Be A Confident Putter

Bobby Jones once said: "Putting -- a game within a game -- might just be said to be the most important part of golf."  Indeed, putting is an art. A good artist shows confidence in his or her work. Likewise, a confident putter has to feel that he or she is up to par.

It is not uncommon to make the unforgivable mistake of missing a short putt on the last hole. This could be devastating in that it may haunt you for the rest of your life. In golf success, the inability to forget a past mistake could be much worse-off than the inability to remember what to do.

Be a confident putter.

(1) Confidence in putting means the ability to consciously block off all your missed putts.

(2) Confidence in putting means positive affirmations about yourself being a good, if not a great, putter. Although your inner self might tell you to get "real," just remember that great golfers miss their putts too; the difference is that, for example, Jack Nicklaus chooses to remember his perfect putts, instead of his missed ones. You can do the same to acquire confidence in putting.

(3) Confidence in putting means changing your own perceptions about your putting techniques. Remember, a great putter is not born, but made through the conscious effort to improve not only the techniques but also the self-image. The effort requires practice and perseverance.

How do you become a confident putter?

(1) Practice mental visualization. Try to remember only the perfect putts you have made. Gary Player once said: "On every putt, see the ball going into the hole with your mind's eye." You will be amazed at the power of visualization: seeing is believing, and this applies to even mental visualization.

(2) Practice reliving the perfect putts you have made, not the ones you have missed. Visualize the positive ones in your next round of golf, and see them going in the hole.

(3) Stop complaining about the mistakes you have made, in particular in your conversations with other golfers. Remember, complaining and moaning only reinforce the negative image and may even become self-fulfilling prophecy.

Golf is a mental game. Think like Jack Nicklaus. The mind, more than anything else, is all that matters on the green. Remember, you may become what you think you are. This is the essence of confidence in putting.

Breakthrough Putting Secrets -- Learn to putt like the pros. Learn the secrets of professional putters. Master your short game. A detailed guide on the art of putting!

For more golf information, visit my website: Golfing Success Info Center.

Stephen Lau

Golf Success for Seniors

Golf is a lifelong sport: you can play golf as long as you can stand on your feet. However, if you wish to extend your golf success performance even as you age, you need to pay attention to your overall physical fitness.

Your golf performance depends on the strength of your nervous system as well as the efficiency of your physical body. A decline in senior golf performance is often reflected in the mental golf as well as the backswing and the follow-through. Senior golf success requires consistency, which is the capability to maintain optimum physical conditions from the 1st to the 18th hole.

Unfortunately, as you age, your body undergoes changes that result in bodily inefficiency. Such inefficiency is most evident in the stiffness of your hands and fingers, affecting the grip of your golf club, as well as the inflexibility of your legs and shoulders, impacting your backswing and follow-through.

The Don'ts of Senior Golfers

(1) Don't ignore the arthritis pain in your hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, legs and hips: it affects your overall golf performance, especially in your golf swings.

(2) Don't play the game in spite of the pain: it may aggravate your arthritic conditions.

(3) Don't use drugs to control and manage your arthritis pain. You can use acupuncture, aromatherapy, and hypnotherapy to help you cope with joint pain and stiffness. For more information on pain management, visit my web page: Pain-Free Arthritis.

The Dos of Senior Golfers

(1) Modify the grip of your golf club. A square or neutral grip may not be suitable for you now that you have pain in your hands and wrists. Move your left hand more towards the top of the club, such that you can see three knuckles. The reasons for the modification are as follows:

(a) A stronger-left-hand grip can allow your hands to hinge on the backswing and release your club through the impact -- this can compensate for the decline in muscular strength,.

(b) A stronger-left-hand grip may avoid further injury to your hands during the swing.

(c) A stronger-left-hand grip can result in a more secure grip at the top of your backswing, and hence a better follow-through.

(2) Watch your diet to control your body weight. Do not eat unhealthy snacks on the green (many golfers do!). Get your FREE download of my e-book All-Round Weight Loss to find out how to manage your weight naturally.

(3) Perform extender and flexor exercises to strengthen your fingers and hands.

(a) Using a rubber band around your thumb, stretch each of your fingers and extend them as far as you can; open and close your hand slowly to feel the stretch and resistance in your hand. Do this extender exercise as often as you can to strengthen your fingers.

(b) Flexor exercises involve squeezing a hard object that provides resistance. Squeeze a set of at least 100 repetitions without stopping.

