The most obvious example of this is concentrating too hard on your target. The point of putting is to get that ball in the hole and some golfers become so focused on setting up a good line that they forget to gauge the speed of their putt.

Your target line can easily hypnotize you into forgetting the little, but vital details that go into making a successful putt – especially on a green that is very contoured and a lot of break. You can simplify your putting and start putting with confidence using these two simple steps.

First You’ll Set Your Line

You first matter of business when you step up to your putt is to read the break. Taking into account the contours of the green, create an imaginary line that will be the ball’s path of travel. Now concentrate on a spot mid-distance between the ball and the hole, adjusting your aim based on this spot.

Always mark your ball and line up your putt from behind. When you’ve found your line and see the mid-point mark you’re lining up to, you can use a little trick that many good putters use. Take a line or wording on your golf ball and line them up towards your target spot. Now, when you are standing over your ball you only need to align to the line or wording on the golf ball and trust your line!

Now You Gauge Your Speed

Once you have determined your line, let it go. Clear your thoughts and focus your attention now on giving the ball enough speed to follow your line into the hole. Again, the contours of the green and where the ball breaks will play an enormous part on how much speed you will need.

Remember that target spot you created mid-distance between the ball and the hole? If you have a short putt, you can bring that point closer to you; if you are facing a longer putt that requires more power, move the spot further towards the hole. This is a great way to keep from over or under-powering your putts.

Breaking apart the putt into these two steps makes the process much easier, but you aren’t going to see those fantastic putts the pros make unless you practice, practice, practice! To become a master with your putter you are going to need to build your comfort and confidence with putting on any green from any distance, you are going to need to develop a natural sense of speed and distance which comes only from hours of practice on the putting green.

There is an excellent program to help you cut putts off your score. Most golfers putt between 33 and 40 times per round. Imagine cutting just 6-8 putts per round off of your score!

The program is called “Breakthrough Putting Secrets Revealed” and they offer a free report on “3 Days to Stop 3-Putting”. This is a very good program and I encourage you to check out their site and read more.

Even if you have played golf for years, there is always some improvement that can be made in your game. Golfers over 50 come with different issues than younger golfers and finding the right tips for you can make the difference between playing golf well or getting injured. Whether you are a beginner golfer that has just retired or you are a more experienced golfer, your game and body changes when you start to age. What are some golf tips that a golfer over 50 should consider?

- Stretch it out. Stretching is essential no matter what your age, but older golfers definitely need to stretch. This can warm up the body and help to prevent injury, as well as help your swing to be more rhythmic and fluid. Even if you are just going to the driving range, you will want to stretch before you pick up your golf clubs and begin swinging. Check out our article on golf stretching for golfers over 50 for more information.

- Build muscle. Losing muscle is a natural part of aging, which is why it is so important for golfers over 50 to begin a weight training program to help make up for some of this muscle loss. Whether you are already doing a weight training program or not, it is something that you need to consider in your exercise program to help make your golf game better.

- Evaluate your equipment. If you have been playing golf with the same equipment for years and years, you will want to evaluate your equipment. Technology continues to improve golf clubs and you might be making your game harder on you than it needs to be by playing with dated equipment. Many manufacturers even make golf equipment specially for golfers over 50 to help you maximize your game. If you haven’t shopped for golf equipment for a while, check out our article on golf club shopping for the golfer over 50.

- Evaluate your game. Having a golf pro evaluate your game can go a long way to helping your golf game and helping you to prevent injury in the future. If you are working too hard, a golf pro can help you to modify your swing and game to allow you to get results with less exertion.

- Quit procrastinating. Don’t waste time planning how you are going to make your body healthier and your game better. Start today with a weight training program, stretching program, and any evaluations you might need. Quit putting it off and begin to make changes to your body and your golf game.

Golf can be played well into your life – if you take care of yourself now. By stretching, building muscle, and continually evaluating your game and equipment, you can help to prevent injury and keep yourself playing golf for a very long time. By following these golf tips, you will soon feel your game getting better and your body getting healthier. What can be better than that?

In short – no way! Of course, you’ve got to be realistic about the skill level you may actually achieve but golf is a game for everyone…young and old, beginners and experts. You’re never too old to pick up the great game of golf. You’ll have the wonderful opportunity to spend time with your friends and spouse on the golf course and perhaps travel to play beautiful courses across the country and the world.

There are two things you need to do to get started:

1. Take some lessons. Don’t just go to the driving range with your golfing buddies and have them give you some tips. You might get your game to a level where you can get on the course but you will soon get frustrated. Trust a golf professional so that you can learn solid golf fundamentals. Every golf course has a staff golf professional that can give you private lessons. You could take a golf clinic but I’d suggest you take a handful of private lessons so that you can get the special attention you need to get started the right way.

