The Champions Routine in Golf - Assignment Example

Dear Paul! Here's the same text I've sent you before, but it is double-spaced now, and it should be double-spaced. I wrote it with a single space because I really wanted to help you make your presentation longer. I'm afraid it's impossible to add any details, because 2 pages means around 700-800 words, which does not give much space for discussions of the slightest details. It is impossible to show everything you know during a 5-minute speech, you can only show that you understand what you are saying. I think that the material you have now will convince your teachers of the fact that you understand the mechanisms of the game you play. Thank you. #1. The Champions' Routine. Golf is a game requiring mastery in a variety of areas for success. There might be different ways to success but it should be understood that those players who show high and stable results have reached heights in the areas of mechanics, physical, nutritional, and mental. Mechanics is the development of the proper biomechanics of the golf swing. Physical entails developing the body around the golf swing. Nutrition incorporates fueling the body for proper success on the golf course. Mental is the development of the correct mind set to excel at the game of golf. Often the golfer tends to focus only upon the development of the golf swing through mastery of biomechanics of the golf swing. It is understandable why golfers spend an in ornate amount of this part of developing their golf game: developing the biomechanics of the golf swing requires the player to correctly master each phase of the golf swing (these phases are address, backswing, transition, downswing, and follow through). What the beginners at times fail to recognize is that additional categories exist requiring development to create the optimal golf swing. If ignored, these aspects can negatively affect the development of the golf swing and golf game. The next category requiring development within the golfer is categorized as physical. The golf swing requires certain levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power within the body to execute the golf swing correctly. So, successive players pay much time to develop these parameters around the biomechanics of the golf swing. This type of training is termed cross-specific training. The golf swing is an awkward movement that puts a tremendous amount of stress on the body. To prevent injury and improve swing speed and distance requires the player's body to be both strong and flexible specific to the swing1. A famous player, Vijay Singh (Picture Singh), does his golf workouts all the way through Sunday of each tournament. Back in 1997, a young, very athletic golfer came on the professional scene and blew everyone away. Another famous player, Annika Sorenstam (Picture Annika) also attributes her success to golf workouts, in her instruction book one chapter was devoted totally to this aspect of game2. For example, to improve the distance, players usually follow these tips: first, they perform a dynamic warm-up prior to the first tee. It is more important than hitting balls before you play. A simple warm-up could be some arm circles, toe touches, squats with the club. Second, stretching on the course, which keeps the player's body nice and loose to make that full backswing, generating high clubhead speed and consistently long drives. Third, players try to improve their core strength and rotational speed. Such exercises can even be done at home with minimal equipment (for example, Pictures A-D)3. The next category the golfer must understand and develop is nutrition. Nutrition is a fairly basic component to understand in relation to golf or any other athletic endeavor. Each professional golfer playing in tours has his or her individual solid nutrition plan. Certainly, each player has his or secrets, but there are some basic rules, because products may either help or hinder play. Players should avoid caffeine and alcohol. Both of these are diuretics and cause fluid loss. Coffee can over stimulate the mind or muscles. It goes without saying that excessive consumption of alcohol severely affects one's coordination. Players should avoid large amounts of food in the two hours leading up to tee time. Food in the digestive system diverts blood away from the brain and muscles, affecting concentration and physical performance. That's why a meal two to three hours before play is preferred. Players should never skip meals. Golfers need that slow and steady release of energy to see them through difficult or long hours of play. Smaller meals are better to help increase metabolism. It is preferable to eat 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day. This gives the body the nutrition it needs to last. It is preferable to drink 8 to 10 glasses each day. That helps to stay hydrated especially during the summer months. Players should combine carbohydrates, proteins and fats at each meal. This aides in overall digestion and ensures that the player is getting the proper nutrients. A serious golfer should have a wide variety of complex carbohydrates to maintain his or her energy through an 18-hole match or a 72-hole tournament. Players should avoid high processed foods or sugar based foods. They tend to raise blood sugar levels quickly and, then, drop rapidly causing fatigue. Players should stick with the basics and never try new foods just before the play4. The final category lending itself to develop of one's golf game is mental, often referred to as a key element of champions' success within the game of golf (this implies positive mental outlook, visualization and preparation)5. Thus, to sum, there are different ways to high results but basically the success of tour players might be achieved through the proper specific training, nutrition and mental preparation. Works cited 1. Cochran, Sean. "Mental, Physical, Nutritional, and Biomechanical Preparation for Your Golf Game." Golf Magazine (April 2006). 2. Hill, Susan. "10 Ways to Increase Your Energy Instantly with a Golf Performance Diet." Golf Digest (December 2004). 3. Pedersen, Mike. "3 Simple Golf Tips To Quickly Improve Your Distance." FitnessForGolf 02 January 2005. 