Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Swing

There are certain fundamentals to master when it comes to any sport. Hockey players want strong ankles, baseball players require a strong throwing arm, and football players need speed.

When it comes to golf, you really must aim for a perfect swing. That’s what gets your ball down the fairway and on to the green with as much accuracy (and as few strokes) as possible. Achieving that great swing comes easily to some, but can take years of practice for others.

Here are some tips for those hoping to improve their game by correcting problems with that all-important swinging technique:

      1. Get a Grip

Something as simple as how you hold your club can make a real difference. It is imperative to get the clubface square before your drive. Securely grasp the club in your fingers and then wrap your palms around them.

With the correct grip, you maintain proper control of the golf club, which is extremely important if you want to improve your golf swing. Maintaining the square angle as you hit the ball gives you a much greater chance of having an accurate shot.

      2. Maintain Proper Balance

Your swing needs to be a fluid movement and that won’t happen without proper balance. Try this exercise: using a foam roller to practice balance. Once you can perform a steady swing while standing on one of these, the solid ground should be no problem at all.

      3. Pretend you are in a Slow Motion Replay

Slowing things down is an effective way to analyze the mechanics of your golf swing. You may feel silly while doing it, but practice doing your swing as slowly as you can. Have a golfing partner closely watch your mechanics. They will be able to give you pointers on things such as balance and your swing plane.

If you need work with the latter, proceed to tip #4:

      4. Practice with a Swing Plane

Make sure not to let the shaft of your club get too far behind the hands before it raises up. If that happens, you will instinctively try to correct the swing to ensure contact with the ball. If your swing is too much under or over, you will not make proper contact, lessening the distance the ball will travel.

Insert a stick diagonally into the ground to your right (or left, depending on handedness). This creates a “swing plane” which allows you to know exactly how far back you should go for the proper backswing position.  With practice, you will intuitively know where the backswing movement should stop.

      5. Take Your Game Inside

Practice is everything when it comes to acquiring a new skill, but this can be difficult if you are at the mercy of the elements. No one likes golfing in the rain and potential lightning strikes are a dangerous proposition. There is also the question of winter, which makes it either uncomfortable or downright impossible to hit the links for months at a time.

None of this matters when you practice inside an air-supported dome. Want to spend your Christmas holidays practicing, but can’t afford a trip to Florida? No problem—simply head over to your nearest golf bubble and take all of the practice time you need to improve your golf swing in climate-controlled comfort!

Golf at the Olympics: It’s Back!

The Olympics are nearly here and if you’re a golfer (like one of the many that frequent Farley golf bubbles), there’s a good chance you’ll be tuning in to watch some of the best golfers in the world represent their respective countries. But if you’re not a golfer, you may not realize how big of a deal golf is for this year’s Games.

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games marks the return of golf after a more than 100-year absence. The last time golf was a part of the Olympics was way back in 1904 in St. Louis Missouri. The winner was actually a Canadian named George Lyon. In other words, Canada has won every single Gold medal in Olympic golf for the past century! It’s impressive as long as you leave out the other half of the story.

The return of golf in 2016 means that Canada will have to defend this title for the first time in 112 years, which is a big deal. But why has golf been absent from the Olympics for so long?

Where Did Golf Go?

The last time the sport of golf was a part of the summer Olympics was the games of 1904, over 100 years ago. It took until 2009 for the International Olympic Committee to decide to bring it back. So why has such a popular sport been left out of the Olympics for so long?

According to Golf Today, one of the biggest reasons is that golf already has enough large international events. Events like the Ryder cup or the President’s cup, not to mention all four majors and four World Gold Championship events, manage to keep international players extremely busy. Golf is one of the few sports that is truly a worldwide affair.

Will it be a Success?

Well only time will tell, but a couple of hiccups along the way won’t help the success of this tournament be a sure thing.

The PGA tour hasn’t embraced the Olympics as readily as other sport organizations do. When you think about it, having to put a hold on events for a couple weeks while the Games occur would cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue and sponsorship money. It’s no wonder that they have chosen to not push back any tournaments.

This means that players that want to play in the PGA Championship beginning July 25 won’t have much downtime before the Olympics 2 weeks later. And there are several important tournaments for the FedEx Cup right behind the Games, followed by the Ryder Cup in September.

Because of the tight schedule, many golfers cannot afford to make the trip to Rio if they want to do well this season.

Brendon de Jonge is in this category—he can’t afford to take the time off if he wants to keep his place on the tour.

There’s also a myriad of players that aren’t going due to the ongoing health concern of the Zika virus.

Nevertheless, much of the world’s top golfing talent is going to Rio, and it will surely be some great golf to keep an eye on!

There’s no denying that the Olympic games have a way of reinvigorating some sports. Many of the athletes competing in some of the lesser known sports like Judo or trampoline may have been inspired to pick up the sport after watching it in a previous games.

So don’t be surprised when golf has another surge in popularity as young viewers will want to try their hand at hitting some golf balls (maybe even in a golf dome!)