2. Learn golf etiquette. New golfers sometimes feel intimidated by the informal rules and etiquette associated with golf. While there is no reason to be intimidated, it is essential to learn basic etiquette so as not to upset others that you might play with. Most golfers are very patient with beginner golfers that will hit the errant shot. However, they will get frustrated if you are oblivious to your shadow on the tee and green, walking or moving while they are preparing to hit, or other etiquette miscues. Simply talk to one of your golfer friends and they can give you the short list of etiquette. Better yet, walk with your friends for a couple of rounds and watch how they act. You’ll get some great exercise and learn the game as well!

When you are ready to play, consider playing when a course is less crowded – usually late afternoon on weekdays. That way you won’t feel stressed about slowing down play. When you are just starting out, it’s also OK to simply pick up your ball if you’re struggling on a hole. Don’t slow down play. Not only is it disrespectful to other golfers, it also will stress you out. Simply pick up your ball and wait to play with your group on the next hole.

Don’t worry about your score when you’re just starting out. Simply enjoy the game and the challenge. You’ll get bit by the golf bug before too long…it only takes one of those well-struck shots that feel soooo good to get you coming back for more. Golf is a great game and it does not discriminate on the basis of age!

If you’ve ever been to a professional golf tournament and watched the pros warm up, you’ll notice they all stretch on the driving range and loosen up on the first tee. This is particularly noticeable on the senior circuit of the Champions Tour. Whether they are playing competitive golf or practicing, you will find that they will always stretch.  This is just as important to you and your game, too.  Stretching warms up your body to play golf and it will decrease your chance of being injured. So what are some stretching programs that you should consider?

Yoga is one stretching program that many golfers are turning to. Many PGA Tour and Champions Tour pros are turning to yoga to help condition their bodies and improve their flexibility. Yoga builds up muscles and stretches them, so you will find that it can allow you to swing the club better and more fluidly. If you have been looking for a way to condition your body to help your golf game, yoga can be a great choice to stretch out your body.

If you want to go more old school, you can stretch the different parts of your body.  From arm stretches to neck stretches to leg stretches and more, you’ll find that there are many different stretches that you can do to help make your swing have better rhythm and tempo.  By stretching before your round and doing stretches daily, you will help your muscles to become stronger and make your golf game more competitive.

If you’re in a rush, a couple of easy stretches that you can do on the golf course include:

• Take a couple of your shorter clubs (like an 8-iron and 9-iron) and hold them both together. Now swing a three-quarter golf swing and full follow through. Do this 10-15 times. This extra weight added to your natural golf swing will loosen up your swing muscles very quickly.
• Grab a longer iron (like a 5-iron) and hold it over your head with one hand on the grip and the other on the club face. Spread your legs wider than shoulder width apart. Now pull your shoulders back as far as they will go and hold for 15 seconds. Next, lean over from the hips and push the club towards the ground. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat this sequence 3 times.
• Using the same club and grip with your 5-iron, hold the club your in front of you at shoulder height. Twist as far as you can to the right and hold for 15 seconds. Now twist as far as you can to the left and hold for 15 seconds. Repeat this sequence 3 times.

These three simple stretching exercises will get your swing muscles loosened up in less than 5 minutes. Now your body will be warm and fluid, ready to hit some practice balls or tee it up on the first tee.

Due to the fact that you are over 50 and more susceptible to some injuries, you will want to be sure that you have a stretching program in place.  Stretching should be an essential part of your golf routine to allow you to warm your body and help your swing be more fluid and comfortable.  Whether you choose to use stretches that you learned in yoga or you use a tried and true stretching routine, you will want to be sure to consistently stretch before playing and between rounds to stay flexible.  Stretch it out and watch your golf scores decrease and your health improve.

How do you stay loose and warm when playing golf? Share your favorite stretching program, yoga program, or pre-round stretches in our comment section.

For a great stretching DVD, check out Mike Pederson’s 7 Minutes Golf Stretching DVD.

When you consider where you want to go, do some research before you go to see what golf courses are nearby and where they are located.  This will help you determine where you want to stay and what golf courses that you may want to try.  Going to new golf courses can make golf even more fun and enjoyable for you and it will allow you to see different parts of the country or the world.

You probably watch golf on television and dram of playing some of the beautiful courses that the pros play. The good news is that many of these wonderful courses are open to the public and you can play where the pros play. From beautiful Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California to Bethpage State Park on Long Island, New York – site of the 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championship – you can play many great courses you see on TV. Great memories can be made with these travel and golf trips and you get to re-live those memories each year when the tour stop hits and you watch on TV.

You can also get to experience different types of golf in different environments. From the beaches to the mountains to the cities and more, there are many places for you to explore and to play golf all over the world.  Pebble Beach, Kiawah Island, and more are available for you to choose from to make the most of your new life.

