Tiger Drive Video Analysis.

The start of the golf season is nearly upon us.

On one hand...I can't wait to get out and try out my new irons.

On the other hand, I usually spend the first month trying to
get back to where I left off last season.

I'm sure I'm not alone in this "early season" struggle.

The Pro's on the PGA Tour are trying to find their games
for the season too (so don't feel bad if your golf game isn't
up to scratch right now either).

Of course, there's one golfer who never seems to struggle.

Tiger has started the year by burning things up, expanding
his winning streak... and running away from the rest of the
field.

63 wins and he says he's just getting into his stride!

Have you ever wondered how Tiger does it?

I've heard many theories, read a lot of articles, and
watched him swing over and over. (I'm a golfer after all,
and what golfer wouldn't want to have Tiger's consistency,
power, and accuracy?)

However, I still didn't have the pieces of the puzzle. I
certainly didn't know how to apply what Tiger does to my
swing.

...Until now.

I came across a golf blog where a guy named Tracy Reed had
posted a detailed video analysis of Tiger's swing.

This video is generating a lot of buzz in the golf world
right now, and for good reason.

In the video Tracy analyzes Tiger's swing in a way that
made a switched a light bulb on in my head.

He breaks it down into bite size pieces and ties it all
together in a way that makes it easy to see.

You can find the video here:


http://www.ultimategolfsystem.com/blog/?p=9

I don't know about you, but I've heard a lot of gurus try
and make themselves sound smart by "explaining" what Tiger
does.

These explanations are usually completely useless in terms
being able to apply it to my game.

But this video is different. The more I watched and
listened to Tracy, the more excited I became.

You'll see by the comments from other golfers that this is
an exceptional video.

http://www.performbettergolf.com/GolfSystem1

Here's a hint...

Pay attention to the first part where Tracy points
out how Tiger sets up to address the ball.

This information is CRITICAL for a better game this year.

I encourage you... watch the Tiger video, grab a coffee and
take the information in. the video is posted here:

http://www.ultimategolfsystem.com/blog/?p=9

happy Golfing,

Alistair Thomson
http://www.acegolftips.com

Timing & Tempo.

Timing & Tempo

The reason the vast majority of golfers have so much trouble timing a shot satisfactorily is that, subconsciously or consciously, they try to regulate the speed of the club head directly with their hands, without using the intermediary links of the hips, shoulders, and arms. When they do this they get an early but never very great reaction, in terms of speed, from the club head.

This is the old familiar "hitting too soon" or "hitting from the top." When the intermediary links are used and the chain reaction is allowed to take its course, there is a late reaction by the club head, which then accelerates to great speed at impact. There is a common expression to describe the player who uses the chain reaction: "He waits on the club." It may not be grammatical but it is descriptive.

What this all comes down to is, the expression of good timing is the late hit. The expression of poor timing is the early hit. Here, as we discuss timing, we isolate one key move that leads to good or improved timing. It is this: Let the body—not the hands—start moving the club on the downswing.

Once you can do this you are on the road to vastly better golf. You will have the feeling that you are starting down with arms and club close to the body—close to the axis— where they should be at this time.

So much has been written over the years about the importance of the hands in swinging the club, that many of us are entirely too hand conscious. A standing vote of thanks is due Billy Casper for stating, in a description of his swing as it reached the hitting position: "At this point my body is still swinging the club." Many of us have been sure of that for years, but Casper, to our knowledge, was the first of the top tournament pros with the courage to say it.

The hands will take over soon enough, as an automatic, reflex action. The problem is to keep them out while still keeping them moving. If we keep them out while our body moves the club from the top, our timing will be far better.

Rhythm and Tempo
Rhythm and tempo can be considered together, because in golf they mean very nearly the same thing.

We mentioned earlier that the rhythm in the swing of a good player is noticed because of the measured cadence in the upward and downward movement of the club. In his swing there appears to be—and there is—a definite relationship in time between his backswing and his downswing.

It is measured in two parts, from the time the club leaves the ball until it stops at the top of the backswing, and from the time it starts to move again until it hits the ball.

The club does have to stop at the top, of course, for the instant required to reverse its direction, whether we feel it or realize it or we don't. No object, not even a golf club, can be traveling in opposite directions at once.

These two segments of the swing can be accurately timed by a motion-picture camera, by the simple process of counting the number of pictures the camera takes during each segment. Such a count shows that the backswing of a good player takes almost exactly twice as long as the downswing.

This two-to-one ratio is the rhythm of the swing. The total time or tempo of the swing will vary with different good players, but the ratio or rhythm will not. Nor will it

vary from club to club. The ratio will be the same for the 8 iron as it is for the driver.

The tempo of the swing will not change, either, for the individual player.

Alistair Thomson.
http:www.acegolftips.com

Train like the Pro's with Leaderboard.

IMPROVE YOUR SWING, INCREASE YOUR POWER IN JUST MINUTES

Leaderboard is a revolutionary posture and stability platform with an adjustable resistance regulator that programmes explosive power and accuracy into your golf swing.

