Before we go any further we first must define what “golf tempo” really is. This is the fluid motion, speed, and rate of your swing as you go back, then through the ball, and finish the swing. The best golf swings have always been those with great tempo and most golfers that play very well you will hear them mention that they had great tempo or timing that day in their swing.

So, how do you achieve the proper tempo for your swing and why is it so important? In the golf swing is you are off by just a fraction of a second on your timing you could easily leave the face of the club open a little bit or closed a little bit. This could cause you to curve the golf ball in a way you were not expecting and this could be the reason you are hitting more chip shots than you would like or have longer putts than you want.

To get to a proper golf tempo you need to make sure you feel very relaxed and understand that it should take you about twice as long to finish your back swing as the rest of the swing should take you. So if the golf swing is 1.5 seconds long your back swing would be a full second of that and the rest would be a 0.5 seconds of that. This should make sense since the force to hit the ball is created from the top of the backswing and down through to the impact position.

A couple of good ways to practice this is to use what is known as a metronome. This will create a ticking noise in a rhythm that you set. If you can learn to swing with this tool you can create a great golf tempo for your swing. Also, keep in mind that the way you walk and act on the golf course dictates your tempo as well. If you are in a hurry all day you are probably going to swing to quickly and if you are waiting all day you will probably swing to slowly.

If you want the best golf tips links, it may be hard to find just what you’re looking for. There are much better places to look than just simply Googling “golf” and getting a bunch of ads. Here are some good places to start when you’re looking for golf tips online.

About.com – golf.about.com

If you’ve never checked out About.com, it’s a great resource for pretty much any kind of information out there. About’s golf site has all kinds of tips.

One section gives you all the basic rules of golf. This is intended for beginners. It breaks the game down in a way that’s easy for anybody to understand.

Under that, it lists topics which are full of articles. The topics range from beginner all the way to advanced. You can find information all about golf, its history, game tips, and other resources. About.com has everything golfers could want. External links lead you all over to other sites of interest to golfers.

Golf Online – http://www.golfonline.com

Golf Online is made by the publishers of Golf Magazine, so you know it’s a source you can trust. Like the magazine, it has the latest news about the pros, courses, stats, and products. It also has golf tips for golfers of any level.

Golf Online has articles written by trusted names in the golfing world, offering tips to us mortals. Pick one article and, when you’re done, links lead you around to the next one. You can spend all day on Golf Online if you’re not careful!

Golflink – http://www.golflink.com

Golflink has all kinds of resources for golfers, starting with links to the best courses and golf vacation deals. Don’t get tempted! Scroll down a little ways and you’ll see a link to golf tips.

Here, you’ll find links to articles on golfing, from the very basics to tips from the pros. Under each sub-topic, like “grips” and “full swing,” you’ll find more articles than you can read in one sitting. Golflink will have something you can use.

BBC Golf Tips – news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/skills(You can also go to http://www.bbc.co.uk and follow the links to find the golf page)

BBC is more than just a trusted news source. While this site has the latest news of the golfing world, it also has a links section full of articles listed by topic. Whether it’s your swing you want to work on, or some mental tips to help you get through the course, BBC’s got everything you need.

One of the cool things about BBC is its “Video Masterclasses.” With most kinds of video players, you can check out videos where the pros offer you advice and tips, and actually show you what they’re talking about. It’s like a one-on-one lesson right there in front of your computer!

Yahoo and Google

You can look under most search engine in their categories for sites about golf. Look for sports and recreation links, and you’ll find each sub-category listed by sport. Just stay away from the “sponsored ads.”

Even sites that are trying to sell you something will have a “links” section or a “golf tips” section on the sidebar where you can find some useful tips to improve your game.

These are just a few places to look on the Web for golf tips links. You can crawl all over the internet looking for good golf tips, but these sites are good places to look first.

Picture yourself standing on the tee box of your favorite short 4 par. You’ve got your driver in hand. This hole is designed with risk-reward written all over it. If you hit it long and straight, you can get very near or maybe on the green with your driver to set up for an easy birdie. If you mis-hit it, you are looking at hazards or o/b and a balloon score.