Since value is important to retired golfers, here are a few suggestions that will save you some money on your golf and travel:

• Use a discount travel website like Hotwire. This is a great site where you can get discount airfare, hotels, and rental cars. It’s particularly great for hotels where you can get 4 Star hotels at 2 star prices with low Hotwire Hot-Rates.
  
• Check out Golf Odyssey, a premier golf travel newsletter that provides excellent insider information on golf course reviews, special offers, golf resorts, and nearby restaurants. This is an excellent golf travel newsletter and they have a free trial. You can get more information on the free trial program directly from Golf Odyssey.
• Join Golf Card International. This membership program offers free or discounted golf green fees at nearly 3000 golf courses in the United States and Canada. Get Golf Card today and receive a free 1-year subscription to Golf Magazine!
  

Retirement means that you don’t have to make a choice between two loves – golf or travel.  By combining the two, you will find that you can add a new dimension to your life and to your golf game.  Whether you travel alone or you travel with your spouse or significant other, you will find that combining the two will make your retirement years even more fun and healthy.

Obviously, your hands and forearms are important in control of your club throughout the swing. As you strengthen your hands and forearms, you’ll improve your game by being able to keep the club face square through tough lies like thick rough.

Exercising your hands and forearms is pretty easy and it’s something you can do throughout the day. You’ve probably seen those ‘stress balls’ – the little rubber balls or the tension-relieving ‘hand huggers’. Try to find one that is a little tougher rather than ‘spongey’.

Simply carry the stress ball around with you and squeeze it repeatedly. You can work on your strength while at your desk, taking a walk, driving your car, or watching TV. Work on both hands and give a little extra focus on your weaker hand and forearm (if you’re right-handed, work a bit on your left hand and forearm more so than your stronger right hand).

It won’t be long before you start to feel the build up of strength and it will translate to the course for you. While today’s hybrid clubs swing through the rough much easier than a 4 or 5 iron, you will find improvement in your ball flight from these tougher lies by building up this strength.

Go get a stress ball today and take some stress out of those tough lies from thick rough!

From a health perspective, some recent studies have validated what many of us already have known (yes, golf IS a sport and you DO get exercise by playing golf…even if you ride in a cart!). A group called ‘Golf Science International’ touts that walking for four hours while playing golf is equivalent to a 45-minute aerobic fitness class. Not bad. How about another study that showed a reduction in bad cholesterol from golfers who walked versus their peers who cruised in the cart? A fellow by the name of Edward Palank took the time to take on that study.

You’ve probably also heard about the ’10,000 steps per day challenge’, a health program that encourages people to count their steps and do what it takes to get 10k in per day. In my own anectodal (but quite unscientific) study with my regular golfing buddy, we found that walking your local muni will register around 8000 – 12000 steps.

A study released in late 2008 from Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver validated that golf really is a sport. They strapped up a bunch of study participants and measured some key stats:

• Walking and carrying your clubs for 9 holes burns 721 calories. A surprising finding was that using a pull cart versus carrying your clubs was a very small difference in the number of calories burned – you still burn 718 calories when using a pull cart! Save your back, use a pull cart.
• Riding burns 411 – that’s still a pretty good number, which indicates that swinging the club is decent exercise in and of itself.

The study then got pretty interesting when it compared the average scores of golfers who walked and carried their clubs, those who walked and pulled their clubs, those who had caddies and those who took a golf cart. The results? Golfers scored best when pulling their clubs. Walking may very well give you time to think about your next shot and improve your game. Here’s how the average 9-hole scores broke down:

• Pull cart: 40
• Caddy: 42
• Golf cart: 43
• Carry clubs: 45

Interesting, huh? You can find more detail on the study at the PGATour.com site.

It’s unfortunate that there are many new courses that were not built with the walker in mind. In fact, it isn’t uncommon to find some resort courses only allow golf carts and not allow walking at all. Don’t be misled by that policy – it’s not because it actually takes longer to walk than to ride. In fact, studies show facts to the contrary. Instead, these policies are usually in place because the designer had to put significant distance between green to tee (sometimes for architectural desire to work with in the terrain…but many other times because they are routing a course through a resort or housing development). I’m sure you’ve played a few of these courses where it isn’t uncommon to have one-quarter to one-half mile between holes.

Next time you play 9 or 18 holes, you should consider walking if you don’t walk already. If it’s a bit too much of a shift for you, start by keeping your cart on the path only and walk to your ball from the path. Then perhaps shift to walking the front nine and riding the back nine before working your way up to walking the entire round. But definitely work your way up to at least walking a few of your rounds and not solely relying on the golf cart…you’ll enjoy the health benefits and the benefits of lower scores!