Submitted By: Brad Myers
It seems like golf swing aids are everywhere you look these days. Golf swing aids are at your club, the local retailer and with the invention of an infomercial on TV! All mainstream golfers have at least one of these golf swing aids somewhere that the significant has threatened them with. Sound familiar?
Just as the hundreds of dollars of scrap-booking materials sit in the extra bedroom, sometimes our newest golf swing aids are bought with the best of intentions. I am just kidding you ladies! Whether the contraption does not fit correctly or it is going to take longer than you have to spend to make the improvements, the golf swing aids eventually find their way to a corner of the garage or a dark closet.
Are we trying to take the easy way out or are we just enthralled with the thought our golf swing could actually get fixed? Whatever the answer, as a group we throw millions of dollars a year with the thought that we will get better.
The main reason most golf swing aids do not help us is because we (yes I said we) are not working on what is the actual cause of the swing fault. Whether we like it or not, our bodies will dictate the outcome of our golf shots! Depending on our flexibility, strength and balance, these three factors will determine more of the ball flight characteristics than you think.
How many times have you wished you could make a bigger backswing? How many times did you have a good front nine only to blow up on the back nine and shoot your normal score? How often do you walk off the course with a sore back after trying to make that bigger turn? All of these results are caused by the "physical issues" within your very own body.
When putting together your golf training program for the New Year, there are a couple of golf swing aids that are very effective. One is the Complete Golf Gym System. The Complete Golf Gym System will increase your upper body strength, improve your balance and posture as well as strengthens your core muscles.
Another good golf swing aid that will improve your body as well is a weighted golf club like the Golf Gym Club 28 (about 1.75 pounds) or Golf Gym Club 38 (about 2.4 pounds). This type of club can be used for multiple functions such as increasing your range of motion, strength training and improving your balance. In addition, you can use this club to improve your chipping!
I liken our infatuation with golf swing aids to the multi-billion diet industry. If we as a society are spending multi-billions of dollars a year on diet pills, why are we still gaining weight every year? We are not working on ourselves. We are expecting the magic little pill to give us the results we want. Using golf training aids that are specific to your golf swing challenges with some work will make you a better player. It is kind of like the exercise part in the diet and exercise routine.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Golf Tip Practice For A Better Scorecard
Submitted By: George Gabriel
Every golfer is looking for a way to better their game, and trying to improve their swing through trial and error make it a frustrating game. The majority of new golfers are self-taught, and until they take the game up seriously, it is an uphill battle trying to even learn the basics of the golf swing. So how does the new golfer find a short cut for a better game, without taking the fairways apart in frustration?
In learning a new challenge, you have to take one small step at a time. Start off with the smaller steps, or goals, and slowly working towards the bigger goals. The game of golf has a short, medium and big swing. Once you learn the short swing and game, work your way up to the big swing and game. Golf is all in finding the feel of your golf swing. This golf tip will surely improve anyone’s game, once they find the balance and feel of a pendulum golf swing in motion. The following golf practice tip will help you understand the golf swing and what it takes to make it work effectively.
Place yourself around a green or a target with a 7 iron, pitching wedge and approximately 10 to 15 golf balls. If you are on a practice range, try and find an obstacle to go over during the practice. It will boost your confidence on the golf course. Step away from the golf balls and practice short swings with your feet together glancing at your attended target. Do not attempt to hit a golf ball until you feel comfortable with your short swing. If you must, hit one golf ball with your desired club to find and feel the distance for your attended target. Use very little wrist action on the take-away and follow through creating a v shape with the arms. Try to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club by grazing the grass, as you swing away glancing at the attended target.
Your goal is to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club making contact with the ball with your feet together. You will notice how your upper portion of the body will automatically coil on it’s own, and you lower body will move in unison with your upper body. Once you find the pendulum feeling of the golf club and swing, take a bigger swing. Gradually learn to sweep the grass with a quarter, half, three quarter and a full swing. You will notice yourself losing balance as you take fuller swings, and have to gradually move your feet apart until you find a balanced comfort zone.
With enough practice and effort, your golf score will improve dramatically with the knowledge of what it takes to make a ball bounce off the face of a golf club with a pendulum motion of the golf swing, once you find the balance and feel of a short swing and game. Practicing this golf tip frequently will also help in choosing the right club and swing, for distance in your short game.
