Biomechanics of golf swing is the fundamental of the golf swing. Every serious student of golf should be familiar with the biomechanics of the golf swing.

Golf swing is not a natural human action. This is because the human body is a multi-joint capable of multiple degree of movement. However, the only body movement around certain axis and certain body angle will yield a consistent golf swing. This is what biomechanics of golf swing is about.

Knowledge of the biomechanics of golf swing is the difference between hacking at the balls and a solid fluid golf swing.

The best web resources for biomechanics of the golf swing are:

The Simple Golf Swing
The #1 best selling ebook on golf swing. A simple yet effective 5-steps way to help the average golfer fix the slice, inconsistency and distance problems in the golf shot. The Simple Golf Swing uses the spine as the axis to produce a reliable golf swing.

Swing Machine Golf
A unique hardcover golf book that teaches you the perfect golf swing of a machine called “Iron Byron”. Teaches good biomechanics of golf swing that will give you the consistency and repeatability of a machine.

From the Ground Up – How to shoot in the 70′s
This ebook teaches 3 key essential elements that are present in all good golf swing. And it teaches them in the proper sequence. The method can be quickly learned in minutes.

The Dave Way
A simple, concise, step-by-step method to cure a golf slice within minutes.

Professional Golf Swings
This site has over 100 golf swing videos of world-class golf professionals. Learn proper biomechanics of golf swing by watching your favorite golf pro’s swing.

Golf packages provide a hassle free way of planning for golf vacations. Good golf packages usually include air ticket, hotel accommodation, transport arrangement, green fees and breakfast.

Many travel agents offer golf packages to play golf in US, Canada, Europe and many international destinations.

Shopping for golf packages online is an effective way to plan your golf holidays. You can easily search and compare golf packages. Some websites provide interactive features that allow you to customize the packages to suit your need.

Top websites for golf packages:

Golf Holidays
Specialize in golf packages to US, Canada and international golf resorts.

Resort Golf
Stay and play in golf resorts around US. You can customize your own golf packages.

cruisedirect.com
Offer golf cruises to Caribbean, Mediterranean and more.

Golf Tours & Travel
Wide selection of golf packages. They have golf packages to see major golf tournament.

Golf Zoo
Customize create your own golf packages using their interactive website. Offer golf packages to golf resorts in US, Canada and Mexico.

Golf at Marriot.com
offers a wide range of golf packages and destinations to suit every level of player.

Play Thru Golf Tours
Offer discount golf packages to golf destinations in US.

Need a vacation and love to play golf. Why not go on a golf vacation? Golf vacations are the best way to combine the best of both worlds. For golf vacations, there are many golf destinations to choose from. You can play at the many golf courses in US, Europe or popular international destinations.

There are two ways to arrange your golf vacations. You can either do-it-yourself or go for a golf packages from a travel agent that specializes in golf vacations.

Do-it-yourself means you have to arrange your own flight, accommodation, transport/car rental, book your tee times at the golf course … and more. Sound like a lot of work ….

Alternatively, the less stressful way is to buy a golf packages and let the travel agent do that that work for you. Good golf packages usually include air ticket, hotel accommodation, transport arrangement, green fees and breakfast. There may even be activities for non-golfer (if any of your family member don’t play golf).

Some travel companies even offered golf packages to see major golf tournament like the Masters, US and British Open. For all the die-hard golf fans, this is ultimate golf vacation … right there seeing your favorite golf star tee off in the Major championship.

Golf cruises allow you to enjoy the luxury of ocean cruise and play golf at the various port along the cruise route.

Best websites for golf vacations:

Golf Holidays
Specialize in golf vacation packages to US, Canada and international golf resorts.

Resort Golf
Stay and play in golf resorts around US. You can customize your own golf vacation packages.

cruisedirect.com
Offer golf cruises to Caribbean, Mediterranean and more.

Golf Tours & Travel
Wide selection of golf vacations packages. They have golf packages to see major golf tournament.

Golf Zoo
Customize create your own golf vacations using their interactive website. Offer golf packages to golf resorts in US, Canada and Mexico.

Golf at Marriot.com
offers a wide range of golf packages and destinations to suit every level of player.

Play Thru Golf Tours
Offer discount golf packages to golf destinations in US.

If you are beginner, high handicapper or someone on a limited budget, then buying used golf equipment is a good option. The key to buying used golf equipment to do proper inspecting to ensure they are in good working condition.

