I'm sure all regular readers will know about Donald Trump's leviathon golf resort he is preparing to build in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I'm sure you will also remember the amount of opposition he has come up against; from environmentalists to simple mentalists - Donald Trump has attracted a furious response from the people whose houses and homes he is destroying for the sake of his new golf course.
Nevertheless, as most billionaires seem to be able to do, Donald Trump has beaten them all and is going ahead with the course. The only thing left in his way is a tiny piece of land - half an acre of ex-car park - which he doesn't yet own. Now, normally this would result in some kind of bidding war, whereby lots of people would attempt to drive-up the price that billionaire Trump has to pay for the land. They might even succeed in buying it, just to sell it to Trump at an even higher price! Alternatively, somebody could out-bid Trump, take the land and not sell it to him - messing up his plans and making themselves a hero in the process.
Sadly, however, Aberdeenshire Council have granted Donald Trump 'special purchaser' status - meaning he is the only one allowed to bid for the land. So instead of there being a fair bid on the open market, Trump has been allowed to bid for the land privately, due to the "local economic benefits" the golf resort will bring. To you and I, this translates as "the free membership and executive suites that have been offered to members of the council".
In case you were afraid golf might escape for the onslaught of technology that accompanies most other sports these days; the Casio EX-FS10 camera has recently been released, claiming it can analyse your golf swing and compare it to Tiger Woods'. It sounds...terrifying.
The Exilim line of cameras were impressive enough before this but, now they've added their new 'swing analyser' into the mix, they're downright scary! Can't be just rate you good or bad? Or tell you what to do better? Why compare me to the best in the world?!
On the plus side, it's very easy to use. Somebody aims the camera at you and you thwack away at your balls...alright, let me phrase that differently. You perform shot after shot in front of the EX-FS10 and it analyses your posture and swing plane for you, at the same time as filming high-speed 720p video, at 1000fps if needs be! Awesome, no? Other than that, however, it's a pretty standard camera with 9.1 Megapixels and 3x optical zoom.
Prices vary between £120 and £300, so I would advise doing some research before buying this badboy.
It's time for another golfing technique tip! From the responses we've been receiving, it seems that one shot many readers aren't comfortable with is wedge shots at around 50 yards - so that's what we're going to talk about today.
On a 400 yard hole, you'd think you're home free once you're within 50 yards - but golf doesn't work like that. In fact, the first 300 yards are the easiest part, once you've learnt how to drive! The tricky bit it getting the ball that final little distace; without hitting a hazard, ending up in the rough or over-hitting the green. It's times like this that a nice, short wedge shot can save you a lot of time and bother! Wedge shots lift the ball high and, with extra back spin, drop it down in a specific place - so you don't have to worry about the ball rolling on. As long as you place your shot well, you're home free!
Ket things to remember when playing a short wedge shot including keeping your weight on your front foot throughout the shot, placing the ball slightly forwards in your stance and making sure the backswing is slightly shorter than the followthrough. All this will help you lift the ball high, but drop it accurately. Follow our old post about adding spin to your ball for even better results!
Today I will shed some light on some old golf myths, related to your swing. Pay attention now.
Myth 1: you should swing as if there was a straight line going right through your head and spine, around which your shoulders should pivot. You should pivot only around that axis.
Untrue - the axis around which you should pivot changes during the swing. For one thing, ignore the 'axis' down the head, spine and between the feet; one of the keys to a good golf swing is the weight shift from one foot to the other. Instead, on the back swing, imagine the straight axis to be through your back leg; then, when you move onto the down swing, push through an axis through your front leg. The key is the weight shift - this cannot happen through one central axis.
Myth 2: The head shouldn't move during the swing; it should stay over the ball and stay still.
This is nonsense; since your torso will move backwards during your back-swing, your head will move with it. Keep it level but, for goodness sake, don't concentrate on keeping it in exactly the same place!
Bearing in mind the millions spent on developing sports equipment worldwide, golf clothes really haven't come on as quickly as they probably should have been. When it comes to clubs and golf shoes, the choice is vast; they cater for everybody; no matter what your size, shape or ability, there are clubs designed to improve your game. Of course, none of this matters if you can't swing the damn things because you're too tied up in layers of golf clothes, keeping out the rain!
Well, no longer does this need to impact your game for finally technology has caught up with golf clothes! The result is this - layering techniques. The idea is that, instead of big, heavy clothing in cold or wet weather, you should combine various clever items of clothing; achieving better results without any negative impact on your performance.
To be honest, I'm going to stick with my old jacket... The way I see it, golf costs me enough money as it is, without having to invest in half a dozen layers of high-tech insulation clothing! Bring back the wooly hats!
I'm certain everybody reading this blog has wondered this at some point in their life; "How fast do golf balls travel?" More importantly, "What is the fastest anybody has any hit a golf ball?" Well, today we're not only going to tell you the world record for the fastest moving golf ball - we're also going to show you.
Sport Science weren't just interested in finding the fastest moving golf ball - they were interested in finding the fasting moving ball in the world of sport. This included measuing the speed of tennis balls, baseball and even balls used in pelota -which reaches 188 miles per hour!
Some of you may be aware that Tiger Woods' golf balls have been clocked at a staggering 184 mph, which is exceptionally fast - but not fast enough to beat the pelota ball. What nobody had tested, however, was the speed of long drive champion Jason Zuback's golf ball!
In this video you will witness the fasted ball speed ever recorded - a golf ball hit by Jason Zuback.
In recent news, millions of pounds of fake golf clubs and various other golfing accessories were sold by a council trading standards team between June 2003 and March 2008, using the online auction website eBay. This, the largest ever eBay conspiracy, consisted over 96 000 transactions and has landed four people in jail, having been found guilty of conspiring to sell counterfeit goods.
The team of conspirers purchases fake goods from Chinese factories and had them shipping to their own addresses in the UK, before selling them online to customers all over the world – from Ireland and Germany, to Brazil and New Zealand! It was only when pensioner Christine Manz complained to trading standards, after trying to get a refund for two clubs, that an investigation was launched into the fakers. This inquiry produced a variety of shocking evidence, including complaints of a spider’s nest in the variety of a club and golf balls that exploded when hit! When the council also uncovered large sums of money passing through the bank accounts of the suspects (£73,000 in 28 days), they clamped down on one of the biggest online counterfeiting operations ever known.
So, golf lovers – beware holiday season! If you’re buying golf clubs, golf clothing or any other kind of golf merchandise for loved one this Christmas, make sure you buy from a reputable online store!
Posts
