Defying The Limits

(Extreme land sports) Why Golf Requires Fitness

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By Jeff Parrish

 Fitness for golf is prevalent at every level. You hear about it all the time on the television and even teaching pros are talking more about the importance of fitness for golf.

The reason being is the belief that your ‘physical limitations’ are keeping you from optimal swing mechanics, power, distance and accuracy.

For the aging golfer this is most prevalent.

Without a golf-specific exercise program, it is virtually impossible to maintain and/or improve swing mechanics. The human body declines rapidly without stress being put on it.

What I mean…is muscles and bones need stress and pressure on them to remain strong, stable and injury-free. Without this stress…the body weakens and breaks down quickly…resulting in a rapid decline in strength and flexibility.

This is death to your golf swing!

The old adage - “use it or lose it” is very true. Haven’t you experienced a time when you were too busy with family obligations, work commitments and other stress-related issues and you felt you didn’t have the time to devote to your health and fitness?

What happened shortly after that?

Did you energy level go down? Did you start getting aches and pains and even newfound stiffnesses? How about your golf game? Did you feel like you didn’t have the same amount of umph on the ball?

This is that declining strength and flexibility I’m talking about. And the ONLY way to stop this from happening is maintaining some sort for fitness for golf program if it pertains to your golf game.

There are also two forms of fitness. “General fitness” and “sport-specific” or fitness for golf in regards to you as a golfer.

There is a major difference between these two forms of fitness.

One that is very common is going into a gym, plopping down on the machines and isolating one muscle group at a time in a controlled environment. Picture for instance an abdominal machine. You lie down in it, grap fixed handles that guide you through a set range of motion.

That would be considered “general fitness”.

On the other hand, picture standing (just like you do in golf) holding a single hand weight (dumbbell) straight out in front of you, and rotating (turning) back and through just like your golf swing. That is an exercise that would be consider fitness for golf. It directly benefits your rotational strength AND flexibility…enabling you to make a bigger turn with more power.

This area rapidly declines with the older golfer. Abdominal strength and flexibility if not tested often, will decrease, and the ability to make a full backswing with stored energy will be less and less…resulting in a massive reduction in power output, therefore distance.

So the next time you’re on the course and you get frustrated about you lack of distance off the tee…ask yourself “what was the last time you worked on your BODY?” Your answer will dictate your performance on a daily basis.

I have just barely scratched the surface of the importance of fitness for golf…but I hope I’ve got you thinking about how important Fitness for golf is if you want to play your best golf.

To read about bowling tips for beginners and bowling wrist support, visit the Bowling Lessons site.

Your Source For Extreme Sports

Choosing The Right Sports Fencing To Suit Your Sport

By Xander Palmer

 Different sporting activities require different perimeter sports fencing and choosing the right one to suit your needs is important. Times have changed and there have been vast improvements in sports fencing in recent years. Gone are the days of noisy wooden kick-boards that needed replacing and repairing every year.

Some fencing companies specialise in sports fencing. They manufacture and supply a wide range that can be tailored for almost any sporting activity. Whatever the sport, there are fences that will be able to perfectly suit your needs. There’s sports fencing called Super Sports Rebound which is ideal for high impact sports such as five-a-side football. It features a twin wire construction that is designed to replicate the bounce you would get from wooden rebound boards but without the wear and tear associated with these. As well as the wear and tear issue it also features synthetic rubber inserts which reduces ball impact noise and makes it ideal for residential areas.

There is also sports fencing custom made for hockey pitches which can be used in place of wooden rebound boards and features progressively narrower gaps from top to bottom which ensure maximum hockey ball retention. There is sports fencing custom made for tennis courts which features smaller gaps in the mesh to ensure that tennis balls cannot escape whilst also being unobtrusive enough to allow easy viewing through it from spectators.

There are several types of sports fencing that can be installed with built in goals or basketball units and also cranked fencing tops which increase ball retention. Additional cranked panels can also be added to the top of the fencing to prevent sports balls escaping even further. For complete ball retention there is a Sports Barn fencing system which incorporates a roof, making lost balls a thing of the past and also allowing all weather sports activities.

Whatever your sport, you should be able to find the sports fencing to suit your needs. Some companies also offer free site surveys where an expert will come to your premises and advise you on prices and quantities so that you don’t over-order.

A Look at Reels for Saltwater Fly Fishing

By Lupe Faulkner

 While saltwater fly fishing is all about getting good casts and the excitement of the fight, one of your most important purchases behind the rod, is the reel used in this exciting sport. Most reels used in this “extreme” fishing are single action reels and for good reason as their counterparts (Multiplier reels) aren’t quite up to par. Multiplier reels are quite a bit more expensive and has many more moving parts. As anyone similar with fly fishing or saltwater can’t tell you, the more moving parts something has the more trouble one can expect.

In single action reels, you have the choice between direct drive and anti-reverse reels. There difference is how the reel goes about releasing line from the spool. In the sport of fly fishing the most popular all-round is direct drive, where the handle spins backwards when line is released. This makes it easy for fly fisherman to tell how much line is going out and how much there retrieving but keep in mind most fly fisherman aren’t trying to reel in line from a bonefish swimming at 20 mph which makes that spinning handle dangerous for your fingers, hands or anything else it could come in contact with. This is where anti-reverse reels come in for the rescue. The handle on an anti-reverse reel stays stationary as line is striped away from the reel. For lighter species the direct drive is a good choice. But for larger species both options have there pluses and minuses, because when the drag is set lightly on anti-reverse reels, they have a tendency to slip when reeling the line in.

It doesn’t matter what type of reel you choose, an efficient drag system is one of the most important parts of the reel in saltwater fly fishing. Saltwater fish are much stronger and faster then most equivalent freshwater species and for that fact they require a better smoother drag for a fun fight. As technology increases, drags in these saltwater fly reels continue to get better and most quality name reels have able drag systems.

Saltwater fly reels come in a variety of sizes and like freshwater reels and rods they are sized according to what weight line they are made for. In saltwater fly fishing the reel size is crucial because large reels have a greater diameter of line on the spool, meaning the more line you’re able to reel in per crank of the reel. This becomes important when you’re fighting fish that may take out hundreds of yards of line. The size of the reel depends on the fish your targeting and how much line and backing you plan to use in fighting the fish. Fish such as speckled trout require much less line capacity compared to a tarpon or billfish. Also remember the heavier the weight line, the more reel capacity it takes up.

Saltwater fly reels unlike most freshwater reels are made of corrosion resistant materials to fight the harsh elements of saltwater. These stainless steels and anodized aluminum materials are still not tuff enough to fight against these elements. To make your investment last, you must clean your reel after every saltwater outing. Many anglers use an old toothbrush, to lightly scrub the reel inside and out with warm freshwater and a mild dish soap and re-lubricating the reel when necessary.

The saltwater fly reel is an important purchase to help enjoy this wonderful sport. Read reviews and research the product your about to spend your money on, you’d hate to lose the fish of a lifetime due to a poor decision when it comes to purchasing a saltwater fly reel.

Learn about bowhunting elk and bowhunting pigs at the Bowhunting Tips site.

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Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 3:20 am and is filed under sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.