Top websites to buy and sell used golf equipment

Callaway Golf Pre-Owned
The official place to get certified pre-owned Callaway golf equipment. You can even trade in your old Callaway clubs if you have one. They will certified the used golf clubs for authenticity and do thorough inspection. So you will get good deals with peace of mind.

Golfgods.com
Sells both new and used golf equipment.

ebay
You can find some good deals on used golf equipment at the world #1 auction site. In fact, auction is a very good way to find used golf clubs.

If you looking to sell your used golf equipment, you can try the following sites:

ibuygolfclubs.com
golfclubbroker.com

The best place to find golf equipment reviews in on the Internet. There are many websites offering golf equipment reviews. Some sites are mainly dedicated to golf equipment reviews and they have a lot good qualities reviews. Some sites provide reviews on golf equipment that they carry or offer them as a service on top their other business. So the number of reviews may be limited.

Golf equipment reviews come in two types. One is written by in-house expert who test equipments based on certain standard. The other types are reviews submitted by the general public – people who buy and used golf clubs and decide to let others know of their opinions but posting it on the websites.

Golf equipment reviews written by experts tend to be more consistent and objective since the testers and standard are more constant. These reviews can be used for comparison between different brands and model of golf clubs.

Those reviews submitted by the public are more subjective. You don’t the writer’s skill level, preference and biased. You can’t use them to compare between different model. But you can use them to spot a trend. For example, if a majority of the reviews regarding a particular model are negative, that might a problem.

Best websites for golf equipment reviews

Golf Gear Review.com
This site is dedicated to golf equipment reviews. Probably the site with the most golf club reviews. Most of the reviews are submitted by readers. A very good search feature to let you find the review from its large database..

Golf Club Review.com
Lots of good golf equipment reviews by their own experts. They also give recommendation on what golf clubs to get.

golfreview.com
Allow you to read and submit golf equipment reviews. There is also rating system for the golf clubs.

Golf Online – Club Test
Good search function. Golf equipment reviews are nicely formatted into accuracy, distance, cosmetics, feel and playability. User rating also available.

Equip2Golf
A golf equipment testing company. Their website provide golf equipment reviews with easy to read format with rating. Systematic testing done with scientific approach.

Epinions.com
You can read reviews and opinions from people who have bought and used their golf clubs.

RankMark.com
They do objective testing and analysis of golf equipment and summarize the result into recommendation for the low, mid and high handicap player.

Free Golf Info
User submitted review. Search function available.

Golf Test USA
They test a lot of golf equipment and reduce the result into a point scoring system. The score makes it easier to compare between different brands and models.

golf.about.com
Limited amount of golf equipment reviews.

With so many kinds of golf balls in the market, how do you know which types of golf balls is suitable for you? If you are not aware that not all golf balls are created equal, then please the read the article titled “Types of golf balls” before proceeding.

The types of golf balls you should be playing depends on your skill level:

If you are a high handicapper lacking in distance, you should choose the “distance” golf balls. They usually come in 2-piece construction with a solid core and outer covering. They have longer distance off the tee and also roll further on the fairway due to less spin. If you tend to mis-hit the golf balls, please choose one with Surlyn as the cover material. They are tough and won’t cut easily.

If you hook and slice most of the time, then avoid those golf balls with high spin. Wound balata balls are one of them. Some of the multi-layer balls have high spin too. Please check the specification carefully before buying. High spin is a double-edge sword. It enhances both the backspin (which is usually a good thing) and also the sidespin (which is no good if you want the ball to go straight). If you are hooking and slicing like crazy, there already too much sidespin on the ball, you don’t need to add more fuel to fire. You may want to try using 2-piece distance ball as they have less spin.

If you are fairly good player, you can try those multi-layer golf balls. They give good overall performance in distance and control. And their feel will increase your enjoyment of the game. But they are more expensive, so only worthwhile if you don’t lose the balls often. High handicapper whose balls visit the deep rough and water hazard often will need deep pocket to use these types of golf balls.

Finally, once you know what types of golf balls you should be playing, the rest of factors affecting the buying decision will be the price and brands. And only you can decide these factors.

In order to select the right kind of golf balls for your game, you need to know what are the various types of golf balls in the market. You need to know how they are constructed and what they are designed for. What is their advantages and disadvantages?

Golf ball in general are designed for distance or spin or a combination of both. You will hear terms like 2-piece, 3-piece, wound ball, multi-layer ball. These terms describe the golf ball construction. And the difference in construction will give different feel and performance.

