All For The Kids

It is very important to help grow the game of golf by getting kids involved in the sport while they are young. Fortunately I am in a position to do such a thing. I am a manager at a driving range and during the summer months I organize and run junior golf clinics. The golf clinics run for five days and they are two hours long. The most important thing to me is that the kids have fun while they are there. Of course I want them to learn the proper swing mechanics but those swing mechanics won’t get put to use if the kid doesn’t like the game and never plays. The golf swing can actually get very complicated but I do my best to keep it as simple as possible. Therefore I just go over the basics such as grip, posture, stance, alignment, basic swing plane and balance. If the kids get most of these techniques down by the end of the week I am extremely happy. They are kids so their attention span is fairly short so they get bored quickly. So I try and spend a little time on the proper techniques of the golf swing and then find a fun way to make them practice those techniques. The best way I have found to get them to practice and still have fun is a game called Golf Baseball. The kids love this game and are practicing their golf swings without even knowing it.

The game goes like this. To give you a general concept of the game think of tee-ball like when you were little. I make a baseball diamond and lay down bases so the field looks just like any other baseball field. There are out of bounds and a homerun marker. The same rules that baseball has basically are the rules used for Golf Baseball with a few minor changes. This is where it gets a little different from baseball. So imagine you are standing at home plate and you are a batter. But instead of a baseball bat you have a golf club in your hands. Instead of a baseball being thrown over the plate there is a tennis ball sitting on the ground in-front of you. You set up to the tennis ball and hit it using the golf club in your hands and the proper golf swing I have already taught you. Starting to get the picture? The better your swing is the farther you will hit the tennis ball. From there on out the game is just like baseball complete with 1st, 2nd and 3rd basemen along with outfielders. The kids love this game and even I enjoy playing it.

I really enjoy teaching these clinics and helping grow the game. What I really like to see is when the kids come back to the range to practice their swing after the week long clinic is over. I also like seeing the kids come back to the clinics year after year because that means they are having fun. So get your friends together and go play some Golf Baseball, haha.

There is actually organizations that striclty work on growing the game of golf and one really good one is a program called The First Tee.

The Price To Play The Game

The game of golf has a background for being a game for the rich. While this stereotype has lessened over the years the cost to get into the game and play it is still not cheap. As the game becomes more popular as the years go by more companies have decided to produce golf products to try and capitalize off the growing game. We all know that increased competition means a decrease in prices and while this is true in golf the game is still far from cheap. Just think about this, if you and some of your friends want to go play some sport like soccer, football, tennis, etc. all you need to do is get together and play. For the most part it will be free for you and your friends to play the sport of your choice together. However if my friends and I want to go golfing we each have to shell out about $40 to play. That is about the average price to play at a course during the weekday. If we wanted to play on the weekend that would cost us about $15 dollars more, making the cost about $55 per person. This is not cheap and it restricts how much we play. We would love to play more often but money hinders that option.

The cost to play is just the variable cost of playing the game. There are fixed costs and the biggest cost would be for the clubs themselves. In my case I have about $1200 dollars invested in my clubs and I don’t even have really good clubs. I have had them for years now so the value of them have depreciated a great deal but that is how much it cost for me to buy all my clubs when I got them at the time. Don’t let this discourage you from playing however. When you first start playing you don’t just go out and throw down a $1000 to purchase a set of clubs. You buy a little bit at a time spreading out the cost. Maybe pick up a set of irons one month and a driver a couple months later, what ever you need to do to spread the cost out a little over time. On top of that when you first start you don’t need to get the most expensive equipment out there. You can pick up a good beginner set of irons for around $150 - $200 and then pick up a driver for about $50 - $100. In addition clubs last a very long time so once you buy them you don’t need to go out and replace them for many years if you don’t want to. With all that said tell your parents to buy you a club or two for Christmas and be on your way to getting into the wonderful game of golf.
Dick's Sporting Goods is a good place to look for clubs they have a good selection.

