How to Survive Your First Round With a New Golf Rangefinder

You've done all your homework and found the best golf GPS for your style of play. It finally arrives, so you charge it up and head out to the course confident that it's going to help you knock the pins out of the hole. You get to the first tee, turn it on and it doesn't find your golf course right away. You press buttons hoping for something, anything. You even turn it off and back on again. Distracted, you rush up and hit your first shot of the day... into the trees.

Here are three keys to surviving your first round of golf with your brand new golf GPS:

1. Prepare ahead of time. While the device is charging, look at the instructions. If none came with it, go online to the manufacturer's website and you should find them under the "Support" section. Get familiar with which buttons do what. Turn on the device and see if you can do a demo or preview mode. Make sure you know where to look for the distance to the middle of the green. That's the most important information on any golf GPS. It will really pay off if you know how to navigate from one screen or view to another. Make sure you always know how to get back to the default screen.


2. As soon as you arrive at the golf course, power it up and let the satellites get locked in. Sometimes this can take a little while, especially if the last time it was shut down, it was in a different state. On your first day, make sure you get to the course a little early, so that when you get to the first tee, it's ready to go. You don't want to be fighting your GPS before you even start your day.


3. Don't try to do too much with it during the first round. Stay away from the buttons as much as possible. Most golf GPS rangefinders will auto-advance from hole to hole and you might not even need to touch them during the round. There will be temptation to try all the bells and whistles, but while you're getting used to having it, don't let it distract you from playing your game. Remember, distance to the middle of the green is your friend!

Some golfers like and can handle lots of detailed information during their rounds and others, just want the basics. Know what works best for you and allow your golf GPS to help your game, rather than become a distraction.

Golf Beginner Tips: How and Where to Properly Tee Up a Golf Ball

Being able to place your golf ball on a tee provides a distinct advantage over hitting the ball off the ground. Players new to golf often find it difficult to get the ball airborne. By teeing the ball up and lifting it off the ground, you are able to get the ball airborne much easier. You also are able to greatly reduce the possibility of grass getting between the club face and the ball, promoting more solid contact with the ball, i.e. better ball-striking.

If you're new to golf, here's one of the most simple golf beginner tips you can use: Always use a tee! You should always take advantage of hitting from a tee when you are allowed. To do this, you need to know the "how" and "where" of teeing up a ball.

How to tee up the ball. To tee up a golf ball, start by placing the tee between your index finger and middle finger or between the middle finger and ring finger. Place the ball on the top, or head, of the tee and hold it in place with your palm. Place the pointed end of the tee on the ground and apply pressure with your palm, which will force the tee into the ground. You can use your thumb or fingers to push the tee into the ground, but this is harder to do, especially on ground that is hard and dry, and can hurt your thumb or fingers. Make sure the tee is as straight up and down as possible when it's in the ground, as your ball will need to balance on the head of the tee. Place the ball on the head of the tee and prepare to take your shot.

Where to tee up the ball. Under the rules of golf, the only place on the course where you are allowed to tee up the ball is the tee box. The tee box on each hole is denoted by a set of two markers, one on each side, spread perpendicular to the direction of the fairway and/or green. The tee box is the space between the two markers and extends two club lengths back from there, forming an "imaginary" rectangle. You must tee the ball within this rectangle, never in front of our outside of the markers, in order to play your shot within the rules. It is OK for your feet and body to be outside the imaginary rectangle that defines the tee box as long as the ball is within it when you make contact to put it in play.

So if you're new to golf, make use of these golf beginner tips, even when hitting an iron, fairway wood or hybrid, to get the ball airborne easier and for more consistent ball-striking off the tee. Better ball-striking means better golf shots and lower scores.

7 Types of Products to Have for an Enhanced Golf Play Experience

Playing golf requires a high level of accuracy, power, motivation and focus. But these things could be in jeopardy once an irritation starts to take away your mood to play. Like, you want to save money by reducing your lost ball count, but you can't avoid driving your balls to unlikely landings. Good thing there are product items you can have for an enhanced golf play experience.