(4) Do stretch exercises to improve flexibility, especially in your hands, elbows, legs, and shoulders.

If you want to extend your senior golf success, you need to work at it. The Senior Golfers Guide provides a wealth of information on golf success for senior golfers.

Stephen Lau

Golf is a simple game to play. To master the game, you need to master the simple golf swing. As a good golfer, you would like to lower your handicap and increase your distance. But how do you lengthen your drive and shorten your handicap by 7-12 strokes?

The answer is quite simple: the simple golf swing.

Your golf swing drives your scores. You don't need to get a great set of golf clubs: one bad stroke is enought to get one golf ball in the water or similar hazards. You can throw away your strokes by hooking, slicing, or topping the golf ball. A simple golf swing can do just about anything! Use it to your advantage!

If you wish to break 80, you are not alone. According to statistics, more than 90 percent of golfers have inconsistency, which is an important factor in golf success; more than 70 percent of golfers have golf slice; and more than half of them have problems with distance. You are not alone!

To master the simple golf swing, you need to know the following:

(1) How to not only grip the club correctly, but also check your grip to promote consistency, as well as to ensure straight ball flight and to prevent a hook or a slice

(2) How to align the clubface so that you don't push the ball right

(3) How to hit more greens

(4) How to have a setup that allows you to swing around your spine (using your spine as an axis) so as to promote consistency, as well as to reduce horizontal and vertical body movement during the golf swing

(5) How to deliver the perfect impact with the ball on every shot

(6) How to control your takeaway with consistency, resulting in increased distance

(7) How to have an inside-out swing that you can use to automatically hit the fairway

In addition, to master the simple golf swing, you must also pay attention to the details of its simplicity. For example, your arms may tend to move faster than your shoulders, resulting in throwing your club off pane during your backswing. However, you can correct this by practicing with a glove placed under your left armpit until you can complete your backswing with the glove still intact under your left armpit. By limiting your arm swing with a glove under your armpit, you are in fact enabling yourself to hit the ball more accurately than when your arms move faster than your shoulder turn. Remember, it is better to have a repeatable and accurate golf swing than one that provides only power at the expense of accuracy.

A perfect golf swing requires a takeaway in which the golf club, the hands and arms, and the torso all move as a unit in the same direction in order to avoid a hook or push on your backswing. To ensure a correct takeaway, pay attention to the details of your takeaway on your backswing. Practice the following:

(1) Place another golf ball about an inch or two behind the one you intend to hit and about one inch inside the ball-to-target line.

(2) Bow, swing your golf club to hit the target ball -- but not before you have swept the second ball away on your backswing. Practice this drill until you can do just that. You will be surprised that this drill can significantly improve your tempo, which is moving your club, your hands and arms, and your torso as one unit in one direction.

The Simple Golf Swing shows you exactly how to do all the above. It is a step-by-step guide with detailed photos to show you exactly what you should be doing during every segment of your golf swing. It is a simple system for the perfect golf swing for golf success.

For more information on golf success, visit my web page: Golf Success Info Center.


Stephen Lau

The Secrets to Distance

You aim at the golf ball, you use all your might to swing you golf club, and you see you ball fly into the air. Then you become disappointed at the distance. You begin to wonder what you did wrong. You are not alone. Every golfer wishes to be longer on the tee, but those who are long drivers are few and far between.

Golf is all about swing and distance. If you are longer on the tee, you may slash some handicaps, and you have an advantage over your opponents. That is why all golfers desire to be longer on the tee. But to be long on the tee, you need to know the secrets of long drive. It is not easy to add 20 or 30 yards to your drive, but it is not that difficult if you follow the advice of world long drive champion Eric Jones

(1) Driving long distance is not about physical strength. You have to know how to leverage your power source. It is a myth that the harder you hit the ball, the longer distance you will get. The secret lies in how you accelerate you golf club to produce the strength to add distance to your drive.

(2) Develop a mental blueprint to help you relax mentally and physically every time you are on the tee. A relaxed mind and body will produce quality golf swings through spontaneity, which is an essential component in golf consistency.

(3) Follow an appropriate address routine to maintain athletic balance at address, which not only directly impacts the quality of your ball striking but also maintains consistency and spontaneity in your golf swing.

(4) Remember, hitting the golf ball harder or intensifying your golf swing will not add more distance; rather, they often tend increase tension at the expense of accuracy and speed. Therefore, build a swing for distance.