You know the correct play here is to pull out an iron and lay up for a 100 yard shot to the green, but you just can’t bring yourself to do it. You say to yourself, “What the heck, I’m going for it”.

Because, after all is said and done, the idea behind playing golf is to have fun and if taking chances on the golf course and sometimes beating the odds is your idea of fun, who’s to say that you are wrong about that? Myself, I’m more interested in playing for score than going for broke, but hey, that’s just me. I will support anyone anytime who wants to go for the difficult tee shot with the possibility of pulling off an unbelievable shot as long as they are willing to gracefully accept the consequences of missing it .

What’s the point to all of that? THE DRIVER IS KING of the golf bag! Driving the golf ball long and straight is the holy grail of almost all amateur golfers. Some will even leave a golf course happier if they were satisfied with the way they hit their driver than if they had a great score. Yet, we are constantly reminded of the old saying:

“Drive for show, and putt for dough”

Greg Norman disputes this old saw by saying in his book SHARK ATTACK: “Don’t ever sell me on that line. If you can’t put your tee-shot in play, the smoothest stroke in the world won’t help you enough. To my mind, the most important shot in golf is the drive”.

Do you feel better now? I do, because he isn’t the only one who has made these types of remarks about driving. Furthermore if you really think about it, the importance of the driver and getting off the tee safely with some distance is probably greater for higher handicappers than the better golfers as the larger portion of their shots are spent in just getting to the green.

So what can we do about it short of another set of golf lessons? Plenty! Start off by getting a new driver, plain and simple. The new technology is light years ahead of the #1 wood of just 3 years ago.

Also, we must be able to direct our mind so that our brain and muscles are in sync and harmony in successfully pulling off this very violent of sports acts with the driving tool.

How to do all of that?

We must first understand how our DESIRE to hit this little white golf ball is translated into the correct contractions of muscles in a timing sequence that moves the driving club in the direction that will contact the ball squarely and with great force to achieve the outcome we want.

It’s not that complicated. We are beings uniquely capable of original thought that comes from what we call our conscious mind. We create a thought there that is then communicated to our subconscious mind to make the act happen. What? Our subconscious mind makes the driver hit the ball? Yes! Here’s proof:

The last time you rode a bike, did you have to say words to yourself to get your leg to push on the pedal? Did you have to tell yourself that you now have to balance yourself with a thousand small muscles all acting independently? Did you have to tell your left arm muscles to contract and your right arm muscles to release contraction in order to make a left turn? Of course not! You just thought very quickly with your conscious mind what you wanted to do and then it turned the accomplishment of that desire over to the subconscious mind. The subconscious then made it all happen.

This is no small feat to send a zillion electrical impulses out in a precise order in order to cause another zillion muscle fibers to contract or relax at the perfect time. This is the wonder of our bio-computer called the BRAIN.

So, what about all that golf advice about setup, position at the top, swing checkpoints, follow-through, etc? This is what you probably thought you would be reading about right? Folks, it’s all good, however, it’s sometimes too much for us to handle and causes us “paralysis by analysis”. We need to work a plan that will give us maximum return for minimum effort and time. Most of us just don’t have the time to go practice the multitude of advice we have been given on the swing and that is the only way you are going to improve if using a mechanical approach to improvement. A better, more time-efficient system, is a MENTAL one:

Remember this:

“The quality of our golf game is determined by the quality of our communication with ourselves.”

Our subconscious mind controls all of our involuntary (don’t have to think about) functions like breathing and heart rate but it also runs extremely complicated physical motions as long as it has been taught how. Hitting the driver is at the height of complication for the golf swing since we are expecting maximum force and speed coupled with keeping precision. After all, we could have pretty good precision when we have a 1-foot putt right? And we can lift our heaviest weight when we aren’t concerned with whether or not we are going to drop it or not. We intuitively know that the harder we exert force on something, the less precision we have in that act. When using the driver in our golf game, we must realize a few key points in order to maximize our efficiency on the tee box.

1. The subconscious mind is the expert at swinging the driver, not the conscious.

If we have hit a great drive in the past, then our subconscious mind knows how to do it again. It knows the correct number and sequence of muscle contractions and nerve impulses required to repeat that great drive. All that is required is a clear communication of the desire to the subconscious mind. This is achieved with visualization prior to the actual swing.