Every golfer is looking for a way to better their game, and trying to improve their swing through trial and error make it a frustrating game. The majority of new golfers are self-taught, and until they take the game up seriously, it is an uphill battle trying to even learn the basics of the golf swing. So how does the new golfer find a short cut for a better game, without taking the fairways apart in frustration?
In learning a new challenge, you have to take one small step at a time. Start off with the smaller steps, or goals, and slowly working towards the bigger goals. The game of golf has a short, medium and big swing. Once you learn the short swing and game, work your way up to the big swing and game. Golf is all in finding the feel of your golf swing. This golf tip will surely improve anyone’s game, once they find the balance and feel of a pendulum golf swing in motion. The following golf practice tip will help you understand the golf swing and what it takes to make it work effectively.
Place yourself around a green or a target with a 7 iron, pitching wedge and approximately 10 to 15 golf balls. If you are on a practice range, try and find an obstacle to go over during the practice. It will boost your confidence on the golf course. Step away from the golf balls and practice short swings with your feet together glancing at your attended target. Do not attempt to hit a golf ball until you feel comfortable with your short swing. If you must, hit one golf ball with your desired club to find and feel the distance for your attended target. Use very little wrist action on the take-away and follow through creating a v shape with the arms. Try to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club by grazing the grass, as you swing away glancing at the attended target.
Your goal is to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club making contact with the ball with your feet together. You will notice how your upper portion of the body will automatically coil on it’s own, and you lower body will move in unison with your upper body. Once you find the pendulum feeling of the golf club and swing, take a bigger swing. Gradually learn to sweep the grass with a quarter, half, three quarter and a full swing. You will notice yourself losing balance as you take fuller swings, and have to gradually move your feet apart until you find a balanced comfort zone.
With enough practice and effort, your golf score will improve dramatically with the knowledge of what it takes to make a ball bounce off the face of a golf club with a pendulum motion of the golf swing, once you find the balance and feel of a short swing and game. Practicing this golf tip frequently will also help in choosing the right club and swing, for distance in your short game.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Junior Golf Instruction - When Should They Start?
Submitted By: Brad Myers
A question we hear all of the time is “When should we start junior golf instruction for our junior golfer?” Obviously, there is no real answer. For example, you have Tiger that started at the tender age of three and other successful tour players started their junior golf instruction much later. With many differing opinions are out there about when to begin junior golf instruction, you must remember that opinions are like belly buttons and everyone has one! Hale Irwin was once quoted as saying, “If a parent brings a young child to a Pro and says I want him/her to be a Golf Professional, chances are they won’t be.” The two most important part to the answer the question of “When should we start golf lessons for our junior golfer?” is that no matter what age your junior golfer is to make sure golf is something the junior golfer wants to do and to keep it fun for them.
First, you need to ask yourself some questions about what your motivation might be for getting junior golf instruction? Typically, there are four reasons that parents want junior golf instruction for their young child (under eleven):
1. Because of golf’s reputation for rules, fair play and self-policing, the parents have a genuine interest in seeing their children attempt to play the game.
2. A babysitting service, parents get a time out from their kids for a while.
3. Parents want to spend more time with their child and have decided that golf will be the vehicle to do this.
4. As so many do, parents feel that their children must be in as many activities as possible.
Again, whatever the reasons, the important thing is to let the kids have fun, enjoy themselves and let them decide for themselves whether they want to play the game of golf or not.
Regardless of how brilliant parents think their child is, young children (under eleven) do not have the attention spans. However, they do like to have fun and to some hitting balls is fun. As soon as you make it a chore by hovering over them with instructions, they will not want to play the game anymore. Think about it, would you?
If you want your youngster to enjoy golf, then don’t force the action. If they want to hit balls, let them. If they want to pick golf balls up and throw them, as long as they will not disturb anyone else, let them. If they want to hit their ball into the bunker, let them. When you think about it, a bunker is much smaller than the green and in theory, much harder to hit. Depending on their age, let them tee it up from 100 yards or 150 yards. Again, keep it a positive experience and fun for the junior golfer.
If you do decide to take junior golf instruction the Golf Professional should concentrate mainly on short game, putting chipping etc. The Golf Professional should show you as well as your junior many different games that you can play to keep it fun. In the meantime, the games will instill solid fundamentals which will help you and your junior to improve!