Utility Belt

We want the things we need within easy reach. Golf Bag Utility Belts are durable and feature multi-compartment allowing you to keep every essential you need while playing golf at your fingertips. Typically, utility belts have a partition for beverage can, a pocket for your cell phone, a mesh compartment to keep your golf balls alongside pouches for pencils, markers, tees and other tools. It can also hold your towel, keys and gloves with its clip feature. With this, you can easily pull a bottle for a drink from your side while walking to the location of your ball.

Score Counter

With this gadget, you don't have to worry about remembering every score in your golf play. Like the Forgan of St. Andrews Golf Score Counter, it can help you tally up your score as you play as well as the scores of up to 3 of your opponents. Golf score counter gadgets are very handy. You can clip them onto your golf bag utility belt if you have one, not to mention some of them features timer and clock. With this, you can free your memory and give it all to your golf play.

Finder Glasses

It can be frustrating to have done a bad swing, but there is nothing more unsatisfying when a bad swing leads to a lost ball. Golf Ball Finder Glasses are engineered to save you money from buying new balls due to frequent lost balls. It comes with specialized lenses that seem to highlight your golf ball against trees and rough by helping your visual filter out foliage and grass. It's a perfect gadget for someone avoiding a new set of golf balls.

Army Golf Tool

How would you like a very handy gadget that is equipped with tools you need in your golf play? Army Golf Tools include tee punch, ball marker, divot repair tool and a groove cleaner. With this tool in your golf arsenal, you don't have to scramble through your bag from time to time just to find a certain tool. Tools of this kind also include the usual functionality you can find in a Swiss Army Knife, like scissors, toothpick, blade, nail file and tweezers. So it isn't just a tool for the greens, but also a tool you can use in your home.

Grooming Kit

Looking good and feeling good can possibly add to your confidence while playing golf. For this reason, you may need to fix yourself from time to time while you are in golf sessions. So, you need something that can hold your personal-care tools in one place. Or, perhaps a kit that has everything you need. A Golfer's Grooming Kit typically includes manicure scissors, nail clippers, covered toothbrush, link brush, tweezers and pill case. It is very compact that it can fit in your suitcase, toiletry kit or truck organizer. This is highly useful when visiting other places to play golf.

Rangefinder

In a golf play, we want to be able to use the right club at the right situation. We want a close to accurate measurement of our distance from the pin, so we know which club can help us put the ball where we want it. This is a situation where a gadget like the Bushnell Golf Scope Rangefinder can be very useful. A Rangefinder gadget can provide you estimate of your distance from the flagstick, which you can utilize to determine if a 7-iron or a 5-wood is necessary.

Trunk Organizer

This is another functional item that is a perfect mate for organizing your golf accessories. We want to arrive at a golf course with our things properly arranged, and we also want to be able to keep our things organized every time we leave a golf venue. Golf Trunk Organizers can help us keep our cap, gloves, shirt, shoes, balls and other things in one place so retrieving and restoring them is easy. We don't want to start our golf day irritated by how cluttered our things are.

You probably don't need all these things. Or, perhaps what you need isn't listed here. So, identify what's causing you the irritation or frustration and look up some golf stores for remedy, for sure there is one. If you are serious about playing golf, then start improving your game by addressing those irritations for a superior experience.

Golf Warm-Up Routine Exercises

A proper part of every golfer's routine is the warm-up. Your warm up is essential to preventing injury and playing your best. Lack of a proper warm up is one reason why many golfers take a long time to "get in the game" and will not perform as well for the first few holes. Others have the opposite problem where they start off strong but grow tired and impatient before they have finished a complete round. A good warm up routine will help with this.

A proper golf warm up increases your heart rate, blood pressure and circulation to help supply adequate blood flow throughout the body. It also helps you get mentally prepared for the game that is about to happen. Whether you are practicing, playing a round with the buddies or participating in a tournament, a solid warm up routine will help you do your best.

Now that you know why it is important, here are some exercises that you should consider putting into your golf warm up routine:

Knee Bends- Spend about a minute or so doing knee bends for 12 repetitions. I like to hold a golf club behind my neck parallel to the ground while doing my knee bends to help me keep my back straight and maintain proper form.

Trunk Twists- Using my club behind my head again for this one, I perform trunk twists, moving slowly and without quick, jerky motions to fully stretch out the midsection. Pause at the end of the twist and hold to make sure you get the full benefit of the stretching. Do this for 12 repetitions- about a minute and a half.