2. The conscious mind tends to get in the way and must be given something to do to keep busy so that it doesn’t interfere with the subconscious mind’s work.

Once the desire has been communicated, you should think something simple during the swing like maybe singing a song or, a simple count of the actions of the swing as they are happening (ie 1.backswing, 2.top of swing, 3. forward motion, etc.). Or continue with the visualization of the ball flying exactly as you planned it in the middle of the swing. Or, you may be able to utilize self-hypnosis and concentrate directly and solely on that ball to put yourself in a zone-like state for the duration of the swing. Many golfers do this without even knowing it but it can be developed further with knowledge and effort in this area. (my website has free ebook on this).

3. There is a point of exertion of force on the driver that if we go beyond it, then our probability of keeping our precision is drastically reduced.

This falls under the Law of Diminishing Returns and is best explained by this analogy: how many cooks can you put in a kitchen before they start bumping into one another and actually start reducing their output as that number is exceeded. This point is different for everyone, but, most importantly: This point is at LESS FORCE than you think for most golfers who have trouble with their driver. In other plain terms…hit it solid first and then harder second.

Everything written thus far was with the intent of convincing you of this inescapable fact of hitting the driver. If you aren’t convinced, then you won’t take action. The actions required don’t take any of your time but they do require consistent effort throughout your day. Golf is unforgiving to the lazy person but generous to the focused one.

So, make every effort this month, or this week if you have an upcoming round you want to get ready for and repeat to yourself (communicate with your subconscious mind) that you first and foremost always hit the driver square and on the sweet spot.

Say it to yourself at least one hundred or so times in a week (this is a lot easier to do than you are thinking right now). Picture in your mind what it would look like, how it would feel to have your drives go straight every single time. Zoom in on your driver about to make contact with the ball in your mental movies. Do this everywhere, anytime, but especially before falling asleep. Keep doing it on a consistent basis. Isn’t that what we are striving for in golf – consistency? We have to build it into our way of thinking for it to happen out on the course.

There are many ways to effectively communicate with your subconscious mind. Basic affirmations and visualizations just described is the simplest. Once your subconscious accepts the idea as internal truth (and it must if you are persistent in convincing it), you will see dramatic improvement off the tee.

1. A sticky accelerator is a problem when the accelerator of the cart is in the pressed condition always. This can be checked by listening to a clicking sound. Once the engine is on and the accelerator is pressed, a clicking sound is produced. This sound is heard only when the accelerator is pressed. So if you hear the sound, when you are not pushing the accelerator, then it might be due to sticky accelerator. In such cases contact a good mechanic.

2. Do you experience low pulling torque or power while driving inclined roads? Then it might be due to loose battery connections or low power battery. Securing them tightly can solve the problem. If the battery is drained out, then its best to replace them.

3. Always make sure you maintain the tire pressure constant at the required level. A low tire pressure can reduce the mileage and increase the load on the engine. The recommended tire pressure of an E-Z-Go Golf Cart is between 18 and 22 PSI.

4. Maintenance of the battery is very essential. If properly maintained, a battery can last upto 5 or 6 years. Clean the battery terminals and casing once in a while. Also maintain an adequate level of water inside the battery cells. Use distilled water to refill, in case the water level is too low.

5. Examine all the connections to and from the battery and other electrical fittings. Any loose or faulty connection can lead to malfunctioning of the E-Z-Go Golf Cart. Make sure to tighten any loose contacts using a wrench.

Tips & Warnings

Always wear protective gloves and safety goggles before conducting any type of troubleshooting. Make sure not to over-inflate the tires. Never leave the lights and other battery powered accessories in the ON state. It can deplete the battery charge.

Blanco State Park – Located about 40 miles north of San Antonio this park consists of 104 acres resting along the Blanco River. It has modern restrooms with showers and approximately 30 campsites. All sites have water and electricity and some have sewer connections. There are also 7 screened shelters here, playgrounds, and a dump station. Camp, swim, picnic, hike or fish, and enjoy yourself on the river. Tube, canoe and kayak rentals are available at the park.