Practice Makes Perfect

I know you have heard the term “Practice Makes Perfect” before and in golf this really applies. The reason for this is the golf swing all comes down to muscle memory. The more swings you make with a golf club the more your muscles remember the swing and eventually the swing becomes natural to your body. However in order to get to the point where it feels natural for your muscles to make the golf swing you must put in a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately it is not that easy. You just can’t practice everyday and expect yourself to become a good golfer. The reason for this is that muscle memory works in both directions. If you are technically making a proper golf swing your muscles will remember that way to swing a club. On the other hand if you are not making a fundamentally sound golf swing unfortunately your muscles remember that way to swing a club. This is why golf is so hard. Many people practice, practice, practice but practice the wrong way to swing a club. So over time they have ingrained bad habits and once you have ingrained a bad habit into your swing it is very hard to break them. Remember that saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, well much of this applies to golfers. That is why it is very important to get golf lessons as soon as you start playing the game. It is much easier to build a good golf swing from scratch then to break down an existing swing and rebuild it. Once people get those bad habits ingrained into them it is very hard to retrain your body to make the proper golf swing. This is one reason why Tiger Woods is such a good golfer. He started getting lessons at the age of three. He never had time to produce bad habits, so from day one he was working on building a fundamentally sound swing. There is much to know when creating a golf swing. Stance, swing plane, grip and shifting your weight properly are only the basics of a golf swing. It always helps to educate yourself on what a fundamentally sound golf swing consists of by reading golf magazines or watching the Golf Channel (yes there is actually a channel that has dedicated itself to nothing but golf 24/7). However getting lessons with a PGA certified teacher is the best way to ensure you are working your way up to a good golf swing. Chesapeake Golf Club, Patriots Glenn and Delcastle are all places that have good teachers to give you lessons. Two specific teachers are Alan Haupt at Chesapeake and Spencer Gram at Delcastle are my favorites.

Winter Games

Ahhh golf, there is nothing like spending time outdoors in the warm sun with nothing but green grass and trees surrounding you. It’s a time to relax on the course and spend a pleasant day with your friends drinking a few beers to cool off from the warm sun. Well guess what those days are coming to an end. It’s time for winter golf now and only the dedicated golfers who truly love the game will be out on the course during this time of the year. It’s that time of the year where you spend four hours out is 35 degree weather with the cold wind ripping through your clothes. Only a few troopers will bundle up and venture out into this weather to scratch their itch to play golf. These players will trade in their shorts and short sleeves for layers of long pants and long sleeves. They will trade in their cold beers for a warm cup of hot chocolate or coffee to help them get through the round.

Although it’s not as pleasant to play during these cold winter months there are still some of us who do it. There are some tips to playing in the winter to make your time out on the course more comfortable. Also during these months the courses implement winter rates. These are rates that are much cheaper than normal rates enabling you to play the course at a discounted rate. First tip during the really cold months is to play a course that is out in the open with very little trees on it. While a course of this nature will make you susceptible to the wind there is a huge reason why I suggest playing courses like this. The reason is during the winter months the green on the course freeze! Playing golf on frozen greens is no fun at all. If you hit a ball that lands on the green it will just bounce off like it landed on concrete because the green is frozen. Courses that are surrounded by trees are more likely to have frozen greens because these trees block the sun from getting to the greens and thawing them out. Courses that are out in the open have the warm sun to thaw the greens allowing the ball to stay on the green when you hit it. Second tip is to buy winter gear made for golfers. The reason for this is if you just pile on layers of clothes you will not be able to make a good swing because the clothes will restrict your ability to twist your body. A company named FootJoy makes a variety of pants, jackets and shirts to shield you from the cold temperatures and keep you warm. These clothes are made for golfers so they are design to allow you to twist not restricting your swing one bit. Third tip is to buy a pair of winter golf gloves. These gloves keep your hands warmer than regular golf gloves and believe me you’ll need them after four hours out in the cold. Golfers usually only where one glove but winter gloves come in pairs of two in order to protect both of your hand from the cold. The last tip is to where very thick socks preferably wool and drink lots of hot chocolate. Don’t let the cold keep you off the course, use these tips and you’ll stay warm enough to enjoy your round.

Technology And The Ever Changing Game

The game of golf has changed dramatically over the years. Golf as we know it today originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife during the 15th century. Players would hit a pebble around a natural course of sand dunes, rabbit runs and tracks using a stick or primitive club. Well we are far from those days and technology has become a huge part of the game.

First thing that has changed a great deal is the equipment the players use. Back in the day players used clubs made strictly out of wood. Today you are hard pressed to spot someone where any part of their club is made out of wood. Occasionally you will find an old timer that refuses to switch to metal woods and is still out there hacking the ball around with a club that has a wooden head on it. The funny thing is that the new technology would benefit the old timer the most. With his loss of strength and flexibility over the years he needs the most help of any of us to hit the ball far. So what has changed so much in a simple golf club? Everything has changed! The grips of the club these days last longer, grip better and lower vibrations.

The shafts of the club are incredible and so much goes into them if I explained it in detail you would have no idea what I was talking about. For the most part they are making them out of graphite which makes them stronger and lighter. Shafts today are customized to your swing. They can change the weight to your preference along with what flex the shaft should be to fit your golf swing. The way you determine what shaft you should be using correlates to the speed of your swing. The kick point of shaft is another thing that is fitted to your swing. The kick point is basically where the shaft bends and at what time it bends in your swing. This alters the flight of your ball. One can make the ball go higher or lower just by changing the kick point in the player’s shaft. I know this is slightly confusing but when you really get into golf and are trying to get better selecting the right equipment to fit your swing is important.