Used by Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell, Mike Weir, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, KJ Choi and over 30 other touring pros worldwide, Leaderboard is the Australian golf biomechanics training innovation that automatically improves Power, Balance, Posture and Swing Dynamics ...WHILE YOU SWING

Leaderboard simplifies the complexities of the golf swing and builds the solid foundation using essential techniques researched from Olympic sports, Martial Arts and Pilates.

The sliding resistance platform allows you to train while swinging a club or performing a range of golf specific exercises which "lock" the trunk, or "core," in position and allow the upper body to rotate around this stable base.

This is the foundation of the efficient, powerful action seen in today's PGA Tour pro's golf swing. Leaderboard not only ingrains synchronized movement, but also increases the golfer's power by strengthening the key muscles used during the golf swing.

This product unfortunately is only available for. USA, Canada and Australian residents.

I'll keep you posted when they are allowed to market the Leaderboard in other countries.

You can now train like the pro's with Leaderboard

Alistair Thomson.
http://www.acegolftips.com/

Beginners Golf Tips.

Beginner Tips – The Secret Tip Every Beginner Golfer Should Know

What makes golf so difficult when compared to other sports? There are a few reasons, however “accuracy” is probably the number one factor when comparing the game of golf to other activities. You have much less room for error compared to sports like baseball, for example.

Baseball uses a much bigger ball and you have a comparatively larger bat to swing with. You have several chances of hitting the ball to make a play. And of course you then have the assistance of other players to help you accomplish your goal of either getting to the home plate, or making field plays to cause the other team to reach 3 “outs” so that your team can move up to bat.

With golf, you must hit the ball perfect each and every time you are up for your shot. You have one swing and that's it. The room for error is so minuscule due to the tiny size of the ball and the clubface. And with people watching, the pressure can really cause those nerves to get a bit uneasy. This is why golf is a lot harder than most people think.

Beginner Tip: Take It Slow

For those of you that are new to golf and have not quite grasped what we are trying to explain here about the difficulty levels of the sport, you should take time to follow a few basic tips that every seasoned golfer adhered to when they first started playing.

What is the most important beginner tip? Take the game slow and keep things simple. The obstacles of golf for the beginner player are mostly mental. With the intensity of concentration, focus, and pressure from an audience, one of the best tips that you can appreciate is to simply take it slow.

Learn the game at whatever pace suits you. Many newbie golfers tend to go all out, buy a brand-new set of golf clubs, hit the ball at a driving range for a few days, and then immediately run out and start playing on a prestigious 18-hole golf course.

I understand that you are probably excited and want to jump right in headfirst, but compare the game to swimming. Before you knew how to swim, did you just dive into the deep section of your local swimming pool? Of course not. How could you expect to do the same with golf? Moving too fast will only lead to frustration and eventually you will quit playing.

For more advanced tips check out:
http://www.acegolftips.com

Alistair Thomson

Keeping Golf Stress Free

Game Focus Tip – Keeping Golf Stress Free

The fundamentals of golf are very different than many other sports. Take baseball for example; when you are up at bat to make your swing, your job is to hit the ball as its thrown to you. In other words, the game is built around your reaction towards what someone else is doing. You cannot make your move until the pitcher throws the ball to you.

In golf, however, you are the boss. You are in charge of making every move. The ball just sits there, waiting for you to make your shot. And you are 100% responsible for every play that happens. You cannot blame a bad play on a pitch, another teammate, or any other excuse.

This is what makes golf so difficult, and yet so challenging and fun to play. And on top of that, you have people watching you, all in complete silence. Talk about the need for focus!

A Positive Mindset Goes A Long Way In Golf

Golf requires that you focus and think about every shot you take. Of course in our comparative analysis of the sport of baseball, those players have to think about the mechanics of their game too, but they have little time to really focus and concentrate on what they are doing, as opposed to golf. They are conscious of the pitcher and the person at bat, but everything else is reaction.

Golf requires so much attention to what you are doing that any type of negative thoughts or worries can have a dramatic effect on the quality of your game. Doubt can easily seep into your mind, especially if you are still a beginner. Once this happens, your body tenses up, you may get nervous, jittery, and the next thing you know your ball has landed in the rough. Consider it to be the equivalent of stage fright. Yes, golf can be this difficult.

How can you prevent negative thoughts and feelings from happening while playing on the course? The answer is extremely simple, yet may be difficult to learn.

All you have to do is take action, and do so faster than your mind can start to consider any negative consequences of making a bad swing. That's the thing about golf – you can literally think your way into a slump.

Stick with the basics and focus on simple movements that are repetitive. Keep your body loose and as you are preparing for your shot, shift the weight of your body from foot to foot, back and forth. Wiggle your club a bit and just loosen up, have fun, and stop worrying about anything negative. Just learning how to play a stress-free game may be the hardest lesson you learn in golf.

Alistair Thomson
http://www.acegolftips.com

9-Hole Golf Courses – Perfect For The Busy Golfer

Most golf courses have the full 18 holes. However, in addition to these popular 18-hole courses, there are also locations that only have 9 holes.