Garner State Park – Located about 30 miles north of Uvalde or about 93 miles northwest of San Antonio, this park consists of 1419 acres and has 10 acres of riverfront along the clear waters of the Frio River. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come here each year. There are several hundred campsites available and a wide range of amenities. Also, there are a limited number of cabins available for rent both inside and outside the park. The concession building serves meals and snacks and jukebox dancing is available most Summer evenings. In addition, there are sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, and miniature golf available. Camp, swim, fish, bike, picnic, rent a canoe or kayak, tube down the river, or hike on miles of interesting trails.

Inks Lake State Park – Located outside of Burnet about 67 miles northwest of Austin, this park consists of approximately 1200 acres adjacent to Inks Lake on the Colorado River. This park has hundreds of campsites available and limited use cabins for rent. This is one of the better parks for hiking trails, as it has 7.5 miles of hiking trails, which includes 1.5 miles of backpacker trails and a primitive camping area to use for a trail camp. There is a 9 hole golf course with cart and club rentals available, and a park store which sells groceries and rents paddle boats, canoes and surf bikes. Longhorn Cavern State Park is located just a short distance to the southeast and is definitely worth a visit while you are here.

McKinney Falls State Park – Located just 13 miles southeast of Austin, this park sits on 744 acres. Facilities include about a half dozen screened shelters and over 80 campsites with water and electricity. Picnic, fish, camp, bike or hike and enjoy the beautiful scenery. There are about 3.5 miles of paved hiking trails and 4 miles of multi-use trails used for hiking and mountain biking. If you live in or near Austin, you can be enjoying yourself here in just minutes.

All of these parks are just a short drive from Austin or San Antonio and are well worth a visit. Relax and unwind while telling stories or playing games around the campfire. Enjoy a grilled burger, hot dog or steak. Watch your kids play and laugh and have a wonderful time together camping in the Hill Country of Texas. You will be glad that you did. Have fun and stay safe!

While some types of golf enclosures are for storage purposes only, as they cover the entire cart, you can also buy the type that is made to simply cover your golf car while you drive, protecting it from the rain and other inclement weather while allowing you to enjoy playing golf. You can also install either a propane or electric heater into your golf car to keep it nice and warm in the winter months.

There are back racks for your clubs and you can attach a ball washer that is combined with a golf club head cleaner that will keep your golf balls and golf clubs looking clean and beautiful. There are different varieties of floor mats you can have put into the golf car, and to make your driving easier you can install a cart mirror. There are different types of mirrors, some are installed on the side of the golf cart and some above the steering wheel.

Other useful items you can have installed in your golf car are: a cooler so you can pack your favorite drinks (this is attached to the golf cart itself), an ashtray and cigarette lighter that also serves as a power source, a GPS system, a cell phone holder, and a cell phone charger. If you enjoy listening to good music, or just want to catch up on the news as you drive, you can install either a radio or radio with CD player into your golf car. Another helpful item to have installed in your golf car is an under seat tray, to store different items.

If you are looking to buy different golf cart accessories, it is easy enough to buy them either at a sporting goods shop that sells golf equipment or online. The prices vary wildly as there are many different brands and they are made of different materials as well, but with all the variety, you are certain to find just what you need for the right price.

Land values have been going up and new construction has been booming for the last five years. Now the market is in a slow down and is being flooded with inventory. Homes are taking longer to sell and builders are being forced to lower their prices.

New home developers and builders were able to sell homes in the past few years before they broke ground. They had buyers waiting in the wings to purchase these homes as soon as the lots were developed and the builder priced the homes. The buyers chose their finish materials and waited for construction to be finished.

The winter of 2006 is going to be the best time to buy a new home in Bend Oregon. The National Association of Realtors reported “In the West, existing-home sales declined 3.1 percent to an annual pace of 1.25 million in September, and were 23.8 percent lower that a year earlier. The median price in the West was $332,000, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier.”

One developer/builder in Bend recently lowered prices $20,000 across the board on all of his homes. He now has eight homes sitting finished. He is also including central air-conditioning, upgraded tile counter tops, a refrigerator and backyard landscaping. These free upgrades and lower prices were not available last year.

