Golf tip: Pitching and chipping

The golf tip applies to both pitch- and chip shots. Pitching shots are typically from 10-70 metres from the green, where the ball stays in the air for longer, while chipping shots are the more delicate shots played from just off the green.

Different instructors use different figures for the weight distribution during chipping and pitching, but as a general golf tip, try to keep your weight 60-70 percent on the left leg (for right-handers) and 30-40 percent on the right throughout the shot. Position the ball slightly forward of centre and, importantly, since these chipping and pitching shots are not full swings, you need to limit your backswing and follow through accordingly.

Avoid the golf tip #1: Chipping or pitching with too much weight on the right

The reason this golf tip came about in the first place was to ensure that the golfer keeps his or her weight on the left foot at impact. Many amateurs, especially high handicappers, try to lean back and scoop the ball up into the air.

The perception on this golf tip is that to chip or pitch the ball up quickly, the weight should be on the back foot so that you can get under the ball and lift it. Then the ground tends to get in the way before the ball does!

The problem with setting up with the weight favouring the right and allowing the weight to be too much on the right side in the backswing is that, at impact, your low point will be on the back foot – behind the ball. This golf tip leads to either hitting your chipping and pitching shots fat, or topping it!

Avoid the golf tip #2: Chipping or pitching with too much weight on the left

If you overdo it by putting too much weight on the left side, you’ll end up having your head in front of the ball and your right side too high.

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Meditation and Breathing Exercises to Reduce Stress

How you react to stress determines how it will affect you. Too much stress can be bad for your heart. Learn how to manage your stress with deep breathing and meditation exercises.

Stress can be hard to avoid, but don’t worry if you can’t avoid stress completely—you don’t have to.stress is a normal physical and psychological to both positive and negative situations. Stress itself isn’t necessarily unhealthy—but your reaction to it can be.

How Does Stress Affect Your Heart?

When stress becomes constant and chronic, it can cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure that may damage the artery walls, the American Heart Association (AHA) reports. Stress that’s left unchecked may contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

In particular, research has shown that those with “Type A” traits—such as often feeling rushed, irritated, impatient, or angry—have an increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Emotions like anger and hostility cause your body to release stress hormones into your blood. This causes an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure, which makes your heart work harder.

Managing Your Stress Levels

Although the exact link between heart disease and stress is unclear, it’s smart to take steps now to get your stress levels under control. It may be tempting to ask your doctor for medicine to manage stress, but lifestyle changes such as stress management techniques are a much better long-term strategy to lower your stress level.

One of the best ways to help you relax and manage stress is through deep breathing exercises, including meditation. It takes a little practice to make a habit of breathing exercises, but anyone can learn them. You can use them at home or in the office—or anywhere that you need some relief. Try these exercises, recommended by the AHA and Mayo Clinic, to help reduce stress:

Deep Breathing

The Anatomy of a Zen Habit

This post, The Anatomy of a Zen Habit will explain why we have made Zen Habits, (the website) part of our lives and the whys and hows of habit breaking and making.

Through his website and books, Leo Babauta has shown us that a regular person can do extraordinary things. As a husband and father of 6, Babauta quit smoking, lost weight, ran a marathon, adopted a vegetarian diet, turned his blog into a business, tripled his income and quit his job, and through all of that taught us how to do it too.

Zen Habits has more than 210,000 subscribers and even more readers. There is no doubt that Leo worked hard, especially at first to grow his blog. He worked a full time job, while writing morning, noon and night and then some. Even so, there is more to the success of Zen Habits than luck and hard work.

Top 5 Reasons (in my opinion) for Leo Babauta’s Success

1. Leo is relatable.

2. He writes good stuff.

3. He keeps learning and sharing his secrets.

4. The information he provides is helpful & honest.

5. He’s a good guy.

In order to really break down the anatomy of a Zen habit, I went straight to the source. Leo was kind enough to answer a few questions to help break down the importance of Zen, habits and procrastination.

What does Zen even mean?

Leo: It means different things to every person. For me it is simply a way to learn to be present, to live in the moment. That’s a very simple thing, but it turns out it changes everything.

Why are we so attracted to developing better habits?

Leo: There is an optimist in most of us, who despite evidence of failed attempts throughout our lives, believes we can become better. This optimist wants us to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly become. 

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Tips For Successful Meditation That Can Make You Happier

Meditation actually can make physical changes to your brain wiring and increase function. Using meditation as part of your daily routine will help to reorganize your thinking

A routine involving meditation may be one of the most effective ways to keep your life in balance. Meditation is a proven way of lowering stress, reducing anxiety, relieving depression, and increasing health. Meditation has been shown to improve cognitive functioning, heart health, defense mechanisms functioning, and digestion.

As a matter of fact, meditation can be quite simple should you follow a few tried and true strategies for successful meditation. Each time you meditate you will learn something new about yourself.

Wear Comfortable Clothing

You will need to wear something that is not binding and won’t be distracting. Loose fitting clothes that will permit your body to move and breathe freely are preferred. Loose fitting organic cotton works perfectly.

Find Quiet

Meditation brings energy into us. So it’s necessary thing for meditation to get it done in pin drop silence. Just turn of the all gadgets even your mobile too. Turn off radio, TV, Laptop etc.They might interrupt you during meditation.