A question we hear all of the time is “When should we start junior golf instruction for our junior golfer?” Obviously, there is no real answer. For example, you have Tiger that started at the tender age of three and other successful tour players started their junior golf instruction much later. With many differing opinions are out there about when to begin junior golf instruction, you must remember that opinions are like belly buttons and everyone has one! Hale Irwin was once quoted as saying, “If a parent brings a young child to a Pro and says I want him/her to be a Golf Professional, chances are they won’t be.” The two most important part to the answer the question of “When should we start golf lessons for our junior golfer?” is that no matter what age your junior golfer is to make sure golf is something the junior golfer wants to do and to keep it fun for them.
First, you need to ask yourself some questions about what your motivation might be for getting junior golf instruction? Typically, there are four reasons that parents want junior golf instruction for their young child (under eleven):
1. Because of golf’s reputation for rules, fair play and self-policing, the parents have a genuine interest in seeing their children attempt to play the game.
2. A babysitting service, parents get a time out from their kids for a while.
3. Parents want to spend more time with their child and have decided that golf will be the vehicle to do this.
4. As so many do, parents feel that their children must be in as many activities as possible.
Again, whatever the reasons, the important thing is to let the kids have fun, enjoy themselves and let them decide for themselves whether they want to play the game of golf or not.
Regardless of how brilliant parents think their child is, young children (under eleven) do not have the attention spans. However, they do like to have fun and to some hitting balls is fun. As soon as you make it a chore by hovering over them with instructions, they will not want to play the game anymore. Think about it, would you?
If you want your youngster to enjoy golf, then don’t force the action. If they want to hit balls, let them. If they want to pick golf balls up and throw them, as long as they will not disturb anyone else, let them. If they want to hit their ball into the bunker, let them. When you think about it, a bunker is much smaller than the green and in theory, much harder to hit. Depending on their age, let them tee it up from 100 yards or 150 yards. Again, keep it a positive experience and fun for the junior golfer.
If you do decide to take junior golf instruction the Golf Professional should concentrate mainly on short game, putting chipping etc. The Golf Professional should show you as well as your junior many different games that you can play to keep it fun. In the meantime, the games will instill solid fundamentals which will help you and your junior to improve!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Etymology Of Golf
Submitted By: Morgan Clarke
Non-golf players are constantly confused by the strange selection of words that are of regular usage in the game’s lexicon and I have often been quizzed about the etymology of such terms whilst dealing in luxury golf holidays. The truth is that the language of golf can be confusing and yet the majority of golfers have no idea about how terms like ‘birdie’, ‘bogey’ and ‘mulligan’ became so intrinsically linked with the greens and fairways.
Some of these answers have been lost to history but in their place a number of theories of the origins of golf words have sprung up; I shall expand upon these here.
Golf
First off, let’s get one misconception out of the way from the very start. Golf does not, and has never been an acronym for ‘Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden’ even though some golf committees would like it that way!
One theory is that the term golf is derived from the medieval Dutch word “kolve” meaning “club”. From there, we have Scottish dialect to thank for its transformation into “golve”. Another theory is that the origins of the word golf are derived from the Scottish “goulf” – a verb which meant “to strike or cuff”, given the game involves a lot of striking the ball.
Either way, by the 1500s, the term “golf” had developed from these routes.
Par
Contrary to popular belief, the term “par” did not originate on the golf course. It entered golf terminology in the 19th-Century, and meant exactly the same thing that it did (and does) outside of golf: average, standard, ordinary.
Bogey
Perhaps one of the most bizarre terms in the golfing lexicon, this is a word that actually evolved right here in England. It relates to the Bogey Man who in the 19th-Century song said “I’m the Bogey Man, catch me if you can”. According to the USGA, golfers at the time pursued the Bogey Man on the golf course – as in they were trying to ‘catch’ the perfect score. This led to the term ‘bogey score’ meaning the perfect game.
But now the term bogey denotes one over par, rather than the perfect score, so how did that happen? It came about with the split between professional and amateur golf – from both words being initially interchangeable, par went on to become the term for an average professional score, while bogey became the term for a total that amateur golfers could be pleased with.
Birdies and Eagles
The term ‘birdie’ is quite easy to explain - if you have knowledge of 19th-Century American slang words! In that era, the word “bird” was a way of describing something particularly good – much in the way ‘cool’ was (and is) used more recently. Simply, a shot under par was ‘bird’, and this eventually transformed into ‘birdie’, which was in worldwide use by 1910.
