by Andre Sanchez

There are several reasons why your golf game could be not as good as you are capable of, and these top tips for improving your game address most of them.

The major reason for people not improving their golf at the rate that should is a lack of fitness for golf. Fitness for golf is different from general fitness due to the strains and stresses placed on your body by the golf swing. This is an unnatural rotational movement that needs specific training if it is to be carried out properly with the maximum power and speed through the golf ball.

Nobody ever got better at golf by lifting heavy weights and pounding treadmills. Your training must be golf specific and must include aspects of strength and flexibility training. Let’s take simple strength exercises first.

To improve your golfing strength you must work on the muscles use during your swing: there are about 22 of them, perhaps more. You won’t work all of those by lifting weights, but you will if you include your actual swing in the exercise. One of the simplest strength exercises is to swing as normal, but with a weighted club. There are weighted clubs on the market designed specifically for golf strength training.

What this does is to strengthen all of the muscle you use when you swing, because you are doing so with added resistance, just as you develop you biceps by lifting with the added resistance of weights. If you don’t have a weighted club you can achieve exactly the same by using a dumbbell. Hold it in both hands and swing, as though you were holding a golf club. A weighted medicine ball can also be used.

The usefulness of this golf tip is that these exercises can be carried out in your home or even your office. You will soon find that you are swinging more powerfully, with greater clubhead speed through the ball.

Flexibility is also of extreme importance. The rotational movements of your swing require a great degree of flexibility in your joints, and the ability of your muscles to stretch. You can work on flexibility by doing some simple exercise at home or in the office. For example, sit upright in a chair and hold a medicine ball or even a large can of beans in both hands. Holding your arms out straight in front of you twist as far as you can round to the right, then the same to the left. Repeat this ten times.

Do this two or three times a day and you will soon find that you have better flexibility on your backswing and much better extension in your follow through. Your swing will be smoother with more speed and power.

Another tip is how to cure a slice. Everybody has sliced that ball at one time or another, and it is the one most prevalent and distressing problem that every golfer has to deal with at one time or another. Even Tiger slices out right into the trees now again, but he knows what to do to cure it on the next shot.

First of all, do not do what most amateur golfers do and aim left of the target. We are assuming here that you are right handed, and as left handers know already, they do the opposite of what I suggest. If you aim left of the target, and trust that the slice will bring the ball to the target, you not only lose accuracy but also a lot of length. Here are the two main tips for curing your slice.

First, strengthen your grip. That does not mean to hold it tighter, although a slice can be cause by holding the club too loosely. It means to move your hands a bit more clockwise on the grip. A slice is caused by your club face not being straight on to the direction of your swing. So, if your swing is straight through the ball in line with the target, your club face has not quite straightened up to the ball. If you move your grip clockwise, you will bring the club face round quicker. It might take one or two adjustments, but it will work.

However, if you are swinging across the ball, and your club face is square to ball at impact, you will also slice. What you have to do here is to move your feet so that they are more in line with target. You will then swing straight and your slice will disappear.

If you follow these tips for improving your golf game, you will be surprised at the difference, and your golfing buddies will be amazed as you drive dead straight, and 40 yards more than normal. They work – try them!

Top Tips for Improving your Golf Game was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com