The Five Keys to Distance: World long distance champion Eric Jones in this e-book with excellent videos provides not only a wealth of information on how to be longer on the tee but also demonstrates in his videos the swing mechanics, the physics, the biomechanics, as well as the mental approach, to generate speed on the tee. In addition, his book covers important aspects, such as athletic balance at address, leveraging power source, accelerating golf club in the golf swing, and even lowering back pain. This book has comprehensive information on how to be longer on the tee.

Stephen Lau

Mastering Putting for Golf Success

If you master putting, you master the game of golf. A confident putter is always a great putter.

Putting, which is a game within a game, is an important component of golf. Golf success demands the composite of a great putter and a great swinger. Therefore, a great putter makes a great golfer. Be a confident putter.

Confidence in putting can be learned and acquired through practice. To be a confident putter, you must consciously block off all your missed putts or strokes. Always choose to remember your good putts, instead of the bad ones. Do not let the memory of missed putts haunt you with anxiety or frustration. Do not harbor any instructional thoughts from golf books, fellow golfers, or even your coach; just let your subconscious mind take over your putting strokes. A confident putter develops the mental discipline of shutting off any conscious thought from the mind; this is where mental golf comes into play. Narrow down your target—not just focusing on it. That is to say, train your mind to see not just the hole, but a narrower and smaller target, such as a blade of grass, or a tiny edge of the hole. That kind of mental concentration and focus enables you to have a much better control of your body movements, especially, your muscles and reflexes. Remember, perfect putting, just like a perfect golf swing, has to be spontaneous, and spontaneity controls the mind, and hence the response of the body. Confidence holds the key to perfect putting for golf success.

A confident putter creates a positive mental image the putts; and never complains the missed putts. Reinforce your positive image with visualization. Tap into the power of visualization. On every putt, try to "see" in your mind's eye, your golf ball going into the hole. Remember, seeing is believing. It is important that you believe that you are a confident putter and you can do it.

Putting to Win shows you the secrets of putting to win for golf success. Also, for more golf information, visit my website: Golfing Success Info Center.


Stephen Lau


Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Random Thoughts

Bunker Mentality

Golf is a microcosm of life, and the way we relate to the people and the world around us in that it seems a complicated motion with lots of variable and moving parts, but when dissected, the fundamental tenets are few and relatively easy to understand.  We rarely know how or why when we’re doing it correctly, yet it becomes painfully obvious when we’re doing it all wrong.  At it’s core, everything that occurs is a chain reaction of events which begins with the knowledge that in the absence of a solid base and/or a proper grip on things, you’re destined for disaster from the very start.

(February 9th, 2010)

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Fixing Pitch Marks

One of the most frustrating things for golf pros everywhere to deal with is the damage caused to the surface of a green by pitch marks. Well, actually, it isn’t the damage that’s frustrating. The damage is inevitable. What’s frustrating is when players are too lazy to repair those pitch marks.

I mean seriously, all you have to do is bend over and stick your pitchfork in the ground a few times, then tap the mound down with the bottom of your putter. It really isn’t a whole lot of work.
The long and short of it is this . . . . .

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You Are Your Worst Enemy

In golf, you are not playing against anyone, except yourself and the golf course. So, very often, you are your own worst enemy.

Interestingly enough, in almost all other games and sports, you pit against an opponent; in golf, it is just yourself against the whole world. Nobody interferes with you, your progress, or how you drive the ball. You are playing against yourself, and you are your own worst enemy.

In figure ice-skating, the figure ice-skater performs his or her very best, and other skaters' performance is irrelevant. Similarly, in golf, how another player performs should have no bearing on your own performance.

In golf, you may want to imitate the style of another golfer, such as that of Tiger Woods. But, be realistic, you can and will never play like Tiger Woods. Even if another golfer excels or surpasses Tiger Woods, he would be unique in his own way. In other words, you must play your golf your own way, and nobody knows you better than yourself. Only you can determine your own strengths and weaknesses. Only you can optimize your strokes based on your past experience, your physical and psychological makeup, your touch and finesse, among other things.

In short, be yourself and play your own game -- do not become your own enemy and play against yourself.

In order not to become your own worst enemy, you must:

(1) Play your golf your own way: do not try to play like someone else, and do not compare yourself to other players.

(2) Play at your own pace; do not "rush" because you have fast players around you.

(3) Know when to be aggressive and when to be conservative in your approach to the game.