From there, “Eagle” was to follow, simply sticking to the ornithological theme. “Albatross” was a later addition to the golfing vernacular.
Mulligan
Unfortunately, there’s no straight answer to how the term Mulligan became a golfing term for retaking a shot. A number of theories have emerged:
The first is simply that it was named after someone called Mulligan who took a ‘correction shot’, and had the do-over named after him.
A more interesting theory is that the term is actually an ethnic slur against Irish-Americans (Mulligan being a common Irish name) trying to join top class golf clubs, as they were often regarded as poor golfers.
A final suggestion is that the term is derived from old saloons who would keep a free bottle of drink at the bar for customers to take shots from. Allegedly this bottle was called a ‘mulligan’, and it’s possible that this term took on a similar meaning as a ‘freebie’ in golf.
Fore
The only thing that can be said with any certainty about the origin of this golf word is that it does derive from the fact that ‘fore’ means ‘ahead’ (like a ship’s fore and aft) – and it remains to this day a warning to those ahead of you on the course.
There are two popular theories as to the specifics of the term’s usage on the golf course: The first is that the term has military routes. At the time golf was properly taking off in Britain, infantry troops would advance in formation while artillery was fired from behind. When the artillery fired, there would be a shout of “beware before”, which would tell infantrymen to drop to the floor to avoid the shells above. It’s entirely possible that this advice applied to the golf course – with shells being replaced by the less dangerous golf ball!
The second is that it came from the term “forecaddie” – a person who accompanied groups around golf courses. The idea behind this is that an errant ball would be accompanied by shouting out “forecaddie” which would later be abbreviated to ‘fore’, just like the other half has been shortened to ‘caddie’.
So, the next time the topic of strange words comes up on a luxury golf holiday, you can explain with confidence that there is (some) method to the etymological madness!
Non-golf players are constantly confused by the strange selection of words that are of regular usage in the game’s lexicon and I have often been quizzed about the etymology of such terms whilst dealing in luxury golf holidays. The truth is that the language of golf can be confusing and yet the majority of golfers have no idea about how terms like ‘birdie’, ‘bogey’ and ‘mulligan’ became so intrinsically linked with the greens and fairways.
Some of these answers have been lost to history but in their place a number of theories of the origins of golf words have sprung up; I shall expand upon these here.
Golf
First off, let’s get one misconception out of the way from the very start. Golf does not, and has never been an acronym for ‘Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden’ even though some golf committees would like it that way!
One theory is that the term golf is derived from the medieval Dutch word “kolve” meaning “club”. From there, we have Scottish dialect to thank for its transformation into “golve”. Another theory is that the origins of the word golf are derived from the Scottish “goulf” – a verb which meant “to strike or cuff”, given the game involves a lot of striking the ball.
Either way, by the 1500s, the term “golf” had developed from these routes.
Par
Contrary to popular belief, the term “par” did not originate on the golf course. It entered golf terminology in the 19th-Century, and meant exactly the same thing that it did (and does) outside of golf: average, standard, ordinary.
Bogey
Perhaps one of the most bizarre terms in the golfing lexicon, this is a word that actually evolved right here in England. It relates to the Bogey Man who in the 19th-Century song said “I’m the Bogey Man, catch me if you can”. According to the USGA, golfers at the time pursued the Bogey Man on the golf course – as in they were trying to ‘catch’ the perfect score. This led to the term ‘bogey score’ meaning the perfect game.
But now the term bogey denotes one over par, rather than the perfect score, so how did that happen? It came about with the split between professional and amateur golf – from both words being initially interchangeable, par went on to become the term for an average professional score, while bogey became the term for a total that amateur golfers could be pleased with.
Birdies and Eagles
The term ‘birdie’ is quite easy to explain - if you have knowledge of 19th-Century American slang words! In that era, the word “bird” was a way of describing something particularly good – much in the way ‘cool’ was (and is) used more recently. Simply, a shot under par was ‘bird’, and this eventually transformed into ‘birdie’, which was in worldwide use by 1910.
From there, “Eagle” was to follow, simply sticking to the ornithological theme. “Albatross” was a later addition to the golfing vernacular.