I guess we’ll move onto the head of the club now and how it has changed. The heads for golf clubs went from wood to steel and now most are titanium and even though it gets much more complicated then that I will spare you the details.



Even the golf ball has evolved a great deal allowing players to hit the ball farther with more accuracy. The ball on the left is an older ball and look at what goes into one of the newer balls these days.

Even the players themselves have changed a great deal. Players are getting into shape and working out more now then ever before. There are specific workout routines for golfers in order to strengthen the muscles they use while swinging the club. The main point of all this is to know that the game has drastically changed over the years with technology playing a huge role in that.

The result from all these equipment changes is that players are hitting the ball farther and straighter. Therefore golf courses are getting longer and tougher to compensate for these equipment changes. We just touched the surface of technology changes and what there is to know about equipment in this game but I don’t want to overwhelm you too much, just letting you know there is much more to this game then meets the eye.

The Greatest Game Ever Played Part II

Well I’m sure you have been waiting in suspense to here what the fate of poor Francis will be. When we left off Francis had just missed the cut to get into a tournament and loosing a deal with his father resulting in Francis giving up the game he loves. Francis gets a job at a retail store and works there to earn a steady wage the way his father thinks he should. Francis has completely given up the game keeping his word to his father. The U.S. Open was to be played in Francis’s home town, and this is a professional tournament that amateurs can play in as long as they qualify for it by playing in a qualifying round. One day the President of the USGA (United Sates Golf Association) (click to learn more about the USGA) came into where Francis was working. The President of the USGA had heard about Francis and wanted him to play so that a local amateur would be in the tournament. Francis graciously declined the offer saying he didn’t play anymore. Over the next few days his decision not to play laid heavy on him. Francis knew this was a huge opportunity for him and after much internal dilemma decided to play at the dismay of his father. His father even tells him that once this tournament is over he has to find somewhere else to live. Even through all this he knows this is what he wants to do and goes forward with his plans to play. However he hadn’t played in a while and had a lot of work to do to get ready for the qualifier. So he worked day and night with an instructor that was a friend of his to try and get ready. The day of the qualifier arrives and Francis makes the cut this time, and has secured a spot to play in the U.S. Open. Here he would be playing against the best professionals in the world. One professional golfer Francis had grew up idolizing was going to be playing in this tournament also.

The tournament begins and Francis plays well and at the end of the four day tournament he is tied for the lead with two other players, one being the golfer he grew up idolizing. They all play in an eighteen hole playoff the next day. At the end of the day it comes down to Francis and his idol fighting it out for the win. Coming to the last hole Francis in one stroke up. It comes down to one putt for Francis. If he makes this putt he does the unlikely feat of having an amateur win the U.S. Open. Francis steps up to the putt and drains it; he has just won the U.S. Open. As people hoist him into the air someone grabs his hand and it’s his father. His father had come to see him finally understanding why Francis loved the game and supported him. THE END

The Greatest Game Ever Played

Do you remember a couple postings ago I discussed the movie The Greatest Game Ever Player? Well I just got back from seeing it and as I expected I really liked it. I may have a bias opinion because of the simple fact it is a golf movie but I’m telling you it was good. It captured the feeling of the game of golf very well and I feel like playing right now.

I’ll break the movie down a little bit in order to give you a feel of how the movie was. Back in the olden day’s golf was considered a gentlemen’s game and wasn’t meant to be played by the likes of people without money and social prestige. So a young boy (name Francis) who’s family wasn’t high on the social status loved to play the game. He was a caddy at a golf club for a long time and one day an amateur tournament was going to be held there and he was asked to play in it. At first the tournament committee wasn’t going to let him play because they said golf wasn’t to be played by people like him. However Francis found a loophole that enabled him to play. In order to get into the actual tournament he had to qualify first which would cost him $50. He needed to borrow the money from his dad but his dad was against him playing golf because he felt it was a waste of time. So the father made him a deal, he would give him the money but if he didn’t qualify for the tournament then he would have to quit wasting his time playing the game. Francis took the deal and set out to play in the qualifier. He was playing ok but on the last hole it came down to his final putt to see if he would make the cut or not. If he makes the putt he gets into the tournament but if he misses the putt he not only doesn’t get to play in the tournament but has to quit golf. So he steps up to the ball and right before he putts he looks up to see his disapproving father in the crowd. Francis gets nervous and misses the putt.

Francis keeps his word and quits playing golf. He gets a retail job and works to bring home the money as his father thinks a man should do.

WHAT you’re thinking, that can’t be how the movie goes. You’re right tune in next week and see if Francis ever plays golf again or if he lets his talent go to waste.

P.S. They have updated the website for the movie. More trailers and info, I suggest at least going to the site and on the first screen you see there will be a button to click on that says "Putting Green". Click on this button and a new/good trailer will play for you. The Greatest Game Ever Played (Sometimes the trailer just playes for you as soon as you enter the site)