Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Five Golf Putting Drills Used by Professional Golfers

The purpose of the golf putting drills are in line with the game in order to always find the right distance and accuracy with the putt. To achieve this, it is necessary to develop a high level of confidence and know that your are making fundamental sound. In the final analysis takes much practice and patience.

Professional golfers practice putting putting tips with many different because each focuses on a different aspect. Ifyour putting game is in need of improvement I highly recommend these five golf putting drills that are the most popular drills used by professionals golfers. By practicing all of these drills together you will be improving on many aspects of your putting game.

(1) Circle Drill: Place six to eight balls around the hole in a circle about three feet from the hole. Repeat putting each one in one at a time. The main benefit of this drill is to gain confidence and consistency. Probably the number one drill to warm up before a game on the practice green if you only have a few minutes to spare.

(2) All in a Row Drill: The benefit of this drill is to work on your putting form. You should be primarily concentrating on keeping your club face square to the ball at impact and your body is properly aligned to the target line. To perform this drill line up eight balls in a row and begin by putting the closest ball first and continue outwards until all the balls have been released.

(3) eyes closed Drill: Now repeat both the circle and line drills with your eyes closed. This is a very positive development exercises for speed and your feel for distance. The ability to view your putt will help develop much confidence in your abilities.

(4) Drill Cage: The main purpose of the drill cage is the length of the works on the right to use to reach the right distance. Just set a club of three feetbehind the hole. Now place the other two clubs to both sides of the hole forming a cage. The hole will be centered in the opening and roughly a foot and a half away from the two clubs on the sides. Take six balls and practice from ten feet away, then twenty feet and finally thirty feet. The goal is to get the balls either in the hole or in the cage without touching any of the clubs. This is an excellent drill for practicing longer putts and developing the habit of getting to the hole or just past.

(5) Make the control of the wrist: an important key is set, the impact of keeping the wrist from flexing during the making and that the wrists are flat. A great drill for this is to swing two clubs at the same time with one club in each hand. Pretend that you are putting your normal and your goal is to treat for both teams in centimeters and in parallel, as the swing. This happens a lot of eye and hand coordination. When you return to normalputting with one club you will find that your hands are working together better as one solid unit and any flexing of your wrists will go away.

The average golfer does not allocate nearly enough of his or her practice time to putting as professional golfers do. If you feel your putting game could be improved take an honest assessment of how much time you actually spend on golf putting drills.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Small Sided Games and Youth Soccer - Drills Versus Letting the Kids Play

Why would a sex-specific, soccer-specific strength and fitness trainer go off the reservation, so to speak, and post a video about small sided games and training?

The answer is really very simple! Recently, I was speaking to a group of soccer coaches recently about soccer-specific strength and fitness training. The seminar went well and I thought all the questions had been answered when, from somewhere in the back, someone asked my opinion concerning the use of small sided soccer coaching techniques instead of traditional soccer drills. Well, he did it, he asked my opinion! During the next 45 minutes, we discussed all aspects of the small sided game technique, pros and cons, and I have to tell you, it was a heated discussion.

When the question is, what would I use, what did I use? The answer is complex, to say the least. Small sided games versus the traditional mode of training with its drills, drills, and more drills would seem like a no-brainer. Frankly, I believe there is room, and in fact a need for both. That being said, I weigh in heavily in favor of small sided games and, as the title suggests, letting the kids play! I used a video, not my own but made by one of the US National Team coaches, to illustrate the small sided game technique and it's benefits. The video is a rather tame version of what I used to do as a coach. In all fairness to the coach in the aforementioned video, he was teaching them a new technique and, as such, the kids weren't really up to speed yet. When used properly, speed of play is vastly improved through the use of the small side game coaching technique.

Speed of play and touches on the ball are crucial to the development of any soccer athlete. The main benefit to small sided games is in getting your players as many touches on the ball as possible. As the game progresses, the emphasis can change and the restrictions focused so you have to touch the ball once, twice, three times before passing and you need to complete two, three, four, even five successful passes before trying to score. You can go two versus three, you can have a neutral midfielder. In other words, mix it up depending on what your team needs, their weaknesses and their strengths.

The small sided games coaching technique is a fully adaptable model. The real benefit to the small sided game is that it is fully adaptable, quickly and, in many instances, on the fly. They see a need for training to adapt accordingly, and continue with training. With the drill, the children lined up, waiting their turn and have limited touches the ball. The game does away with this collection of little faces and keep their children play. The latter is much more intense and effective in many ways.

The small-sided game was largely in the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA), Ohio Youth Soccer Association-North (OYSAN) used clinic I visited a lot of licenseYears. The Department of Licensing has been an excellent opportunity to learn from one of the first representative of small-to-back technology, Dr. Tom Turner. Right now the debate has reached the small-sided soccer technique Fever Pitch, with Tom as one of the main supporters, especially in the region II, but also at national level. The focus of his lectures? You got it! small-sided games. Well, that was the amount of about 90-10 compared to the end of the clinic. Until then, every coach has been sold except one.There's always one, isn't there? And this was an intense class, every soccer coach from just about every premier club (top level club teams) in Ohio-North was in that class, and a few coaches from nationally ranked high school and college squads, like Walsh Jesuit. So, it was a tough crowd, but Tom won almost every coach over, not by instruction but by demonstration. The evidence? Overwhelming!

As small sided games gained in popularity and favor there were still a few hold outs but an overwhelming majority, at every level, now see the benefits to the small sided strategy. It's been close to fifteen years now and the small sided game is the model, hands down. I would have said feets down but it didn't sound right and my elementary school English teacher would roll in her grave!

The drills of the past? Some things linger and sometimes the terminology remains but the practice defined is different. Unfortunately, drills has remained firmly entrenched in our lexicon. The military connotations notwithstanding, the word drills should be put to bed once and for all. In fact, one of the coaching methods I am currently carrying is called 205 Drills! UGH! But the guy is good and he has some really helpful strategies. Do I think it could be better? Yes! Are there better programs out there? Not many! So, until we do, we read, learn, study, and share. That's what the soccer community is all about and I am certain it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future anyway.

The small sided game coaching technique is now the primary method for coaching our young, and not-so-young, soccer athletes. The evolution has been a quick one, all things considered, and knowing how long the old model of drill after drill was in place, I am actually kind of surprised there wasn't a little more resistance...and there was a lot. Just ask Dr. Tom! The benefits simply overwhelmed the old strategy, making it obsolete and irrelevant. However, like most obsolete and irrelevant things, it has a way of sneaking back in. In this case, I think the small side game has forever asserted itself as the favorite; time, and results, will tell.