Mulligan
Unfortunately, there’s no straight answer to how the term Mulligan became a golfing term for retaking a shot. A number of theories have emerged:
The first is simply that it was named after someone called Mulligan who took a ‘correction shot’, and had the do-over named after him.
A more interesting theory is that the term is actually an ethnic slur against Irish-Americans (Mulligan being a common Irish name) trying to join top class golf clubs, as they were often regarded as poor golfers.
A final suggestion is that the term is derived from old saloons who would keep a free bottle of drink at the bar for customers to take shots from. Allegedly this bottle was called a ‘mulligan’, and it’s possible that this term took on a similar meaning as a ‘freebie’ in golf.
Fore
The only thing that can be said with any certainty about the origin of this golf word is that it does derive from the fact that ‘fore’ means ‘ahead’ (like a ship’s fore and aft) – and it remains to this day a warning to those ahead of you on the course.
There are two popular theories as to the specifics of the term’s usage on the golf course: The first is that the term has military routes. At the time golf was properly taking off in Britain, infantry troops would advance in formation while artillery was fired from behind. When the artillery fired, there would be a shout of “beware before”, which would tell infantrymen to drop to the floor to avoid the shells above. It’s entirely possible that this advice applied to the golf course – with shells being replaced by the less dangerous golf ball!
The second is that it came from the term “forecaddie” – a person who accompanied groups around golf courses. The idea behind this is that an errant ball would be accompanied by shouting out “forecaddie” which would later be abbreviated to ‘fore’, just like the other half has been shortened to ‘caddie’.
So, the next time the topic of strange words comes up on a luxury golf holiday, you can explain with confidence that there is (some) method to the etymological madness!
Junior Golf Lessons
Submitted By: Brad Myers
Not everyone can have junior golf lessons and become a child golf prodigy like Tiger Woods. It is most important to keep the game fun when introducing your child to junior golf lessons and playing golf. Have you ever noticed how a junior just taking up the game of golf? If allowed, they will take a very natural golf swing. The young golfers are not thinking about golf instruction or golf mechanics. Let your child enjoy learning the game by their own trial and error until THEY are ready to take the game more seriously. You can keep it fun away from the golf course by keeping a junior golf journal at home. Remember we play the game because it is fun.
Up until the child is in High School, practice sessions should be limited in time so the junior is not over-whelmed and should only be taken to the practice facility if the child wants to go and have fun. This will keep the junior motivated to go and practice more often.
In keeping golf fun, refrain from giving a junior golf instructions and let your junior swing as hard as they want from time to time during their full swing practice. As for your junior's golf grip, just make sure the right hand is lower than the left hand for a right-handed golfer. Remember keep the fun and non-restrictive and do not worry about a proper grip, yet. It would be more beneficial for you junior to play a game such as being able to count to three without losing their balance no matter how hard they swing.
To keep your juniors motivation high and to allow your junior golfer to learn to feel the club, start with putting and chipping drills. Here are some easy ones to use:
Putting
Ladder drill - Using a sleeve of balls (three), Place a golf ball at four feet, eight feet and twelve feet from the putting cup. Begin with the four foot putt. If you make the four foot putt, then move to the eight foot putt. If you miss the four foot putt, then start over again with the four foot putt. Repeat this until all three putts are made.
Pull back drill - Pick a long putt in which you need to lag. Hit your putt. Did you make it? If then the answer is yes, then great. If not, move the golf ball a putter length further away from the hole. Keep this up until the golf ball is holed.
Chipping
Over the bag - This is a simple fun way to learn how to chip. Place a golf bag off of the green and set up to chip three to six feet behind the bag. The closer to the bag you place your ball, the bigger the challenge. Now making your chipping stroke your goal is to clear the bag while getting the golf ball close to the hole.
Chip to par - Pick several positions to chip from. Use one golf ball and as you would on the golf course, chip the ball as close to the hole as possible. Then proceed to putt the ball into the hole.
Add up your strokes and go to the same spots and try to lower your overall score. These drills are easy to turn into fun games or challenges.
Consider private junior golf instruction or a summer golf camp taught by PGA Professionals if your junior shows the interest. If this becomes an option, use references from friends and co-workers to find the PGA professional that would be right for your child. Again, the main goal is to keep it fun and not try to make your golfer into a mechanical machine.
