Hit Straight Drives

A lot of golfers really battle to hit straight drives and getting off to a good start is such a confidence booster. There is nothing better than a good drive at the start of a round of golf. You will have a great day if you can hit straight drives off every tee.

The secret to straight driving is technique and confidence. If you have ever hit a straight drive then you can do it again. Its in there somewhere and all you have to do is find it and repeat it time and time again.

Many a bad tee shot is the result of tension especially on the first tee of an important round or when there is a crowd around. The result is the player gets tense and so the whole body, starting from the grip and going right through the arms, legs and torso, is overcome with tension. The result can be embarrassing and shake a players confidence.

Remember when playing that the woods are a little bit longer than the irons and therefore a slightly flatter swing plane is required (dont adjust for this because of this article!). In many cases pulling out the driver is a habit and is sometimes not even required. If you have a 350 meter/yard hole you can probably easy take two six irons to get there. Why make it more difficult by playing a driver?

A very good way of grooving the swing and getting confidence to hit straight drives regularly is to practice with a shortened back swing. When you go to the range shorten your back swing to 75%. Make sure you accelerate evenly through the ball and make a full follow through.

As you do this more and more at practice your big muscles will groove themselves to perform the same when you go back to a full swing. Try it youll be amazed at the results. You may even find that with a shortened back swing the loss in distance (if any) is so negligible that with the extra accuracy it is not worth worrying about.

Standing on the first tee knowing that you will be in play after your tee shot is a huge confidence booster. No-one ever worries about who plays the second shot first yet we all want to smack the longest drive. Funny thing the ego (intended for the men out there ladies dont seem to worry about this too much).

Give it a try I guarantee you will hit straight drives more often than you do at the moment.

As a qualified EGTF golf professional teacher I get great pleasure in helping people improve their game. Why not head over to Better Golfing and take up my challenge to reduce your golf handicap by 25% within 6 weeks?

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The Continuing Demise of Aston Villa Fc - Defeat at Doncaster

I feel compelled to write something regarding a football club which I have supported, albeit mainly from a distance, since I was a boy. The last disgraceful episode in the history of Aston Villa Fc was the 3-0 defeat at Doncaster in the league cup. I can take nothing away from Doncaster, who played like lions on the night. They were full of running and pressurised us from the word go. However the point here is that a team of Aston Villa's obvious size, standing and sometimes glorious past should have been far too much for even the bravest of lower division teams. This was not a one off; sadly it was indicative of the general malaise which seems to have set in at the club over the last two years.

Here is a good example. Our 9million pound club record signing, Juan Pablo Angel strolled round the park (when he did actually move) looking like he did not want to be there. For the most part he loped towards the opposition penalty area when we got forward and then stood around waiting for something to happen. I am no expert in the art of striking, but from many hours watching some of the best strikers in the world even I can tell that a good striker will make something happen, not wait for it to fall into his lap. The fact that he has only managed to score this season against lowly Wickham Wanderers, in an earlier round of the cup, I think says it all.

Liam Ridgewell had a nightmare against Doncaster, giving away a penalty and being lucky not to concede another only a few minutes earlier, however, the fact that he was so noticeably bad at least confirmed some effort on his part. Thomas Sorenson played well throughout and the 3-0 score line will look badly on his record, but was mainly down to shambolic defending. Gareth Barry also had a good game, frequently getting down the left on Doncasters wide pitch. However whenever he did so the moves were broken up by the fact that no one was making the runs into the centre for him and our static strikers were being easily marked by defenders they should have been running rings round.

Perhaps the only other player I cannot fault for effort was Milan Barros, who unfortunately looked like he did not relish the cold and his touch on the ball was often well short of what we know he is capable of. I think the game perhaps turned on the penalty claim which TV replays show was an abject penalty when Milan Barros was chopped down in the box. Villa seemed to give up after the penalty was turned down. That aside Doncaster should have had another one when Liam Ridgewell very deliberately shoulder barged one of their players off the ball.

Considering that the league cup was our only realistic chance of success this season, you would have thought that we could have expected a little bit more from the players. It seems to me that the hunger has gone from the side and we have accepted the mid-table mediocrity that is so often the result of a long hard season. And indeed, the league position suggests that they think that even that will be handed to them on a plate. Quite simply it is not good enough. These players are earning - a very loose definition of the word - thousands of pounds per week, and much of that comes out of the ordinary supporters pockets.

I know for a fact that Aston Villa have some of the most fiercely loyal supporters in the land, which perhaps explains why they continue to spend money on substandard products rather than shop elsewhere. However you cannot help thinking that in years to come, unless things change radically, this will not be the case. In todays society where more and more people are moving away from their towns of birth for employment and social reasons, clubs cannot rely on regional association to maintain their fan base and success, however infrequent, is the only thing which will keep the fans returning.

Aston Villa has always been considered the bigger of the two Birmingham clubs and indeed Birmingham is the second largest city in England. To not have a football team in the top half of the table challenging for honours is unacceptable, or at the very least, surreal.

I have been reading recently that Doug Ellis has finally decided to relinquish control of the club. Doug has done very well for Aston Villa over the years (I am not one of those who blames him for our demise) and has managed to keep the business in a very strong position financially when so many other clubs are in deep financial trouble. Unfortunately the world of football has moved on from when Doug started and it is time for a fresh injection of cash and some new faces to try and revive the club. I sincerely believe it is time for a wholesale change in personnel at the club, players and manager alike.