(4) Hit the ball only when you are focused, not when you become distracted.

(5) Stay focused without being intimidated or influenced by other players.

(6) Plan your strategy, and adhere to it.

(7) Play without great expectations. Play from your heart and mind. Focus on the process, not the outcome.

Golf is a personal game. Be yourself, and not your own worst enemy!

Amazing Golf Mind shows you the secrets that the pros know and you don't -- how to catapult your golf game to the next level in less than 30 minutes without practicing.

Also, visit my web page: Golf Success Resources for more information and tips on golf success.

Stephen Lau

Physical Fitness and Senior Golf Fitness

Exercises cannot extend your life, but they can extend the period of your optimum golf performance.

As you age, the weakness of your nervous sysem is reflected in your mental and bodily inefficiency, which is shown in your golf performance. Such inefficiency is most evident in the stiffness of your hands and fingers in your grip of the club, your legs and shoulders as your body turns in the backswing and follow-through. Therefore, to maintain your golf's peak performance, you need to maintain your physical fitness.

Optimum physical fitness not only provides your body with strength and stamina, necessary for consistency from the 1st hole to the 18th hole, but also maintains your body's flexibility to deliver the perfect golf swing.

Your hands have to be powerful, especially in your grip. Unfortunately, pain in your fingers and hands may impair your golfing success. (Visit my web page: Pain-Free Arthritis for more information on how to relieve different types of arthritis pain naturally.)

To strengthen your fingers and hands, you need to perform extender exercises and flexor exercises.

1. Extender exercises focus on stretching your fingers and extending them as far as possible. You can perform an extender exercise with a strong rubber band around your thumb and extending it with each of your fingers, while you open your hand slowly and then close it slowly. You can feel the strech and resistance in your hand.

2. Flexor exercises involve squeezing an object, such as a ball. It is important that you do not squeeze a ball that does not provide resistance, such as a tennis ball. Squeeze slowly, feeling the resistance in your fingers. Squeeze a set of at least 100 repetitions without stopping; make sure you do it slowly. Take a break between sets.

In addition to the hands, which grip the golf club, your whole body is engaged in the golf swing, including the muscles in your hands, arms, stomach, back, and shoulders - they all play a pivotal role in your backswing. Therefore, all these muscle groups need to be strengthened, especially as you age, in order to maintain your peak performance for as long as possible.

Do the following:

1. Stand with your feet apart. Place a golf club behind your lower back, wedging it between your elbows and across your back, with the clubhead on your left-hand side and the grip on your right-hand side.

2. Slowly, turn your upper body, such that the clubface points to the ground. Your feet should remain firm to the ground, and your hips stationary.

3. Now, fully extend the stretch as far as you can go. Hold for a count of 10.

4. Repeat the process, with the grip of the club pointing to the ground.

This exercise makes your body become more flexible when you make your backswing and follow-through. Practice this daily to improve your muscle tone for optimum physical fitness for your golfing success.

For more efficient stretch exercises, go to: 101 Stretches for Golf.

Learn everything you need to know about golfing success for seniors from: Senior Golfers Guide.

Stephen Lau

The Importance of Setup in Golfing Success

What is meant by the term "setup"?

In golf, setup refers to three things:

1. The stance

2. The ball position

3. The alignment

Setup affects your golfing success.

The stance refers to the mental and physical conditions of the golfer.

Psychologically, you must be ready to go for your golf swing. Mentally, you must be clear of all clutters that may interfere with the game. You should not be thinking of what you did in the previous round, or what you must accomplish in this round. You mind should focus on only the ball.

Physically, you body should have become taut but relaxed. You are bending slightly forward at the waist. You are keeping your back straight and your head up, without slouching or slumping. Your feet are shoulder-length apart. Your body weight is evenly distributed between the ball and the arch of your feet.

The golf ball position is entirely at your disposal. The golf ball is stationary: it is not moving at you and there is no need for you to react to it. You have time to determine what you are going to do with the ball. Where you are going to place the ball determines the way you are going to do the golf swing, and the outcome of the shot. The key to golfing success is not to overthink what you should or should not do it: just do it!

Alignment is lining up correctly toward the green.

Get The Simple Golf Swing for your perfect golf swing: it has everything you need to know about golf swings for your golfing success.


Also, get the Power Golf Training Program: It improves your power and distance significantly.

Golfing success requires intensive training and practice.

Stephen Lau