The World’s Best Golf Vacation Spots?
If you are an avid golf player then you might be considering a golfing vacation. However, with various golf vacations to choose from, how do you begin and where do you start searching for the perfect golf vacation?
Although there are hundreds of golf vacation courses to pick from around the world, there are still a few that remain head above the rest. So, if you are searching for the best of the best golf locations around then look no further! Here you will find only the best golf locations in the world.
The Best Golfing Locations
Golf is played in many countries which means that there is an extremely huge selection of golf courses to pick from. Some are better than others and if you are searching for a really memorable golf vacation then these golf vacations are just what you are looking for:
America golf courses
If you want to stay in America then you will find that there are a some golfing locations which are just amazing. Palm Springs is absolutely one of the most amazing golf vacations where you could play. It boasts extremely great weather with only 21 days maximum of rain throughout the whole year and it has fantastic, scenic mountain views. There is always something for all golfers in Palm Springs so no matter if you are a newbie or a pro player, you will get something which challenges your abilities.
Scotland golf courses
There are many golf vacations within Europe but Scotland has proven to be one of the best there is within the area. The Prestwick Golf Club is one of the top courses that there is in Scotland and it was designed by Tom Morris. It is the course which hosted the first British Open in 1860 and has a lot of history behind it. It is the place where several competitions are held and it provides plenty of challenges for new golfers.
Jamaican golf courses
If you are really looking to get away then Jamaica will be the perfect place for you. There are the best golf resorts to select from including the Sandals golf resort. Sandals are known as one of the best golf locations due to its green scenery. If you are searching for an idyllic resort to play golf you definitely will be pleased with the Sandals Resort. The best thing about golf vacations with Sandals is that everything is all inclusive. Transfers and green fees to and from the courses are included so there is no extra hassle for you to think about. So Jamaica is absolutely one of the best countries to play golf in if you want a scenic atmosphere.
Overall there are some absolutely wonderful golf vacations around the globe and choosing the best ones could be a really difficult task. However, the ones mentioned above are definitely worth looking at if you are planning your next golf vacations they might just be what you are searching for.
Drills to Improve your Golf Swing – Golf Tips and Drills
Drills are very important in developing your overall game. They do not have to be saved only for the range but can be practiced in your own backyard. To prevent boredom and help to speed up your rate of learning, try to avoid doing the same drills at similar times each day.
A favorite drill of mine is simply heading out onto the range and swinging to hit the 150 yard flag. Don’t concentrate on anything else except doing this 1 thing. If you go to the range with a single purpose, it becomes simpler to absorb a method.
This next drill is used in developing your swinging rhythm. Your aim is to swing at the golf ball in slow-motion. You’re gong to use only a fraction of your overall power to knock the ball off the tee. Do this about 10 times before adding more power. As you begin to reach your maximum power again, you’ll notice your rhythm developing.
Here’s a great drill that can be done at home to develop your balance. You will want to position your body as if you’re about to do a push-up. Push your body up as you would normally do and then lift your left hand and right foot off the ground. Stay in this position for about 10seconds. You should then proceed to do the same thing with your right hand and left foot. Strive to do this at least a few times a week and you will notice a significant improvement in your overall strength and balance.
Straight Down the Middle of The Fairway
It is important to understand that anxiety is a natural response. In situations of perceived threat, your brain instinctively releases adrenalin – the fight or flight hormone – named as such because it poises the body to fight or flee. This of course was a very appropriate response to perceived threat in cave man days. It is not, however, an appropriate response when you are standing waiting to hit your golf shot off the first tee box.
Nevertheless, this is our body’s natural instinctive response to perceived threat. So when you experience the symptoms of anxiety they are simply your body’s natural response to a perceived threat. Thus the cause of the anxiety is YOUR PERCEPTION of threat, and the symptoms are the physiological effects of adrenalin being released in your body.
You may consciously think yourself into being anxious, so that it is a self fulfilling prophesy. More frequently however, the thought process has become habitual and automatic, so that it just happens without you having to consciously think about it. This is how your mind works – you learn how to drive and once you are competent at driving you don’t have to think about how to do it, it just happens. It is the same with walking, talking, tying your shoelaces and opening doors.
This ability of your mind to generalize patterns of behavior is fantastic most of the time – so long as the skill which has been generalized is one that you want to have. But when your mind generalizes a pattern of behavior which is counter-productive, what you have is a learned, habitual, instinctive response that you really do not want. The great news, however, is that what has been learned can be unlearned.
