Drive Time

Hit monster tee shots and keep them in the short stuff

TOE IT UP

When you address the ball, your driver head naturally rests on the turf. But since the ball is elevated on a tee, your club isn't exactly "square" to the ball. To fix this, you have to do one of two things. Raising your club at address is the first option. But the problem with this is if you raise the clubhead, it extends a little bit away from you, so that the ball is now closer to your club's heel. The best way to—ahem—address this issue is to position the ball toward the toe at address. That way when you return the club at impact (and it's naturally higher), you won't hit the ball on the toe, you'll hit it in the center of the face.

GET "LEAN"

Many golfers make steep swings. This, however, is a guaranteed "death move" if you want to drive the ball well. In order to effectively flatten your swing shape to a motion more conducive to hitting good drives, I suggest bending over more at address. By doing this, you'll steepen your shoulder tilt, and that will force you to create a shallower, more rounded swing shape with your arms, thus producing a more sweeping cut at contact. At first, it will feel a little strange, but from what I've seen on the range, just bending over at address will round your swing and produce shots you've only dreamed of.

ADD SOME PUNCH

No, I'm not training for an upcoming fight. I'm making a fist and a punching motion, which looks a lot like how I want my students' left hand to look at the top of their swings. Getting your left wrist into a "hitting" position at the top of the backswing provides a couple things: a shorter backswing, which results in a stable motion; and a square clubface, which is necessary if you want to consistently deliver a square hit at impact. And, really, who doesn't want to do that? Go ahead, make a swing without a club and feel that punch. Then grip the club and remember that feeling!

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Trouble Shots

Golf is a lot like life. Some days everything comes easily; other days nothing seems to go your way. But just like life, there are ways to deal with the ups and downs. Helping people figure this out is just one of the many reasons why I love to teach the game.

One challenge is how to deal with bad breaks. In my experience, golfers who can handle them the best usually come out on top. Read on to learn how you can best escape from these tough situations and get your game back on track.

Learning how to chip the ball well will help you save strokes, but it also has side benefits. Here are a few variations of the chip shot that will help you save shots around the greens, and maybe even help your full swing, too!

1 Hit A Low Hook Around A Tree

When I was a kid, I loved trying to make my shots hook and slice on purpose. It was fun seeing my ball curve around trees, and it helped me get out of a few tough situations, too. To hit your shot around a tree so it ends up back in a safe place, you first have to have a proper setup.

I start by aligning my body (feet, hips and shoulders) on the path I want the ball to start on (to the right of the tree). Then I align my clubface to where I want the ball to finish (in this case, the flagstick). Once that’s established, I swing my club along my body line. The ball will start out on that line and curve around the tree toward the end target.

The final key to curving the ball is to finish properly. If I want to hook the ball more, I swing the club into a flatter finish; if I want to slice it, I finish into a steeper finish.

2 The Tee Shot That Doesn’t Set Up For You

Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy

Many days, I try to humble myself and hold a 2-minute gratitude session. I simply sit or kneel, with no distractions, close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for.

I don’t do it every day, but let me tell you, on the days I do it, it makes me very happy.

Why should that be? Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life?

Just a few reasons:

• Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
• Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
• Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
• Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.

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Yoga Posture To Calm the Mind and Enhance Concentration Power

There are yoga postures which help to calm of your mind and enhancing your power of concentration. Actually our mind wavers especially with too many distractions around us. When we do not have any control over our mind, it continues to be restless and flits from one thought to another. Regular practice of yoga helps to focus your mind and thus increasing your memory.

The yoga posture that will benefit you are :

Surya Namaskar (The Sun Salutation Pose): 

There are 12 variations of poses. It is not only beneficial for the whole body but also improves the memory.

1. Stand straight. Bring your palms together in prayer position.

2 . Inhaling raise your arms over your head keeping your palms together.

3. Exhale and then bend forward until your hands can comfortably touch your feet.

4. Inhaling stretch your right leg back, arch back and lift your chin.

5. Exhaling stretch your left leg back into a plank position, keeping your spine and legs in a straight line and supporting your weight on your hands and feet.

6. Holding your breath, lower your knees, chest and forehead keeping your hips up and toes curling under.

7. Inhaling stretch forward and bend back, keeping your arms straight.

8. As you exhale, curl your toes and press down into your heels and lift your hips.

9. Inhale and move your left leg back with the top of your foot stretched out straight on the floor. Lift your chin and look up.

10. Exhale and then bend forward until your hands can touch your feet.

11. Inhale and stretch your arms forward and over your head. Gradually bend backwards from your waist.

12. Exhaling come back to the standing position.

Padmasana (The Lotus Pose)

Golf And The Art Of Concentration

Concentration is the root of golf mastery. It is much more than the ability of not being distracted or even visualizing the golf shot.

Granted, hardly any of the authors of ANY golf training book have comprehensive training in golf psychology, so let me give you some tips for peak concentration on the golf course. I'm not talking about "grinding" out on the golf course...this will burn you out early in the round and mentally deplete you.

First off, dance with which you brought to the course...in other words, don't try to fix your golf swing out on the course. There is plenty of time to fix your swing on the range after the round. Your job on the course is to play golf, not play swing...you need to score!

Your thoughts need to be focused on getting the golf ball into the cup in the least amount of strokes possible...the object of the game! (How soon we forget this fact) The only things you should be thinking about while you plan your golf shot is the target, distance, direction, wind speed, your lie...and any other factor that comes into play.

Forget about your last shot and what score you might shoot. Only concentrate on the golf shot at hand. You must discipline yourself to stay in the moment...this takes time to master...if you want to become an accomplished golfer you will master this skill.

Once upon a time your ability to concentrate was incredible. Before you could think or understand what words are. This was when you were a baby. Your brain was a sponge. As a baby you could hold your attention on anything in your field of vision without any distracting thoughts.

As you got older and learned how to talk and to think you soon became aware of that little voice inside your head that seems to be with you during every waking moment. It is that little voice that you can't quiet no matter how hard you try. It is always telling you that the golf shot is too hard, or that other golfer is better than you.

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7 Cardinal Rules in Life

10 Steps to a Zen-like Working Environment

For today’s knowledge workers, every distraction is a drain on productivity and sanity. Every ringing phone, instant message, flashing email reminder, pile of papers, cluttered sticky notes and phone messages and knick knacks and memo posted on the wall — each of these things slows you down, wastes your time and energy, and stresses you out.
 
To achieve calm, and simple productivity, create a Zen-like working environment.
 
Imagine for a minute that your desk is completely clear, except your computer monitor, keyboard and mouse, your inbox and phone, and perhaps a framed photo of a loved one. Imagine the walls around you are free of visual clutter, except for a photo or painting or two of a serene nature scene.
 
You are able to focus, you can crank out your tasks, and you can lower your level of stress.

It’s not hard. Here’s how:

•    Clear papers. Take all the papers on your desk, and around your desk, and put them in your inbox. If they don’t fit, just put them in a single pile. Now go through that pile, one document at a time. Don’t put any document back on the pile — deal with it immediately, and then move on to the next document, until you’ve cleared the pile (this may take several sessions for some people). With each document, your choices are to 1) Trash; 2) Delegate; 3) File immediately, 4) Do it immediately; or 5) Put the action on your to-do list and the document in an “action” folder.

•    Clear clutter. Now clear as much of the other stuff on your desk as possible. And it’s all possible. Knick knacks, post-its and phone messages (those should go in the inbox to be processed), most of your framed photos, folders, etc.

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