Golf Squad

Visit http://www.golfsquad.com to check out a cool organization taking golf to kids in schools.

Beginner Golf Tip for New Golfers No. 4

#4: Play the tee marker suitable for your skill level. For your first experience you may want to just tee off from the 150 yard marker on each hole.

Free Tips for Beginning Golfers No. 3

#3: An old format for Ladies Day at the country club sometimes calls it ‘Hit and ‘Giggle’. This means competition is the last thing on their minds and they are just out to have fun. After all, it is just a game.

This tip provided by Tony Simpson, PGA
http://www.villagegolfpro.com
Teaching golf in sunny Clearwater, Florida

Quick Tip for New Golfers No. 2

#2: You may improve the lie of the ball anywhere on the course. If the ball is sitting very low in the grass and low to the ground it is very hard to get airborne. You can try it, but go ahead and put it on a tuft of grass if you want to. Better yet, put it on a tee if you need to. Every shot.

See more by typing Tony Simpson, PGA in YouTube or by visiting www.villagegolfpro.com for more information on golf lessons in Clearwater, Florida.

Tips for New Golfers

If you are new to the game there are many exciting things about it. There are also some intimidating moments if one is not totally aware of what to expect. Being knowledgeable about the rules, etiquette and common behaviors will help everyone on the course have a great experience.

To learn any game, ESPECIALLY golf, it is OK to first put aside the official rules of the game to learn some of the important ways to keep yourself in position on the course. As long as you are not in a competitive event we encourage you follow these suggestions, or unofficial rules. They will help you to gain more confidence by keeping up with the pace of play while improving your golf game.

Heard of the new PGA Tee It Forward? Like the suggestions? These tips were written just for you.

#1: When you first learn to play and go on the golf course, you get more than one swing at the ball without counting if you miss. Limit this to three tries and then you should move the ball to where you should be on the course. This could mean picking it up and going to the green to get some practice on your putting.

Stay tuned for more tips coming soon.

Tony Simpson, PGA 

www.villagegolfpro.com

Tampa Professional Golf Lessons That Work!

This is a story of a man named Sam who had the desire to learn how to pole vault. At this point you may be wondering what this has to do with a golf tip.

Please read on.

After a quick search, he found there were three pole vault instructors in town. The first instructor was a nice person who greeted Sam with a smile. They proceeded to the practice area where the instructor began to tell Sam how to grip the pole, run and place the pole in the ground in order to propel himself over the bar.

Then Sam was turned loose to unsuccessfully try again and again to do just what the instructor had very clearly explained. Unhappy with his results, but still wanting to learn to pole vault, Sam decided to go and try the next pole vault school in the book.

At this appointment he was greeted by a hot-shot instructor who was full of the confidence Sam would love to have, the perfect model for a pole vault expert. Sam became excited as they proceeded to the instruction area, thinking he would learn this time for sure. The larger-than-life instructor sat Sam down in a chair and proceeded to show, on a video tape, a slow motion review of tapes from the instructor’s own medal-winning performance in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. After viewing the gold performance at least 10 times, breaking down each important point, the instructor took Sam out for his next miserable and painful experience trying to do exactly what he had been told and shown to do. No doubt, he had understood what they had told and shown him. It just wasn’t getting through. He started to doubt his own athletic ability, not to mention his hope for learning to pole vault. Sam, starting to lose all hope of soaring over that bar, resolved to try the third and final choice of instructors.

The price for instruction was a little higher than the others, but this was going to be his last attempt. Right from their first meeting did Sam have a different feeling about his new instructor. After being asked about his past attempts to pole vault and whether he felt there were any physical limitations, he knew that this his best interest was a concern. The instructor also explained that this would be an investment of time and effort. There would be no short cuts. Wanting more than ever to learn to pole vault, Sam readily signed the dotted line.

The instruction began by asking Sam what his interpretation of pole vaulting was. Did he understand the concepts that had been previously presented? It wasn’t until there was a clear picture did they proceed. Then Sam was given a shorter pole and asked to assume his position for beginning. After all, how he was holding the pole and even the foot he began the first step with was important. These were the fundamentals, according to the instructor. The next week they would actually begin to put these into action. He was encouraged to repeat these new ideas in front of a mirror every day for practice. Only after working with the way it felt for Sam to hold the pole properly and run to the jump with proper timing was he able to see himself doing it. And not until he learned how it felt to propel his body in the air did he challenge himself with reaching even a silver medal height. Sam was finally on the way to his dream of really pole vaulting.

