Callaway Golf Clubs

Buying a birthday gift for the golf fanatic of the family has never been an easy task. The possibilities seem endless, a new piece of golf equipment, the latest golf training aid, a box of golf balls, or perhaps even a golf lesson? Who knew buying a birthday gift for a golfer could be so complicated!

Old Standby - A Box of Golf Balls

The traditional Father’s Day gift for the golfing dad seems to be a box of his favorite golf balls. This would make for a fine golf birthday gift as well. Be sure to find out his favorite brand or type of golf ball and head on down to your local golf shop to pickup a dozen. If he does not use a specific brand, or you want to keep it a surprise, the major sport chain retailers generally have several brands of golf balls on sale. If your golf birthday boy or girl is a new player, try finding some low spin golf balls. Golf balls can cost you anywhere from $10 a dozen on up to $45. Unless your gift recipient plays golf several times a week, stick in the $10-$20 range.

Another Option - Golf Teaching Tools

There seems to be a new golf teaching tool or golf training aid on the market every other week. The Whippy Tempomaster is an amusing golf teaching tool at first sight, but is extremely effective at teaching a golfer about the tempo of a golf swing. You can find this particular golf teaching tool on eBay in the $75 range. The Swing Setter by David Leadbetter is a popular piece of equipment that is actually used by several professional golfers, Michelle Wie included. The Swing Setter will set you back $85 on eBay or $130 in retail stores. Another, less expensive option is a golf impact bag. For about $35 your birthday boy can whack away at a heavy bag, learning the correct position and feel at the moment of impact. Any of these options would make a wonderful birthday gift for your golfer.

Wise Decision - Golf Lessons

Unless the person you are buying this golf birthday gift for is a scratch golfer, a golf lesson is always a wonderful idea. Local golf courses, country clubs and driving ranges will often sell single lessons or packages of lessons both to the individual and as a certificate that you could use as the golf birthday gift. A golf lesson from a respectable local professional should cost you anywhere from $50-$100. The birthday boy or girl may not be as excited initiallybut they will be thanking you down the road!

Simple Idea - Golf Impact Indicators

Golf Impact Indicators are pieces of tape or sometimes calls golf dust that can be applied to the club face at the driving range or practice range. This will let your golf birthday gift recipient know where they are hitting the ball. This can run from about $5 for impact tape to $15 for a can of golf dust. You may have a hard time finding this in a local store, check it out online.

Now that you have a better idea of the options out there for your golf birthday gift, you can be confident that your purchase will make your golfer happy on his or her birthday!

Sean Lensborn is the author of The Deep Rough, a blog detailing his struggles and triumphs in the game of golf. His frequent entries cover anything from golf equipment reviews, golf tips, to golf travel reviews.

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Here’s a really good tip that may help you to get rid of your slice. Best of all, it’s really pretty simple once you get the hang of it, and understand why it’s being used.

Chances are that you have battled with a slice at some point in your golfing days. To be completely direct with you, dealing with a slice really sucks. It hurts your golf game in many more ways than one.

Luckily, it’s fairly easy to fix. I cannot claim that this small tip will completely cure your slice, but there’s a good chance that it will. I hope it does.

First off, please understand that when you come into the impact zone, there are really only 2 factors that can determine the “shape” of ball flight.

1. The angle of the club face at impact.

2. The Path the club is taking at impact.

So, here’s a few things you should concentrate on.

Try to keep your leading shoulder “down” on the ball through impact. This is called staying strong through impact. Many times the leading shoulder (left shoulder if right handed) flies up before impact. Now just for a minute, think about what that does to the club head when it’s in the impact zone.

Get up from the computer and actually go though the motions slowly. Let your leading shoulder fly up as you approach impact and you’ll actually be able feel and see the clubface coming from an outside-in path. That’s the cause of the slice you are battling.

See, golf is all about thinking and analyzing your shots to get better. A huge part of this game is understanding “why” you’re getting a certain result, and the physics behind that result. Thinking through your golf swing will provide huge dividends if you’re willing to invest the time it takes.

So what can you do to correct that flying shoulder? Well, for starters, try to learn to keep your leading shoulder strong. Keep that shoulder “Down” on the ball all the way through impact, even after the ball is gone and flying straight down the fairway.

So, after impact the leading shoulder is still down. The triangle between your shoulders and chest is still present. Most importantly, the body has NOT gotten ahead of the hands. This is a HUGE distinction. As you may notice, the left shoulder is actually higher than the right shoulder. So what do I mean when I say “leading shoulder down”?

You have to envision yourself from the back looking down on the ball. When I say “down”, I mean that the leading shoulder and chest is still facing the ball through impact.

So even though it may seem like the leading shoulder is higher than the trailing shoulder, it’s still facing the ball at impact. NOT TOWARDS THIRD BASE in comparison to the ball. If your leading shoulder was facing towards third base at impact, which would mean that you have let the leading shoulder fly up.

Furthermore, hand action is huge in this game. You must learn to release your hands correctly through the ball. This means that you release the hands while the leading shoulder is still “down”, or facing the ball.

The key is to let your arms release through the ball, while your left shoulder is “Down” on the ball. To do this you will need to rotate your forearms correctly, and use your leading ELBOW (not shoulder) as a hinge. So another way to explain this movement would be that your hands are still moving towards the target, but your leading elbow has almost stopped.

Keep the leading shoulder down and let your arms and hands release through the ball and you will see the ball go farther and higher. This will take a while to get used to, but once it clicks, the results will be outstanding.

David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of “The Simple Golf Swing” which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to http://www.golfswingguru.com

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Golf club swing weight. Have you heard that term before?

A rather effective method of improving the golf swing is by adding extra weight to the club and then going through the motions of swinging.

This sort of exercise has many advantages apart from the fact that it is very golf specific and works on building the exact muscles you use during a golf swing or drive.

The other reason why extra weight on the club dramatically improves any golf swing is because the whole swing movement usually feels very unnatural to the body. You can easily tell this from the body violently resists it, making the golf swing one of the most difficult things to master in the golf game.

The extra weight on the golf club even as you practice the swing, quickly builds up and conditions the muscles involved so that the next time you do a golf swing, it feels much more natural. The result is that you will be able to execute a much better drive.

The best way of achieving extra weight on a club is by using a weighted club. A weighted club has several advantages. The one that probably comes to mind first is its portable nature. It can be carried around everywhere.

You have seen those movies where the executive is practicing their golf swing even while in a serious meeting discussing weighty issues with juniors.

Maybe this is a little too exaggerated but the point is that with such a mobile piece of useful golf equipment, there is no limit to where or when you can practice your swing with it. Either in the comfort of your home or office.

This can only help you see the dramatic results much faster as you go about exercising and conditioning your golf-swing-specific muscles by practicing a golf swing with some extra weight on the club.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness dvds at his golf fitness site - Perform Better Golf.

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