Sit Comfortably

In comparison with what many believe meditation isn’t about sitting in an uncomfortable position for some time. Sit comfortably but try the recommended positions, like the lotus, since they are designed to minimize body ache and optimize what you can do to breathe correctly.

Loosen Up

Its little weird to relax, you can scrunch up your hands for your ears and then slowly allow them to fall down. Sometime it helps to help you stress less magically. You are able to relax your body by loosen your cheeks, mouth, arms and shoulders.

Focus on Your Breathing

The important thing to any meditation practice is concentrating on the breath. Controlled breathing stabilizes blood pressure level and increases oxygen flow, thereby increasing alertness. Stay silent and concentrate. 

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How To Fight Depression With Meditation?

Depression is a mental state in which you experience intense feeling of grief, desolation, helplessness and low sense of worth. However sharp and empathetic you are, the situation takes a toll on you, step by step. It makes you suffer from acute anger and hopelessness, and eventually pushes you towards several stress-related disorders. Though, there are several ways such as psychotherapy, medications etc. to deal with depression, studies have found that meditation is the most effective way to heal this. Read further to know more about meditation for depression and its benefits.

What Is Meditation For Depression?

Meditation which is aimed to treat depression is known as ‘Depression Meditation’. It is a practice of focusing on breath which eventually leads to relaxation of the body and mind. This meditation can be easily understood with the help of following set of steps:

• Sit in a straight yet comfortable posture.
• Then, focus on your breathing by counting the number of inhales and exhales silently. It’s a gentle process and not a forceful one.
• You can increase your focus gradually and carry on as long as you feel comfortable. The relaxation attained can elevate your mood and provide great relief.

Usually, Depression Meditation can be practiced in one of the two following ways:

• General Meditation Techniques
• Specific Meditation Techniques

Here is a brief detail of these two types of meditation techniques:

1. General Mediation Techniques:

It starts with entering in a meditative state before your mood declines severely. Depression can cause frequent mood swings depending on its severity. For meditating, you need to wait until your mood lifts just enough to engage in normal activities and you become responsive both physically and mentally.

Focusing is the prime idea of such meditation practices. You should find a silent place with least distraction factors. Drawing curtains, putting ‘DND’ on the door, wearing earplugs or listening to a soothing music can prove to be effective. 

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The Four Pillars of a Fit Mind: Mental golf tips

Go ahead. Pump iron. Do pilates. Just remember: A million crunches can't make up for a fragile mind. Call it mental fitness, a soundness of the psyche that's as vital to low scores as a flexible physique and solid fundamentals.

PILLAR NO. 1: STRENGTH

Nicklaus and Tiger are famous for it. Mental toughness: performing when it matters most. "It's having the strength to stand up to pressure," Parent says, and being comfortable in that spotlight.

EXERCISE: Don't give yourself gimmes

To get acclimated to pressure, embrace it. Put yourself under it. For starters, Parent recommends putting every short putt, even if someone is waiting behind you. "Act like the shot matters, and you'll be more ready to hit it when it really does."

PILLAR NO. 2: FLEXIBILITY

Your mind needs to be as limber as your body. The most successful players adapt to different courses and conditions. They think creatively and accept things as they come. When Vijay Singh was asked if an Augusta downpour bothered him, he replied, "Only if it's just raining on me."

EXERCISE: Reconsider your clubs

Mental flexibility means keeping your mind open. Or as Parent puts it, "Just because you're in the bunker doesn't mean it's a sand wedge." To cultivate creative thinking, take one club and work around the practice green, hitting many kinds of shots: high, low, soft, hard. The next time around, choose just one shot and practice hitting it with every club in your bag.

PILLAR NO. 3: BALANCE

One shot at a time. Stay in the moment. They're clichés for a reason: They work. "Not getting too excited, not getting too depressed," Parent says. "That's what mental balance is all about."

EXERCISE: Take stock of your thoughts

During your round, count how many times you find yourself dwelling on the past or pondering the future. Are you still simmering over that three-putt? 

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Tips for Juniors Who Want to Play College Golf

Playing college golf can be a wonderful experience and is the goal of many junior golfers. The biggest challenge for the average junior golfer is deciding where he or she fits into the college golf picture.

One thing that is consistent for any high school player is the importance of a good golf resume. Your resume will give a college coach an accurate account of your golfing and academic record. The following are a few tips on how to put together a strong resume and how to get that resume into the hands of college golf coaches.

Preparing Your Resume

Your resume begins with the basics. The vital information should include:

• Name

• Address

• Telephone

• Birth date

• Social Security Number

• Height

• Weight

• Name of High School

• Month and Year of Graduation

• Grade Point Average/Class Rank

• SAT or ACT Scores

• USGA or State Handicap Index

• High School Stroke Average

• List Other Sports and Extracurricular activities

Next is the most important part. You need to list your tournament results and highlights. These scores are much more important than a handicap from your home club. Remember to list:

• Event name and location

• Number of players in the field

• Your finish

• Course rating and distance

• Unusual weather for the event

• Yardage for the course

This part of the resume is where you show a college coach how well you play tournament golf. You may want to break this down by year, so coaches can see improvement from year to year.

Along with a cover letter, this resume will be sent to college coaches.

Many high school players also send video to coaches. If you can get taped, this is a good idea. Remember to use a VHS tape with good quality (or burn a CD/DVD). 

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