Overhead Side Bends- For this one, I raise my hands over my head, still holding the club. Then I bend slowly to the left as far as I can do and then to the right. I do six repetitions which takes about one minute.

Combination Presses- Using the golf club again, I take about 2 minutes for six repetitions of this warm up exercise. Keep your back straight and your head up to get the most benefit.

Toe Raises- Finally, I put the club down and do some basic toe raises, holding for a count of three each time. I do twelve repetitions which takes about a minute and then I am ready to begin my golf game or practice for the day.

Selecting Junior Golf Clubs

Golf is one of the most competitive sports in the world right now thanks to a new batch of golfers who have very impressive junior golf careers. Golf is a sport that a person will have to play when he is still young so that he can start early and develop a swing that will last a lifetime. Every golfer after a certain amount of time playing the game will have gone through all the problems in his or her golf swing already. Experiencing these problems early on will put you at a great advantage because you will have a solution to every mis-hit or swing problem that you will have in the future. This is also one of the main reasons why a lot of parents are letting their kids start to play the game while they are still young.

Junior golfers are the future of the sport and every golfer who plays the game wishes to be the best in the world. This means that starting to play the game at an earlier age will allow a golfer to put more work into the sport which will give a much higher chance of success. It also gives the golfer more time to practice on the things that he needs to work on that are not related to the swing like strategy and dealing with pressure.

To make life easier for junior golfers, there are a lot of junior golf clubs that can be found in golf stores today. Unlike the last decade or two where kids have to use golf clubs that were made for adults but were cut shorter, these junior golf clubs are much better especially in terms of balance and technology. These junior golf clubs makes it easier for junior golfers to swing the right way so that they can develop the right muscles for their swing.

Thanks to the intense competition in golf today, every advantage that you can get is important because it gives you a higher chance of winning. This idea applies even to junior golf and because of this, there are many different junior golf clubs that kids can now choose from. The brands that make golf clubs have recognized the market for junior golfers and they know that junior golfers with parents that play the game are willing to give their kids the advantage that they need to make it easier for them to succeed.

Just like how adult golf clubs have unique features in them, the junior golf clubs are also designed to make it easier for kids to hit the ball farther. Another thing about junior golf clubs is that there are specific golf clubs that are made for different age groups. This is because of the fact that the height of kids vary as they grow older and they need to have the right club that will match their height to swing better. A club that is too long or too short will affect how a junior golfer plays the game and in a sport where every stroke counts, having the club in the right size has never been so important.

Junior Golf - Workouts

I would like to start out this article by saying that I am not a professional golfer, nor am I a certified trainer. I have a son that has played junior golf for several years, and I am just sharing my thoughts on what I have observed over the years.

I believe that if you have a junior golfer that wants to pursue golf as a sport in high school and college, getting them in a quality workout program is an absolute must. So many times, people think that all you have to do is get on the golf course to become a top notch player. While that is certainly true, I think you also need to have your junior golfer spend quality time in the workout room.

Each sport requires a specific type of workout plan. For example, a golfer is not going to lift weights, using the same workout program as a football player. Each sport is unique. Golf requires balance. Golf requires flexability. The golf swing requires a player to have strong "core muscles."

If you look online, I would highly recommend the TPI Program. It is a program specifically designed for golfers. My son participated in the program for several years, and I think he really benefited from it.

If your player is in high school, ask the coach if they have a scheduled off-season work-out program. Take a good look at it. Is it really a quality program? Some high schools offer excellent programs, while others just go through the motions. Some questions to ask: does the high school program take place in the off season, on a regular basis? Is there a specific program set-up for the golfers, or are they just going to the weight room and doing whatever they want to? Is the program consistent? In other words, are the students required to participate on set days of the week, or are they sessions easily cancelled?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then you might look at other options. Check-out your local hospitals. In many cases they have a sports performance program. These programs will cost you some money, but they are usually well worth the money. In some cases, you can reduce costs by putting your player in a small group, rather than paying for a personal session. These type of courses usually run about 8 weeks and have workout sessions for about 1-2 hours, three times a week.

I certainly believe that providing your junior golfer with a structured workout plan will give them a leg up on the competition. I sincerely hope this information helps.