A typical 18 hole full-size golf course can take four or more hours to play through, especially if you have a large group playing with you and in front. The 9-hole course, on the other hand, can be finished in less than half that time.

For many players, especially beginner golfers, the 9-hole course offers more fun and a quicker round, giving plenty of enjoyment while in the beginning stages of their game.

For regular folks who have busy lives, careers, and family to think of, the 9-hole golf course offers a more realistic time period to get a decent game in. It's just not practical to spend four or five hours a day playing through a full 18 hole course.

Tip: Even if you prefer playing on an 18-hole golf course, stop by the 9-hole location on the weekends. It is never quite as busy as full courses and you will have more time to concentrate on your game skills and hey most 9 hole courses allow you to go around twice if you fancy playing the full eighteen..

Alistair Thomson
http://www.acegolftips.com
http://acegolftips.bloggger.com

Learn from profesionals on the Golf Tee.

Whenever we go to a golf tournament and see a really good player hit the ball, we receive two vivid impressions. On the Golf Tee the first is how far the ball goes with seemingly so little effort. The second is of a certain measured cadence in the upward and downward movement of the club. Both are accurate impressions.

Now if we happen to be on the practice area golf tee, where we can watch this player hit shot after shot, we will notice two other things. One is that he swings all his clubs at about the same speed; he doesn't seem to hit the 3 wood any harder than he hits the 7 iron. The second thing we notice, when we let our gaze wander to other players practicing, is that while most of them are deliberate, there are differences in their swinging speeds.

Timing is the answer to the first accomplishment—the long hit with little effort. Rhythm produces the measured cadence in the upward and downward movement of the club. And the differences we notice in swinging speed among other players are differences in tempo.

Nearly all good players will give us impressions of timing and rhythm. The more graceful the player, the more vivid the impression will be. Sam Snead, among the moderns, is the perfect example. Among the giants of the past, Bob Jones's swing was once called the "poetry of motion," and the late Macdonald Smith was probably the most effortless swinger who ever played the game. The players of today swing harder at the ball than did their predecessors, with the result that theirs is more of a hitting than a swinging action.

Yet the ball still flies out much farther than it should, for the effort the player seems to be putting into it. This is very marked in the graceful players of smaller stature, such as Gene Littler, 1961 National Open champion, and Dow Finsterwald, former National PGA champion.

Timing
The answer to the effort-distance puzzle being timing, just what is timing? For one thing, it is a word that has been used more loosely, perhaps, than any other in golf literature. We have been blandly told that we should work to improve our timing, that our timing is off, that without good timing we cannot hope to play well. But there, having given the word the once-over-lightly treatment, the oracles have left us. They have never adequately explained timing or told us what we should do to improve ours. Our private guess is that they don't know themselves what it is.

A dictionary will tell you that timing is: "The regulating of the speed of a motion, stroke, or blow, so that it reaches its maximum at the correct moment." In golf, obviously, this would mean regulating the speed of the club head so as to cause it to reach its maximum as it hits the ball.

The key phrase is "regulating of the speed." The better the speed is regulated, the better the timing; the poorer the regulation, the poorer the timing. It is here that at least 95 per cent of all golfers have their worst trouble.
They have it because the regulation of the speed depends not on how the club head is manipulated by the hands but on how and when other parts of the swinging system operate: the hips, the shoulders, the arms, the hands. If these move in the right way and in the right order, they will automatically regulate the speed of the club head so that it reaches its maximum as it hits the ball. It is, in effect, a chain reaction of movement, with the club head getting the final effect.

The reason the vast majority of golfers have such trouble timing a shot satisfactorily is that, subconsciously or consciously, they try to regulate the speed of the club head directly with their hands, without using the intermediary links of the hips, shoulders, and arms. When they do this they get an early but never very great reaction, in terms of speed, from the club head. This is the old familiar "hitting too soon" or "hitting from the top."

When the intermediary links are used and the chain reaction is allowed to take its course, there is a late reaction by the club head, which then accelerates to great speed at impact. There is a common expression to describe the player who uses the chain reaction: "He waits on the club." It may not be grammatical but it is descriptive.

What this all comes down to is, the expression of good timing is the late hit. The expression of poor timing is the early hit. We have already, in previous chapters, explained the moves that produce the late hit and the early hit. Here, as we discuss timing, we isolate one key move that leads to good or improved timing. It is this: Let the body not the hands start moving the club on the downswing.

Once you can do this you are on the road to vastly better golf. You will have the feeling that you are starting down with arms and club close to the body close to the axis where they should be at this time.
So much has been written over the years about the importance of the hands in swinging the club, that many of us are entirely too hand conscious.

A standing vote of thanks is due Bill Casper for stating, in a description of his swing as it reached the hitting position: "At this point my body is still swinging the club." Many of us have been sure of that for years, but Casper, to our knowledge, was the first of the top tournament pros with the courage to say it.

The hands will take over soon enough, as an automatic, reflex action. The problem is to keep them out while still keeping them moving. If we keep them out while our body moves the club from the top, our timing will be far better.

Happy Golfing,

Alistair Thomson.
http://www.acegolftips.com