Sam’s experience is probably not unlike many of those who are wanting to learn or improve their game of golf today. To learn from Sam’s journey, identifying and understanding what needs to happen before attempting to actually do it comes first. Then doing the skill at a level that Sam could be successful and rewarded was an important point. The point that should be made most clear, however, is that not until the proper movement was experienced did Sam begin to put all of the pieces together.

The first instructor told Sam how to do it. The second instructor showed Sam how to do it. Finally, the successful instructor coached Sam to feel how it should be done through related drills and exercises in addition to the other learning styles.

Learning golf, or any other physical activity, is no different. All effective instructors will include the following in their lessons: 1. Begin with sound fundamentals; 2. Take the activity in less challenging doses, making the reward of success a motivator; 3. Incorporate kinesthetic drills or movements that support the activity to promote the movements required; Analyze your current golf improvement program to determine if you are satisfied with your progress. If not, maybe Sam’s story can help you understand why and get on the track to your greater enjoyment of the game.

Take your game to one of the finest and most experienced golf instructors in the Tampa Bay & Clearwater area. We will work together to achieve your golfing potential.

Visit www.villagegolfpro.com or www.tonysimpsongolf.com for more golf tips  – or visit Tony at Chi Chi Sports Complex in Clearwater, Florida across from Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf Club.

Free Golf Tips from a Tampa PGA Pro

The golf swing is like a puzzle. For those of us who have played the game for a long time we can identify with the fact we have continued to learn more about our golf swings as time has gone.

The truth is even the professionals have their gremlins (those instinctive things we do incorrectly but are uncontrollable). The professionals get the yips. The professionals have their good and bad days. Such is the journey of being a golfer.

Tony Simpson, PGA is a golf teacher in Clearwater, Florida serving the entire Tampa Bay community with fundamentally sound golf instruction for golfers of all levels.

Tony has worked with professionals, low handicap players, ladies, juniors and disabled golfers at Chi Chi Sports Complex since he has joined their team in July.

Some of those free golf tips Tony has to offer can be seen at TonySimpsonGolf with his wishes for better golf.

Tampa Golf Gift Holiday Special

Holiday Gift Certificate Special at Chi Chi Sports Complex in Clearwater, Florida

Do you love to play golf and live in the Tampa region? It is worth a drive to visit the newly remodeled Chi Chi Sports Complex in Clearwater.

The short game area is ‘Augusta-nice’. The lesson tees are grass or in the shade. The putting green rolls as good as they come and is in excellent condition.

The 4-Week Golf Improvement Program offers a student one lesson per week (valued at $50 ea), a membership to the Range Club receiving 50% savings on large buckets ($5 value) and a FREE greens fee with each lesson to play golf at Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf Club across McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater.

This program is normally sold for $175 and is being offered for a Holiday Special at $150.

There are a limited number available. Click on the link above for contact information. Local to Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg.

One Plane vs. Two Plane Golf Swing

What has become apparent to me is that when I am using even my hybrid 3 iron to a short pitch with my sand wedge to a green the swing I feel best with is what I would consider a one plane swing.

This means  the natural turning of my shoulders and the hips are what controls the motion of that club. Because I am looking for accuracy with these clubs, rather than distance as my priority , I am comfortable with the shorter feeling swing.

If you look at a classic one plane swing such as Moe Norman you will see at the top of the swing how low or behind him his hands are. This will be with little vertical movement of the hands and club.

In a swing where accuracy is more important it makes sense to produce a swing where the club does not leave the original plane – or at least very little.

On the other hand, when swinging a driver I notice my hands are much higher and farther away from my body at the top. This would cause the plane of the club to change making it what I would then consider two plane.

In either case, my irons feel like shooting darts at a bulls eye and I can swing as hard as I want on my driver. Both feel great in my hands.

See how you can discover the swing that is right for you at www.villagegolfpro.com. Tony Simpson, PGA is a teaching golf professional at Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf in Clearwater, Florida.

Why Tiger Wears Red on Sunday

We all recognize the red shirt and black pants worn by Tiger Woods on the final round of a golf tournament. Now we know for sure why this may not just be his favorite outfit – but the psychological edge it could have given him is worth recognizing.

“The red shirt that Tiger Woods adorns on the final day of golf tournaments likely provides him with a confidence-boosting reminder of his alpha status in the golf world as it simultaneously reminds his competitors they are probably facing another long day.”

Quote by Dr. Andrew Elliott, researcher at Rochester University, on the results of a study of the color red, which is associated with power, passion and fertility in the animal kingdom.