24 April 2006 . #2. The Role of Putting. Golf is played with golf clubs of various types. There are four major categories of clubs, known as woods, hybrids, irons, and putters. A golfer is allowed to carry up to fourteen clubs during a round. While it is possible to play a range of different shots using only one club, modifying only the speed and direction of swing, this is not a particularly successful technique. It is much easier to keep the swing as constant as possible and achieve different lengths and characteristics of ball flight using a different club for each shot. Putters come in a variety of head shapes and have a very low loft and often a short shaft. They are used to play the ball on the green, but may occasionally be useful for playing from bunkers or for some approach shots on courses with tightly mown fringe and fairways. Putters are very important because they are used on every hole. However, the best golf putters are too often taken for granted by most golfers when asked which club they most prefer in their bag. Too many people put way too little importance on their putting, which can be a very costly mistake that greatly reflects on their scores. A lot of golfers believe that there are no meaningful differences in the "flat stick", but this couldn't be more wrong. The quality of a good putter can be affected by the angle of the shaft relevant to the blade, the shape, the materials used and the centre of gravity of the club6. Different brands make a big difference in the feel of the club. For example, one could find different types of putters on http://www.thomasgolf.com. There are three major types: "Traditional" (Picture 1), "Mid-Length/Belly" (Picture 2) and "Long" (Picture 3). There could be several possible variants (Pictures 10M, 20M, 30M, 40M, 60M, 60sM, 705M). Among the main manufacturers are such companies as Nike, Odyssey, Callaway and Wilson7. Obviously using a professional club and hours of practice putting significantly improves the player's golf game but professional players develop the ability and skill of learning to read the green. Mediocre golfers will just walk up to their ball and putt without really placing any thought into what they are doing, while good golfers will take their time and address their golf ball concentrating the whole time to line up their putt. Master golfer will do all of the above along with several other actions in order to sink their putt. The biggest difference is their ability to predict their golf ball's path and speed based on their read of the putting green. The Master golfers know that the art of precise aim and control over a golf ball doesn't help you out if you can't accurately predict where your golf ball will go once hit by your putter. For the beginners, the best way to accurately read the green is to avoid doing what the professional golfers do when they read their greens. These players are professionals and have been doing this for quite some time so they have considerable experience when it comes to easily reading golf greens. They would get down on their hands and knees and carefully study the ground between the golf ball and the cup. They would lay one of their clubs down on the ground and carefully observe the ground that runs along the shaft of your golf club. It might be advised for the beginners to keep an eye out for any bumps, no matter how small, any curves or small hills when scanning the golf green. Professionals have thousands operations running through their mind at the moment - they formulate a rough estimate on what the ratio is between downhill and uphill terrain between the ball and the cup, they consider how dry or wet the grass is (it was calculated that a golf ball has the capability of travelling an additional 9 to 13 inches over wet grass when compared to a dry green). Professionals know that the way the grass is cut can have an effect on the distance their golf ball travels after being hit by the putter. A condition known as double cutting where the grass is cut in one direction then cut again in a perpendicular direction can change the distance the golf ball travels by 5 to 10 inches. The grass height can also affect one's putt. The lower the grass is cut the farther the ball can travel8. The facts mentioned above show that there are many different factors and variables that need to be looked at in order to properly read a putting green. Those players, who correctly read the green, are able to improve their golf game score by slicing a few strokes off their golfing score, so they get the chance to become professionals. Those who read the green improperly are not successful enough and need to spend more time on the practice green in order to learn how to properly putt. Works cited 1. Cecere, Dean. "Blade Putters Effectively Help Better Align A Putt." Golf Magazine (April 2006). 2. Gorman, Tim. "Become A Better Putter By Learning To Read The Green." Golf Digest (November 2005). 3. Thomas Golf official site. . Success in golf means to reach heights in the areas of mechanics, physical, nutritional, and mental. Mechanics is the development of the proper biomechanics of the golf swing. Physical aspect entails developing the body around the golf swing. Nutrition incorporates fueling the body for proper success on the golf course. Mental aspect is the development of the correct mind set to excel at the game of golf. Developing the biomechanics of the golf swing requires the player to correctly master each phase of the golf swing. Physical development means certain level of power within the body to execute the golf swing correctly. Nutrition is a basic component to understand in relation to golf. - Players should avoid caffeine and alcohol. - Players should avoid large amounts of food in the two hours leading up to tee time. - It is preferable to eat 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day. - Players should never skip meals. - It is preferable to drink 8 to 10 glasses each day. - Players should combine carbohydrates, proteins and fats at each meal. - Players should avoid high processed foods or sugar based foods. - Players should stick with the basics. Mental aspect, which means positive mental outlook, visualization and preparation, is often referred to as a key element of champions' success. Golf is played with golf clubs of various types. There are four major categories of clubs, known as woods, hybrids, irons, and putters. Putters come in a variety of head shapes and have a very low loft and often a short shaft. They are used to play the ball on the green, but may occasionally be useful for playing from bunkers or for some approach shots on courses with tightly mown fringe and fairways. Putters are very important because they are used on every hole. Professional players develop the ability and skill of learning to read the green. The Master golfers know that the art of precise aim and control over a golf ball doesn't help you out if you can't accurately predict where your golf ball will go once hit by your putter. To learn the art of Masters beginners should get down on their hands and knees and carefully study the ground between the golf ball and the cup. Professionals know that even the way the grass is cut can have an effect on the distance their golf ball travels after being hit by the putter. A condition known as double cutting can change the distance the golf ball travels by 5 to 10 inches. The grass height can also affect one's putt: the lower the grass is cut the farther the ball can travel. Read More