If you're a beginner you're probably anxious to get on a golf course and "play" the game. Why not. That's where all the fun is and where the true joy of the game is experienced. However, this can be a scary thought for a beginner for a lot of reasons. For one, you might be intimidated by other golfers who are better than you. For that matter you may be uncomfortable just because you don't know much about playing the game on the course. You may not know what to do, where to stand, when to talk, etc. You may not understand what golfers call the "etiquette" of the game.

I've been playing golf for over 40 years and play to a 5 handicap and when I get hooked up with a beginner we often have an awkward time until we get to know each other. I get the feeling that many beginners, and intermediate golfers for that matter, feel they may somehow effect my game. They think that when they hit a bad shot it will influence my shots and my game will suffer. They often apologize for a bad shot as if their "curse" would somehow be transferred to me.

Let me announce to all beginners and intermediate golfers that your golf game has no effect on my or any other good players game. On the other hand there are many things that you do that can effect my game and can actually effect my score. The good news is most of these things have nothing to do with how good you are at golf. And don't feel bad. There's no way you could know many of these things unless someone tells you. I'm here to help you understand what they are.

Good golf requires a certain atmosphere. Now I know this may sound a bit pretentious but it's true. As you are finding out, hitting that little white ball solidly and towards your target takes quite a bit of concentration and focus. To maintain that focus a golfer needs no distractions. These include auditory and visual distractions.

Keep it down please

Therefore please refrain from conversation and loud sounds during a players shot. That includes the time before the shot which is called the pre-shot routine. That routine lasts about 10-15 seconds for most golfers. During that time a golfer is focusing on their target, visualizing the target line and preparing his/her body to hit the shot. They are breathing slowly and relaxing so that tension will not interfere with the shot. This state of relaxed concentration is difficult to maintain.

Visual distractions can include movement anywhere within the peripheral vision of the golfer. This particularly includes along the target line forward and behind the ball. This is especially true on the greens. On the green, please don't leave your ball around the hole or stand behind a golfer on their target line. For a good golfer those are major distractions. When you take the pin out of the hole and put it on the green, please don't put it behind the hole on someone's target line or anywhere near it within about 20 feet. Ideally put it down somewhere off the green.

Pace of Play

Another important factor is pace of play. Once concentration has been established and a rhythm has been found, a good golfer wants to maintain that rhythm. Waiting extended periods for other golfers is not helpful to that rhythm. By all means you have a right to play your game, but maintaining the pace of play and not holding up other members of your group is a cardinal rule of playing on the course. Nothing will effect a golfers game more than unneccessarily slow play.

If you find that your score on a hole is approaching par times 2 (8 on a par 4) that is a good time to pick up and sit out the rest of the hole. If you are facing a very difficult shot that you probably can't pull off, why not give it one try and then move on. It's certainly OK to give it a try but don't waste time "practicing" at other golfers expense.

The pace factor becomes even more important when there is a group behind you that is playing at a faster pace. A good player who has played many rounds knows when the pace is slow especially when he sees the group behind waiting on every tee and on every approach shot. Sensing the frustration of the group behind you is a definite concentration wrecker. Either pick up the pace or let the group play through.

These are the most important things to know. To summarize:

1. Don't distract another player with noise or movements while they are playing a shot

2. Play at the pace of the overall group or pick up. Sometimes a course marshall will remind you when you are playing slowly.

That's really all there is to playing golf in a courteous and friendly way. By all means have fun and play your game but be aware of how your actions effect other players. Believe me you'll also play better and enjoy the game more too.

By: Rick Hart
Rick Hart is a long time golfer and owner of Golf Club Revue where he puts the spotlight on golf clubs.

Featured by the Golf Course Directory in the lifestyle section at Resources For Attorneys.

It is generally supported that exercising can help older men feel better for themselves as it can improve their energy levels and boost their self-esteem. When British researchers compared 10 men, 55 to 65 years old who ran at least 40 miles a week, with 10 inactive men of the same age, they found that the runners had higher levels of certain hormones. Testosterone, for instance, which fuels sex drive and erectile function, was 25 percent higher. Growth hormone, which helps maintain muscle and bone, was four times higher. But if you wish to experience these type of results but you do not wish to have to run 40 miles a day, keep in mind that any exercise will help, such that of golf.

Golf is a sport where the individual players or teams compete against each other by hitting a ball and trying to place it inside a hole on the ground. Through the use of various clubs, this ball game that differs from other ball games because it does not use a fixed standard playing area, originated from Scotland-although recent studies revealed that a version was played since ancient times in the land of China-and has been played for at least five centuries in the British Isles. ?n particular, golf is played on a track of land designated as the course that consists a series of holes on its ground in which the ball has to be placed with different strokes. To hit the ball, the club is swung at the motionless ball placed on the ground from a side stance. Many golf shots make the ball travel through the air before rolling out covering the distance between the hitter and the hole.

In the United States, golf is the unofficial sport of the business world. Being such an important meeting point for men who decide to test their sticking abilities, golf has gained its popularity slowly and while once was considered the sport of the elderly, it is now played by million of golf funs all around the world. Famous athletes, like Tiger Woods, who is currently the leading professional golfer in the world, have transformed the sport to a spectacle that illustrates the individual abilities of the person who strikes the ball and makes people's eyes gaze in excitement the outcomes of the professional or amateur athletes' efforts.