Irish property developers the Comer Brothers and Michael Neville who are looking to purchase Villa for around 64million will certainly inject some cash to be spent on players, but my cynical side tells me giving it to a manager who fails to inspire his team will merely lead to a squandering of a golden opportunity. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against David O'Leary as a manager and I think in the right circumstances he is very capable. I am suggesting, however, that he has become associated with the failures of Villa over the past couple of years and retaining him for much longer will keep that link to the bad days, when the club needs much more positive input. Likewise Juan Pablo Angel. He is simply another in the long line of expensive strikers who have moved to Villa and failed to live up to their potential. He is a very talented individual and I think perhaps he would benefit from a change of clubs. It is time to cut our losses.

For the Villa fans, we can only hope that the new year brings a new attitude at the club and that things will improve - lets face it, they cant get much worse after a 3-0 defeat at Doncaster!

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A Superbowl Victory

Most people watched the Superbowl out of shear entertainment, while taking it quite seriously at the same time. It gives their fans a sense of comradary and pride. There's nothing like a football game to unite people. Most of them know the rules inside and out and can make the calls quicker than the announcer. This leaves me asking, if so many people can understand this game, why don't they know God's rule book of plays in their own lives?

If more people would put that amount of time and effort that it takes to memorize all the players' statistics, why then can't they learn the statistics that God has given us for our own good? It's very clear that when we learn the proper plays in life as we go up against the opposing team, we will be more than just conquerors, we will be victorious! Everyone loves to have a victory in their life but do little about it.

As the game started out, the Sea Hawks won the kick off and got their first 3 points. I'm not saying that the Sea Hawks are the enemy, they aren't, but in God's world, we all have a very real enemy called Satan. He opposses us at every play. Once he gets his foot in the door, or his first 3 points, it's almost impossible from keeping him from coming all the way in...unless you know what your game plan will be to keep that from happening. Fortuneatly for the Steelers, they did know what to do.

The thing about the Steelers is, not one player acted any better than anyone else. In fact, they all pulled their weight and then some. They pulled together. When pride enters into our lives, the enemy will use that to beat us down. So through team effort, the Steelers came back with a 7 point touchdown and the game just proceeded from there to the Steelers advantage. The Sea Hawks could not over take them after that. But they tried valiantly, just as Satan will do to us. He will use stronger stradegies and hit harder.

In our Christian lives, we need to know without a doubt how we are going to oppose our enemy from taking the game over. Remember; just keep focused!

First of all, as we are new to this walk this is where we need to get all the practice we can get, we are still rookies. It's these rookies that Satan is waiting to recruit back to his team. If you don't stay strong in your game, you will be traded back to him before you know what happened. As any football player knows, his skills and knowledge comes from alot of time and effort put into it, until they know it inside out. It's no different for Christians who want to be at the top of their game either. Since God's Word can be overwhelming at first, we need to gather together with other Christians regularly to learn and to grow. That is why God gives us our coaches. They spur us on, they make us understand the plays to our advantage. The end result is to realize that all of our training is to honor God. The Steelers wanted to make their city of Pittsburgh proud of them also.

If you are serious about being a team player for God, you have to recognize the authority of Christ as your leader. You have to learn to humble yourself and serve Him by serving others. You can no longer be in the center spot light. But just as Big Ben gets most of the attention, he could not have done that one important play without the help of Heinz Ward. We need Christ to partner with us also in order to make our winning touchdowns! We can't do this game without the help of our Christian team players. God gives us pastors, preachers, teachers to talk with us and give us the rules to His game. If the football players didn't listen to their coaches, they would not be playing pro footabll. We must learn to respect the authority of those He puts in our lives. Our time of study and meditation takes alot of practice in order to get it just right. It doesn't all happen over night, or even in one lifetime. But the most important thing to remember is to keep doing what you're doing. It takes dilegence, patience, time, practice, and endurance. It's not a question of ever giving up. Yes, it's a hard road, but it's worth it in the end. Just ask any of the Steelers. They kept their eyes on the prize and now can say the acheived it! And I can't help but believe that they give all the credit to the Lord for their victory. God honors this.

"For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith. Who is it that is victorious over the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact)?" 1 Jn.5:4-5 (Amplified)

Life is not all about football, but it does give us a sense of comradery and it also gives us a new insight in which to observe this game. Will you ever watch it the same way now knowing that your own life is based on the same principles?Is your life worth the time and effort of learning the stradegy plays between life and death as much as knowing the rules of a football game? Get determined to make your own touchdowns!

To me, I think football is alot more complicated than learning the True Word of God. At least I know if I make the right moves and do the plays His way, then I am sure to be victorious! I no longer just take it in a passive "whatever" kind of attitude. I am now determined to win!

This reminds me of how passionate people are about their home teams, but where is their passion for Christ? Is it lukewarm? I pray that it isn't because this is what Jesus says about those who are:

"I know your (record of) works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!" Rev. 3:15-16 (Amplified)

What will your scoreboard say when your game is over? Will Christ spit you out or will He embrace you in His loving arms?

To be a winner in God's team is to know you are not a loser!

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