Not everyone can have junior golf lessons and become a child golf prodigy like Tiger Woods. It is most important to keep the game fun when introducing your child to junior golf lessons and playing golf. Have you ever noticed how a junior just taking up the game of golf? If allowed, they will take a very natural golf swing. The young golfers are not thinking about golf instruction or golf mechanics. Let your child enjoy learning the game by their own trial and error until THEY are ready to take the game more seriously. You can keep it fun away from the golf course by keeping a junior golf journal at home. Remember we play the game because it is fun.
Up until the child is in High School, practice sessions should be limited in time so the junior is not over-whelmed and should only be taken to the practice facility if the child wants to go and have fun. This will keep the junior motivated to go and practice more often.
In keeping golf fun, refrain from giving a junior golf instructions and let your junior swing as hard as they want from time to time during their full swing practice. As for your junior's golf grip, just make sure the right hand is lower than the left hand for a right-handed golfer. Remember keep the fun and non-restrictive and do not worry about a proper grip, yet. It would be more beneficial for you junior to play a game such as being able to count to three without losing their balance no matter how hard they swing.
To keep your juniors motivation high and to allow your junior golfer to learn to feel the club, start with putting and chipping drills. Here are some easy ones to use:
Putting
Ladder drill - Using a sleeve of balls (three), Place a golf ball at four feet, eight feet and twelve feet from the putting cup. Begin with the four foot putt. If you make the four foot putt, then move to the eight foot putt. If you miss the four foot putt, then start over again with the four foot putt. Repeat this until all three putts are made.
Pull back drill - Pick a long putt in which you need to lag. Hit your putt. Did you make it? If then the answer is yes, then great. If not, move the golf ball a putter length further away from the hole. Keep this up until the golf ball is holed.
Chipping
Over the bag - This is a simple fun way to learn how to chip. Place a golf bag off of the green and set up to chip three to six feet behind the bag. The closer to the bag you place your ball, the bigger the challenge. Now making your chipping stroke your goal is to clear the bag while getting the golf ball close to the hole.
Chip to par - Pick several positions to chip from. Use one golf ball and as you would on the golf course, chip the ball as close to the hole as possible. Then proceed to putt the ball into the hole.
Add up your strokes and go to the same spots and try to lower your overall score. These drills are easy to turn into fun games or challenges.
Consider private junior golf instruction or a summer golf camp taught by PGA Professionals if your junior shows the interest. If this becomes an option, use references from friends and co-workers to find the PGA professional that would be right for your child. Again, the main goal is to keep it fun and not try to make your golfer into a mechanical machine.
Golf Balls - A Quick History
Submitted By: Brad Myers
As Tiger Woods stated during the 2007 PGA Championship, technology in a golf ball has dramatically changed since they were last at Southern Hills in 2001. Golf ball have been made of many different things and many different ways. Here is a quick history lesson on how the golf ball has evolved.
Again, the construction and design of golf balls has changed drastically since the game.s inception. One of the main responsibilities of an original golf professional was to be the maker of golf balls. Some of the very first golf balls were made out of a leather pouch which in turn was packed full of goose feathers. The feathers were wet when being inserted into the pouch. The .ball. would then dry and the feathers would become hard and solid. A good drive with a goose feather ball or a .feathery. was thought to be in the 150-175 yard range. Featheries were the most common ball used up until 1848.
Around 1848, the Gutta-percha ball was created. These golf balls were made of the dried gum from Malaysian sapodilla trees. These golf balls were very smooth initially and were much more difficult to control as opposed to the .featheries.. However, with use, these balls became scuffed up, their exteriors becoming rough. The .new aerodynamics. allowed the golf balls to be controlled much easier. After this discovery, the gutta-percha balls started being manufactured with rough exteriors. This construction is equivalent to, and the basis of, modern day dimpled golf balls.
In 1898, the Haskell golf ball was invented by Coburn Haskell. Haskell introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball which was universally adopted by 1901 after it proved so effective in the British and US Opens. The Haskell golf balls looked just like the Gutta-percha balls. The good news for the average golfer was the Haskell ball gave the average golfer an extra 20 yards from the tee. The Haskell golf balls were constructed from a solid rubber core wrapped in rubber thread encased in a gutta-percha sphere. This enabled W. Millison to develop a thread-winding machine which allowed the Haskell balls to be mass-produced and therefore more affordable to all golfers.
