Get Ready for Golf!
How to prepare both your body and mind for the upcoming season

Let’s see, the days are getting slightly longer, there’s a familiar bright light in the sky and on TV last weekend we watched professional golfers in short-sleeved shirts stressing over four footers for pars. Yes, it’s getting very close to the beginning of the golf season of 2007. In order to fully enjoy all those memorable moments you’ll treasure about golf this year, let’s examine some ways to ensure that you need only shake off some rust rather than require a major renovation. 

We all agree that an important aspect of the game of golf is the mental side; the ability to focus on the task at hand, stay in the moment and all those other pearls of wisdom that the several hundred dollars per hour sports psychologists get paid to tell their players. More on the mental side in a moment.  The remaining weeks of winter do offer the average golfer a good opportunity to utilize the inability to hit golf balls outdoors, see the ball flight, etc. by simply practicing the two most important elements of a good golf swing – tempo and fluid motion.

Never has there been a great player, not even a good one, with poor tempo. Many of the champions of the past were noted for their tempo, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, etc. One of Mike Weir’s strongest attributes is the consistent motion of a long and fluid golf swing that generates remarkable distance for a man of his stature.  The best way to establish a smooth tempo is to simply swing a “weighted golf club” a few minutes a day. The heavier golf club eliminates the quick or jerky beginning of the backswing. Also the weighted club requires that the down and through swing be initiated with the body, followed by the arms and hands. This is the sequence of all good players.

Simply swinging one of these heavy weighted golf clubs will also strengthen the shoulder and upper arm muscles and increase your range of motion. The result will be improved flexibility, a longer and more fluid golf swing, all without having to have even one mechanical golf swing thought. Several manufacturers make weighted golf clubs; visit one of my favorite sources, www.momentusgolf.com and examine the many products they offer. They even have a weighted driver that you hit golf balls with to increase your driving distance. This weighted golf club stuff really works.

Now, regarding the mental side of the game, I want to pass along to you the best tip I ever got on this subject, “focus on the effort and not the results”. All too often, the amateur player is so caught up in the results of a golf shot not yet hit that he or she forgets to focus on making a good, smooth takeaway of the golf club, full backswing and an accelerated downswing to a full finish. Even as I write this, that sounds like a lot. So the last few weeks of winter, get that weighted golf club and for a few minutes each day, make silent swings and focus on the effort, not the results.

John W. Boykin is an elite PGA Member Professional and International Golf Instructor.  John brings a wealth of knowledge about the game and industry to Privileged Play members.  

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