You may have heard the saying that it is not what happens to you in life but the way in which you respond which distinguishes champions. And no matter what situation you are in you can learn to respond to it in a different way. Your thoughts create your emotions and your actions.
Here are some tips which will help you to think in a different way when you are on the first tee box.
1. Breathe to relax – Your mind and body are intrinsically linked. Mind works on body, body works on mind. It’s impossible for your mind to be tense and your body relaxed and vice versa. By relaxing your breathing you will automatically relax your mind. Breathe through your abdomen, not your chest. Five deep breaths will do the trick.
2. Always execute your pre shot routine. The reason for having a consistent pre-shot routine is to absorb your mind in the details of the task at hand, and in so doing any other not-so-productive thoughts are displaced. If you thought it unnecessary to have a set routine, think again.
3. Be in the now. You might think you are, but are your thoughts really on the present moment? A Stanford University study found that the average person has 60,000 thoughts a day, 59,500 of which are the same as the day before – indicating that it’s a really tiny percentage of time that people are really “in the now”. If you’re in the now, you can’t worry about past failures, you can’t worry about future outcomes.
4. Whatever you imagine you create. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between a vividly imagined experience and a real one. Imagine a few perfect shots, build up that muscle memory and then you’re more likely to hit a good golf shot on the first tee.
5. A picture is worth a thousand words. Where there is a conflict between your will power and your imagination, your imagination wins. To demonstrate this, try as hard as you can, right now, to NOT think about the ball going into the bunker. What are you thinking about? Your mind is exquisitely talented; the golf ball will go to whatever place on the course you are picturing…So picture the place where you want the ball to end up.
6. Learn to have selective memory. Turn a blind eye, put it to the back of your mind, and sweep it under the carpet. These phrases reflect another of the exquisite mental talents we all instinctively possess. Put the duff shots firmly to the back of your mind and instead remember the last time you hit a really perfect shot off the first tee and run it over and over in your mind so that it is very clear and sharp and stands out clearly in the forefront of your mind.
7. Focus on the golf shot you are about to play without generalizing. “I ALWAYS hit it in the water” is not a good thought to choose to have. Whatever you focus on you attract into your life; whatever you imagine you create. Be aware that you have, on occasion, hit it into the water, but that THIS TIME, TODAY, you are planning to hit the golf ball down the middle of the fairway, and visualize that outcome before you swing.
8. Choose your thoughts. Believe it or not, you can do this. Everything in life starts with a thought. How you see things depends on how you choose to look at them. You can choose to look at things from a different angle.
9. Be positive and commit to the golf shot you have decided upon. Positive thinking does work. Commitment does work. Take a committed practice swing and ask yourself would that swing have produced the outcome you want to achieve? Take your golf shot when you are confident of the swing you are going to make.
10. Let go; if you arrive on the tee feeling a bit tense, pretend you are a rag doll and shake your muscles out. Remember mind works on body and body works on mind. You cannot have a relaxed body at the same time as a tense mind.
11. Take a step back. Don’t rush; think before you act. Take a moment to review the situation. Distance yourself, look at it from a different direction, and take a different perspective. Breathe deeply and take time to decide on the best golf shot in the prevailing conditions. The fact that you “always take a three wood here” isn’t a good enough reason to grab that club out of your bag.
12. Think “smooth”; imagine a golf swing with perfect tempo, perfect rhythm, and ensure your practice swing is nice and smooth with good timing.
13. Talk to yourself nicely; talk to yourself with a confident encouraging tone; tell yourself that you can do it and that you are great at this type of shot. Trust in your talent, your ability to hit the perfect shot. Repeat a calm and positive word or phrase; if that is what you are focusing on, then that is what you will do.
14. Dissociation – This is a good mental skill to learn if you suffer badly from first tee nerves. Imagine how good you could feel, just drifting out of your body, floating up in the air and distancing yourself from all those unnecessary emotions? You can learn to watch yourself taking your golf swing.
15. Count to 10; an old remedy and it does work. Counting to 10 allows you some time to re-engage your logical mind and think clearly about the task in hand. When you are anxious the logical thinking part of your mind is bypassed and the lower brain functions take over. It is therefore important to use any method which works for you to take a step back and re-engage your higher brain functions. As your higher brain functions are re-engaged you can think and focus clearly on the task in hand.
16. Get help from professionals. If you have got into the habit of feeling anxious and tense on the first tee, golf hypnosis could be the answer to your prayers. Not only is hypnosis a state of relaxation, but you have access to your subconscious thought processes so that they can be changed quickly and easily.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and self hypnosis mp3 recordings.
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