As new and used home sales continue to fall and inventories continue to build Bend is starting to look like a candy store for home buyers. The new home market will show some of the best buys because builders have to sell. They cannot afford to sit on millions of dollars of inventory.

As we go into winter and the temperature starts to drop the heat bills start to go up. This increases the holding costs of a developer/builder. Builders are also starting to pay closing costs for a buyer which indirectly gives today’s buyers a better value yet.

Developers are usually large businesses that can afford to sell a few houses at a loss to get them through the winter. One builder has lowered his asking price of one particular home to almost $50,000 lower that the same floor plan sitting vacant down the street. He has several homes finished and sitting vacant and his interest payments continue and now winter heat bills will be adding to his holding costs.

This “buyer’s market” won’t last for long though. Interest rates are still around 6.25 percent and the Federal Reserve just held tight with no interest increase. So interest rates should stay low over the winter.

Gasoline prices are falling and it was just reported by the Bend Bulletin, Central Oregon’s local news paper that “Deschutes County jobless rate sinks To 3.7 percent.” Bend continues to grow. There are good jobs available and people continue to move to Bend.

Bend is also one of the most desirable places to live in the United States. If you live in Bend you can drive 30 minutes west and be in the mountains with great fishing, hunting, hiking and biking. You can drive 30 minutes east and be in the high desert with spectacular mountain views and fresh clear air.

It is said that Bend’s local ski mountain, Mount Bachelor has some of the best powder in the Northwest. Golf magazines also report that Bend is one of the best golf communities in the West. Golf is available for golfers of any budget from inexpensive public courses to luxury private courses.

The Deschutes River runs through the middle of Bend. It is a nationally famous trout stream and also has Steelhead and Salmon runs in its lower reaches. Because Bend is such a great place to live there will always be a demand for new homes.

Local Realtors look for prices to stabilize and start back up next spring. David Lereah, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said, “When consumers recognize that home sales are stabilizing, we’ll see the buyers who’ve been on the sidelines get back into the market, and sales will be at more normal levels in the wake of the unsustainable boom that we say last year.”

The next few months will be the best time in a long time to buy a new home in Bend Oregon.

Now you’re saying, “Hm, I want a piece of that. I’d better get some golf balls and clubs and hit the course.” Ah, such a common mistake. What did you forget? Shoes!!

Now, wait a minute you say. They’re just shoes, right? Wrong! Would a basketball player hit the hardwood wearing tennis shoes? Nope. He would risk spraining his ankle and couldn’t move as effectively. Would a bowler hit the lanes wearing football cleats? Nope, he’d be on his butt in no time and well, the owner’s may not think too kindly of cleats indoors. The case is the same in golf, but even more dramatic.

Not only do proper shoes keep your feet dry during play, but they will keep a very important tool of your golf swing rooted; your feet! Although it doesn’t stand out as much clubs that fit properly, proper golf shoes are a key to developing a good swing. Why? Think about how much torque a golf swing puts on your legs and feet throughout the golf swing.

Watch the pros when they blast their drives 330+ yards. As a they turn away from the ball, their feet fight to stay in place, rooted like two tree trunks to the ground by their cleats, and their cleats only. The same happens on the way down. They’ll swing through with the torque on their feet almost ripping the ground below them, but their cleats keep them rooted throughout. Imagine how ugly this would be with no traction. They couldn’t swing as hard without slipping, thus creating a lesser potential for distance.

A common mistake new golfers make is to hit the links in an old pair of tennis shoes, thinking golf shoes aren’t important. Well I have news for you. If you go out in tennis shoes, it’s going to be like swinging in socks on a tile floor. It doesn’t exactly grip very well, especially when it’s wet.

What this can lead to is a bad weight shift from the start, because your body’s natural balancing mechanisms are doing everything they can to keep you on your feet. I see it all the time on the driving range. People are out to have some harmless fun whacking some golf balls, which is all in good fun of course. But then I see them twisting, slipping, and sliding all over the place from the massive amount of torque, all while ingraining bad swing habits.

