There are all sorts of things that are important to a good golf game including fitness, good equipment, the right grip and a sound swing to mention just a few. One other very important thing is your balance and posture and this is something which seems to elude many golfers. So here are a few tips to get you started on the right road.

The first, and most important, thing to remember is to relax. There is nothing that will hinder your game more than having a tense body and so you should always start any game by taking a couple of deep breaths and simply loosening up your neck and shoulder muscles. Incidentally, if you’ve been told that,

whatever else you, do you should keep your head still then this is one piece of advice you should ignore. Some movement of the head is fine and there is nothing that will tense you up faster than trying to concentrate on keeping your head still.

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There are all sorts of things that are important to a good golf game including fitness, good equipment, the right grip and a sound swing to mention just a few. One other very important thing is your balance and posture and this is something which seems to elude many golfers. So here are a few tips to get you started on the right road.

The first, and most important, thing to remember is to relax. There is nothing that will hinder your game more than having a tense body and so you should always start any game by taking a couple of deep breaths and simply loosening up your neck and shoulder muscles. Incidentally, if you’ve been told that,

whatever else you, do you should keep your head still then this is one piece of advice you should ignore. Some movement of the head is fine and there is nothing that will tense you up faster than trying to concentrate on keeping your head still.

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As with any sport your performance on the golf course depends not simply upon your skill at hitting the ball but upon having at least a basic level of fitness which will allow you get the very best out of your golf swing. Here are a few simple pointers to an exercise program aimed at getting you a better swing.

Stretching. Stretching exercises are very important and you should start by gently rotating all of the “golf” joints including the hands and fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Then follow this by loosening up that all important neck and spine by gently and slowly rotating the head first clockwise and then counter-clockwise.

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I have a (wholly unsurprising, considering my profession) confession to make, dear readers: I m overweight. Not alarmingly so, like the rotund McDonalds victims we see on television or the huge guy creating his own Lake Mead of sweat next to you on an airplane, but I do have a belly on me. And unfortunately it s only getting bigger.

But hey, I m not alone! A striking 67 percent of Americans are currently overweight, and of those people almost half are obese that is, their Body Mass Index is over 30. We re all aware by now of the dangers inherent in obesity: high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, and other general nastiness; according to the U.S. Surgeon

General, it kills 300,000 people per year. To put those numbers into perspective, cigarettes kill between 400-500,000 Americans per year. When our eating habits are killing us almost as much as tobacco, it s time to think about our lives.

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In order to ordain as postulants, Janet and I had to prepare in several ways. For one, we had to make our own robes, two of them. Janet had never made her own clothes growing up, but was accustomed to hand sewing, whereas for me; the prospect of sewing was no less than appalling! I d rather dig graves. I accepted it as a test, however, and rationalized that if the other male monks somehow got through it; by God, I would too!

My first robe literally took weeks to complete, spending all of my elective activity periods in the sewing room night and day, swearing under my breath; what the hell is a blind stitch? But the second

robe, ahh… it only took me three hours. All beginnings are difficult, as they say in Southeast Asia.

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