posture have to be properly maintained throughout the swing. Golfers with a good posture swing better – and without back pain! Believe it or not, a proper posture has a positive influence on power production to your swing, too!

Many players with lower back pain are looking for an easy fix to treat their back pain. Some players are taking extra amount of painkillers before game while others try to get quick-fix with chiropractors. It’s true that these “treatment” might help reduce pain temporarily, but they rarely solve the underlying problem(s). If you lack flexibility on your shoulders, spine and hips, weak core muscles, poor posture and muscle imbalances, your back pain is not going anyway. Pain will persist until you decide to concentrate more in caring the cause of the pain, not only symptoms.

Pilates is a good exercise program for people with lower back pain, especially for golfers. Several studies have shown that golfers with low back pain have decreased trunk and hip strength, decreased hamstring flexibility, as well as trunk rotation to the right is also limited. Those are the main problem areas that we are focusing in Pilates - and much more. Pilates is all about body alignment, deep back and abdominal muscles strength, joint and spine mobility and stability, as well as soft tissue flexibility. A well-trained Pilates instructor can identify your musculoskeletal imbalances and provide personalized golf-specific Pilates exercises to improve your posture and overall conditioning specific to golf. Correct posture and good muscle balance will help you to get into proper positions which are required in effective golf swing. And the best part – they will lessen your lower back pain or even help you play pain-free!

Tuula Niskanen has college degrees of Physical Therapy and Sports Instructor. She holds advanced certifications in Spinal Stabilization Training, Golf Conditioning, Mat Pilates and Comprehensive Pilates Teaching. She offers her personal Pilates Services in 2 studios in Carlsbad and Encinitas, CA.

More about Tuula's Pilates services at PilatesWise website http://www.pilateswise.com .

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/golfers-back-pain-pilates-relieves-and-prevents-1581600.html

When been asked if Tiger Woods' image was now damaged for good, “ It will take time to repair, but I think it's doable. Time is a great healer," said Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, head of the International Management Group whose players include Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff.
"Beckham is the only one I can liken Woods to. He went through pretty much the same thing and it passed in about nine months.
"Now he's a super-hero again who might single-handedly bring the World Cup to England."
It was in 2004 that allegations about the soccer star's private life became headline news, but although publicist Max Clifford thought at the time that the Beckhams "couldn't have handled it worse from a public-relations point of view", the couple rode out the storm.

 "The circumstances with Tiger might be different, but I think he'll get his life back on track.
"I don't think Tiger will ever be able to be as private as he was, though. He's got to be more accessible from now on and so become a little bit more real."
"But once Tiger clears all this up it will probably be forgotten.
"What it's done to Tiger is very difficult to say. It's just a sad thing to have happened really.
"I think he'll sort out his private life and take it on from there, but as with anyone things aren't the same again after incidents at home.
"I don't think he's an exception to anyone else as far as that's concerned. It's a difficult time and it remains to be seen how it turns out.
"Eventually I know he will come bounding back, but in the meantime it's a miserable, grim time."
There has been speculation about how Woods' endorsement contracts might suffer.
Pepsico have confirmed it is dropping its Gatorade Tiger Focus drink, but insisted the decision was made two days before the golfer's car crash outside his Florida home.
At the time of his unwanted publicity Beckham had deals with Police sunglasses, Vodafone, Pepsi, Adidas, Marks and Spencer, Brylcreem, Castrol oil and Gillette, but a management spokesman said: "City analysts calculated the value of the brand has increased by 4% since this all started."
Gillette even commented: "We were more concerned about what we'd do if he grew a beard."
Rick Horrow, chief executive of Horrow Sports Ventures, whose clients have included the PGA and LPGA Tours, the National Football League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, believes Woods' sponsors have too much invested in his success to walk away from the American sporting icon.
Horrow said: "Nike has 800 million annual reasons to stay with Tiger Woods - that's the annual revenue that Tiger has generated for Nike Golf - and other sponsors are similarly situated.
"So, while this story may get worse before it gets better, don't look for sponsors to pull out any time soon."
The world number one, a father of two, has not been seen in public since the crash and since a long line of women have claimed or been accused of having relationships with him.
He issued a statement saying that injuries suffered in the incident prevented him hosting and playing in the Chevron World Challenge in California last week and the date for his return to action is obviously being keenly awaited.

What will be in Golf when Tiger Woods Retreats

Jamie Jungers: Tiger was Amazing in Bed

Golf is an attitude

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/bechaman-example-for-tiger-to-follow-1572558.html

Are you worrying about how to have successful sand play?here give your some tips.

You must pay attention to the three keys?correct setup, proper technique and consistent point of entry.

The start of the backswing should be straight back or slightly outside the target line. There is an immediate breaking of the hands as you start this motion, producing a more vertical swing which encourages the club to enter the sand about two inches behind the ball (this is the point of entry)

What you are actually trying to do is to take as little sand as possible without contacting the ball. Allow the sand to lift the ball from the bunker. (You can work on getting a consistent point of entry with the Point of Entry Drill described here.)

As you make contact with the sand there should be a cupping of the left wrist. Let me explain "cupping." Assume you are wearing a watch on your left wrist and the face, as usual, is pointing outward. When contacting the sand on the forward swing, you should try to take the back of your left hand and move it towards your watch face, thereby creating wrinkles underneath your left wrist. This action is called "cupping of the wrist" and it is very necessary in producing quality sand shots. Since this motion prevents the club from closing, the ball is lifted in the air with backspin.

These are the three most important things regarding sand play around the greens. You don't have to be perfect to get out of a sand bunker, but you have enough of the basic principles to get started.

happy day!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/for-your-successful-sand-play-1563819.html