So if you are serious about learning how to play golf, even just for recreation, do yourself a favor and pick up a good pair of golf shoes. Make sure the pair you decide to buy fit well. If your feet slide around in them, your balance can be thrown off as well.

Make sure your toes are in the proper spots. And guys, golf shoes aren’t masculine anyway, so check your ego at the door on this one fellas; and ladies, don’t try to squeeze into a size smaller. You’re gonna be on your feet a lot, so you’ll want them to be comfortable. Tie them tight all the way down and you’ll have the best chance of being balanced. But of course, be comfortable too.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can get a pair of brand new FJ GreenJoys for $50, or an off brand for even less. I promise you, they will make a much bigger difference than that $80 dollar lob wedge you think you need.

Make sure your shoes fit right, have a good set of spikes in them, and you’ll be well on your way to a stable base for golf and probably more distance as well.

Fortunately for me, they showed a lot of Golf in the early days of Television. Back then; they had Golf lessons on very late at night. It was almost like watching Golf videos, the action would be physically slowed right down by the Golf Professional. You were able to see the mechanics. And they would repeat the shot several times. Thankfully, they were very easy to follow. For me this was a blessing in disguise as the lessons were given by the greatest players of all time. Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, from the US, Gary Player, from South Africa and Bob Charles the greatest Left-handed golfer in the world from New Zealand.

My tuition was in great hands. Apart from Sam Snead, these three Great players Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Bob Charles still play great Golf on the senior circuits today. Thanks to these gifted professionals, my golf game has improved so much I am enjoying the greatest game in the world. I rarely play a bad shot and when I do my recovery shot is brilliant. I surprise myself as well. I no longer get ridiculed anymore. Instead; most of my fellow golfers ask me for help. They ask how they can improve their golf game like me.

Golf swing videos are available everywhere these days. Technology advances have now advanced to Golf lessons on DVD. The Internet has also advanced and Online Golf swing videos and online Golf DVD Lessons are now available. These are of exceptional high quality. The Golf instructions are taught by excellent known Golf professionals of today. Do not despair like I did. Avoid the ridicule and the jokes at your expense. To find out how to enjoy and improve your Golf game; find out about your secret weapon Golf swing videos here.

In this article we’ll explore the benefits of golf GPS units in comparison to laser rangefinders for golf. Both devices are designed to provide golfers with accurate yardage readings, but they both function quite differently and each has different strengths and weaknesses.

How a Golf GPS Units Delivers YardagesTo keep it simple, a golf GPS is a satellite based mapping device. It communicates with overhead satellites to pinpoint your exact location on the Earth and then uses previously recorded locations on the golf course, to tell you the distance to any important locations near you (front of the green for the hole you are playing for example).

Advantages of a Golf GPS UnitYou don’t have to aim it at a target to get a yardage reading. This can be an advantage if your target is not in your line of site; an elevated green or you are behind a bush for example.

Also, you don’t have to have a steady hand or accurate eye to line up a GPS unit like you would with a range finder.

How a Laser Rangefinder for Golf FunctionsA rangefinder is much different than a GPS. It is an optical device which is somewhere between a pair of binoculars and a laser gun that would be used to measure speeding drivers by a highway patrol officer.

The optical system, much like a rifle scope, allows you to select and lock onto the object that you want to measure the distance for (a flag stick on a green for example).

Then the golf rangefinder shoots an “eye safe” laser at the target, and measures the time it takes for the laser to bounce off of the target and return to the rangefinder. From this time delay, the rangefinder can calculate accurately how far away the target is.

Advantages of a Laser Rangefinder for GolfThe latest model Range finders have up to 7x magnification. This can be very useful, not only for guiding the laser to get accurate yardage measurements to your target, but also for locating landing areas.

For example, it is impossible to locate a ridge on a green that could that should be avoided from 175 yards with the naked eye. With a range finder, you could spot it easily and play safely to the other side of the green, resulting in an easier birdie putt.

Another advantage is that a laser rangefinder can be used on the practice range to see how far you are hitting each club.

The short answer is neither a GPS nor rangefinder is better, they are similar, but different; and they have different strengths and weaknesses.

The best way to solve that problem is to have one of each! but that isn’t always realistic, so study the facts to decide which one is better for your game.