Throughout this period of the American Industrial Revolution, there was a lot of experimentation with the patterns on golf balls and how to manufacture them. This is one of the reasons why golf ball collecting from this era is so interesting. When William Taylor first applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, golf balls took on their modern form. The dimple pattern maximizes lift while minimizing drag.
After the turn of the century, manufacturers continued to experiment with golf ball design. In 1906, Goodrich introduced the pneumatic ball. The pneumatic ball was a Haskell ball with a compressed air core, which at that time was prone to expansion with heat. This lead to what you could imagine would be some funny or uncomfortable moments on the golf course as the ball from time to time explode. Other substances were experimented with including mercury, cork and metal cores. Seventy years after the turn of the century, Spalding introduced the Executive which was the first two piece golf ball.
The R&A and USGA have standardized the size and weight of the ball. Since then further constraints have been proposed which are detailed in the rules. The manufacturers are now experimenting with many different materials and size of the covers.
With all of the advances in recent golf ball technology, today most golf balls have a durable cover. Any player should ask their local PGA Professional for some advice using the player.s specific ball speeds, etc. Then try a few different balls from manufacturers before making a final choice. Try a few different balls in the appropriate category for you and find one that makes you feel lucky. After learning from your local PGA Professional and trying out a few different manufactures, you should have confidence in your golf ball.
As Tiger Woods stated during the 2007 PGA Championship, technology in a golf ball has dramatically changed since they were last at Southern Hills in 2001. Golf ball have been made of many different things and many different ways. Here is a quick history lesson on how the golf ball has evolved.
Again, the construction and design of golf balls has changed drastically since the game.s inception. One of the main responsibilities of an original golf professional was to be the maker of golf balls. Some of the very first golf balls were made out of a leather pouch which in turn was packed full of goose feathers. The feathers were wet when being inserted into the pouch. The .ball. would then dry and the feathers would become hard and solid. A good drive with a goose feather ball or a .feathery. was thought to be in the 150-175 yard range. Featheries were the most common ball used up until 1848.
Around 1848, the Gutta-percha ball was created. These golf balls were made of the dried gum from Malaysian sapodilla trees. These golf balls were very smooth initially and were much more difficult to control as opposed to the .featheries.. However, with use, these balls became scuffed up, their exteriors becoming rough. The .new aerodynamics. allowed the golf balls to be controlled much easier. After this discovery, the gutta-percha balls started being manufactured with rough exteriors. This construction is equivalent to, and the basis of, modern day dimpled golf balls.
In 1898, the Haskell golf ball was invented by Coburn Haskell. Haskell introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball which was universally adopted by 1901 after it proved so effective in the British and US Opens. The Haskell golf balls looked just like the Gutta-percha balls. The good news for the average golfer was the Haskell ball gave the average golfer an extra 20 yards from the tee. The Haskell golf balls were constructed from a solid rubber core wrapped in rubber thread encased in a gutta-percha sphere. This enabled W. Millison to develop a thread-winding machine which allowed the Haskell balls to be mass-produced and therefore more affordable to all golfers.
Throughout this period of the American Industrial Revolution, there was a lot of experimentation with the patterns on golf balls and how to manufacture them. This is one of the reasons why golf ball collecting from this era is so interesting. When William Taylor first applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, golf balls took on their modern form. The dimple pattern maximizes lift while minimizing drag.
After the turn of the century, manufacturers continued to experiment with golf ball design. In 1906, Goodrich introduced the pneumatic ball. The pneumatic ball was a Haskell ball with a compressed air core, which at that time was prone to expansion with heat. This lead to what you could imagine would be some funny or uncomfortable moments on the golf course as the ball from time to time explode. Other substances were experimented with including mercury, cork and metal cores. Seventy years after the turn of the century, Spalding introduced the Executive which was the first two piece golf ball.
The R&A and USGA have standardized the size and weight of the ball. Since then further constraints have been proposed which are detailed in the rules. The manufacturers are now experimenting with many different materials and size of the covers.
With all of the advances in recent golf ball technology, today most golf balls have a durable cover. Any player should ask their local PGA Professional for some advice using the player.s specific ball speeds, etc. Then try a few different balls from manufacturers before making a final choice. Try a few different balls in the appropriate category for you and find one that makes you feel lucky. After learning from your local PGA Professional and trying out a few different manufactures, you should have confidence in your golf ball.