Concluding, golf is an extremely good exercise for the body and if the golfers decide to skip the golf cart, then it can assist senior people perform the required amount of exercise and have fun at the same time. In fact, research revealed that when middle-aged men play golf two to three times a week, over a five-month period, they burned an average of 1,750 calories per game, walked five miles on average in every game, decreased abdominal fat by 8 percent, lost 5 lb, increased the "good" HDL cholesterol by 5 percent, shrank their waistlines by an inch, lowered "bad" LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by 4 percent each, cut total cholesterol by 2 percent, decreased blood pressure, became more aerobically fit and improved endurance in their trunk muscles. For all these reasons, seniors should seriously consider taking some golf lessons and begin investing some time to play a game and bond with friends, while becoming again fit.

By: Kadence Buchanan
Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Men's Health, Fitness, and Nursing.

Featured by the
Golfing Directory in the lifestyle section at Resources For Attorneys, a legal and lifestyle resources source.

I have a tip on getting out of the sand that you're just going to love not matter if you're a new golfer or if you're a +3 handicap.

When you have a buried bunker shot, you either make a great big smash at it and the ball doesn’t move but a foot or two, or, if you happen to hit it out, it takes off on a line drive and it doesn’t have any backspin on it, and you whack it over the green.

The reason that you either have trouble getting out of the sand or skulling it over the green, is because on a sand wedge the trailing edge has a bounce on it. It’s a curve and it makes the leading edge sit up off the ground.

So, if you try to hit the golf ball out of a buried lie the conventional way, the back of this bounce will run into the sand and carom off the sand, and you’ll hit a skull.

What you should try to do; is the next time you’re getting out of the sand and you have a buried lie, put a little weight on your left leg, but tilt the handle over so the leading hits the sand first and digs into the ground.

It doesn’t matter how deep; you can bury it all you want. Ball in the middle of your stance, weight on your left leg, handle on your left leg, up and down, and it will pop right out of there. You won’t believe it. You’ll love this.

Remember this: getting out of the sand means you need to get the bounce off the back.

Now, here’s the golf lesson for setting up for a bunker shot. The ball goes across from your left foot always when the ball’s setting up. The weight goes on your left leg 70%. And from here the arms swing up and down as you turn through. Make sure you turn through.

What you're trying to do is you're trying to displace some sand. You're trying to put a little sand between the club face and the golf ball, and lift it and throw it out of the bunker.

So, the setup: Weight left, ball off your left foot, full arm swing. But don’t transfer your weight over to your right side. Stay on top of that left leg. Go up and down, even if you have to put the toe up in the air to stop you from sliding backwards.

Here’s a golf lesson if the ball is buried. If it’s buried, this swing won’t work because the club won’t go steep enough. So, put the ball in the middle of your stance, weight over on your left leg. Don’t open the face, and catch a little sand behind the ball and throw it out on the green.

I hope this golf lesson works. Give it a shot.

Thanks.

Copyright 2006 David Nevogt

By: David Nevogt
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.

Courtesy of the Golf Directory in the lifestyle section at Resources For Attorneys, a legal and lifestyle resource.

There is a saying in golf - I hope I live long enough to play my age. I’ve known a few golfers who can attest to this claim. I was reminded of this the other day while reading an obituary about a local golfer who died at the age of 95. He had been able to play his age up to four years ago, at age 91. I am usually happy with a round of 91 and I am much younger than 91. In fact, I think I have read that only about 10% of golfers consistently score below 100. Golf must one of the few sports that allows for a 91 year old to compete with most of the other people playing the game.

My father-in-law, Andy, came close to playing his age. He consistently broke 90 when he was in his seventies, but by the time he was 90 he was to frail to make it through a whole round. I don’t know if his score and age ever coincided. I had him out to the driving range just before his 90th birthday and he was able to try out my new driver. He could still hit it over 150 yards and always straight. Around that time, he would occasionally ride along if we used a power cart and would get out and hit a few.

Andy didn’t start playing golf until after he retired at age 65. He was a steam engineer and welder, a blue-collar guy, and always thought that golf was only for executive types. But with a bit of encouragement from a friend, he gave it a try and soon became obsessed with the game. He joined a club and played almost every day for the rest of his life. With a conservative game, well played, he was able to beat me most, if not all, of the time.

Last summer I played with in a tournament a group of guys I went to high school with have kept going for over 25 years. About 10 years after we graduated, one of our classmates, who everyone thought was destined to the life of a confirmed bachelor, succumbed to marriage, and the gang held a “memorial” tournament in his honour. His marriage didn’t last, but the tournament did, with the core group gathering every year for 25 years, adding occasional players like me along the way. Hopefully, these guys will be playing their age.

A while ago I walked on a golf course in a small town where I was doing some work. I happened to get matched with a guy in his seventies playing with his grandson. As we went along, I found out that this fellow had been a club member for some time and had put in a lot of volunteer time in the development of the course. He was recovering from bypass surgery but was still able to play a decent game and mentor his grandson. I don’t remember if he played his age exactly that day, but it was close.

I think part of the reason it is possible to play your age in golf is that golf helps to keep people alive. Just yesterday, my doctor was on my case about not getting enough cardio exercise lately. According to him, I should spend less time golfing and more time cycling and running. But I think it is more than the physical activity that golf provides that prolongs life. Most of the older golfers I have played with have developed an emotional maturity that helps them deal with the stresses of whatever comes their way. Anyone who can play their age is likely someone who has walked a lot, and, while they were walking, learned to empty their mind of their last shot. Maybe the expression, playing your age, has more to do with describing an attitude than it does the actual numbers.

By: Ron Strand
Ron Strand is a college instructor, consultant, and golfer, who writes for a golf related website.

Featured by the Golf Directory in the lifestyle section at Resources For Attorneys, a legal and lifestyle resources service.