Let’s look at each of them in detail:

Two-Piece Balls
Two-piece balls consist of large solid inner core covered by thin outer layer. The covers are usually made from tough material like Surlyn, making the balls durable and almost indestructible.

This design produces less spin and longer distance. Most “distance” balls on the market use this design. The solid nature means that balls will fly the longest off the tee and the lower spin means it won’t hold the green very well. Also, they have a harder feel when struck. the harder the core material, the further the ball travels.

They are by far the most common golfs ball among average golfer. It is cheap and cut-resistant make it a good choice for player who mishit often. The longer distance is also welcome advantage that the high handicapped golfers so desperately need.

Some golf ball manufacturers have improved the 2-piece design with better material to produce a softer feel and higher spin rate without too much compromise on the distance. Lower spin means the slice or hook will be less severe.

Three-Piece Balls (wound balata)
Three-piece balata balls consist of solid core wound with rubber thread. The balls are covered with a soft rubber-like material called balata.

The wound core constructions and balata covering gives these balls a soft feel and high spin rate. But the driving distance is shorter than the two-piece balls. The wound balls have some other shortcoming. It is expensive and loses its compression much faster because the rubber winding do not hold up very well to strain. In addition, the soft balata cover is more prone to cuts and damage.

These balls are only for the very good player and tour professionally who needed the ball to stop dead on the green. Shorter distance, high spin rate, high cost and poor durability are factors that the high handicapper should beware.

With advance in golf ball technology, the multi-layer balls are gradually replacing the wound balata balls by offering similar strengths but limited downside.

Multi-layer balls
Multi-layer balls usually come in 3 or 4 piece construction. They have solid core with one or two more layer of hi-tech material and followed by a soft covering (usually urethane). The reason for the multiple layers is to target the key performance area like distance, control and feel. They give good distance without much sacrifice for spin or feel.

These golf balls are increasing in popularity. A lot of tour player used them. But they don’t come cheap. And probably more suitable for better player who are able to take advantage of the benefits these balls offer.

In the early days of golf, golf balls had smooth surfaces. But golfers soon noticed that golf balls that were roughed up during play with nicks, cuts and bumps on the cover seemed to fly farther. People then started putting all kinds patterns on the golf balls. It didn’t take long before some smart guy figure out the dimple design to maximize the distance.

Golf balls with dimples traveled further because the dimples reduce the aerodynamic drag. The drag is stronger if the golf ball is entirely smooth.

When a golf ball sails through the air, it leaves a pocket of low-pressure air in its wake. This creates drag that will slow down the golf ball. For a smooth ball, the separation of the flow behind the ball is larger and hence the pressure drag is greater.

The dimples on the surface of the golf ball create turbulence in the air around the ball. This forces the air to hug the ball more closely. So instead of flowing past it, the air follows the curvature of the ball around to the back resulting in a smaller wake and lesser drag.

Golf balls typically have 330 to 500 dimples. Golf balls with dimples will travel twice as far as a smooth ball. But the downside of dimples is that they tend make the ball slice or hook more.

In the beginning – wooden golf balls
It was believed that the first golf ball was made of wood. However, there isn’t much written documentation from that era. So a lot details regarding the wooden balls is unknown.

1600s – 1850s Feather golf ball
In the early seventeenth, the feather golf ball or ‘Featherie’ replaced the wooden golf balls. The cover of the ball is made from horse or cow hide stitched together to form a ball leaving a small aperture. Wetted goose feather is then stuffed into the hole before it was stitched shut. When the leather and feather dried out, the leather shrank and the feathers expanded, forming a tight and hard ball. The feather balls were handmade by craftsman. This means that the quality will vary according to the skill of the craftsman. Also, a skilled maker can only completed a limited quantity of balls each day, making them very expensive.

1848 – 1900s Gutta Percha ball
The Gutta Percha ball or ‘Guttie’ in 1848 was introduced in 1948. The guttie ball is made from gutta percha, a rubber-like sap from a tropical tree. When boiled in water, the gutta percha can be shaped by handed into a ball, which will hardened when cooled. If the balls is broken or damaged during play, it can be reshaped after reboiling. With industrialization and mechanization, the gutties are stamped with metal mould instead of being rolled by hands. Patterns are also added to the surface to improve the driving distance of the gutties. The gutta percha ball made the game affordable to the wider population because it is much cheaper and easier to produce than the feather ball.

1900s – 1960s Rubber core ball
In 1898, Coburn Haskell invented the rubber core ball. It was made by winding rubber thread around a solid rubber core. The wound core was enclosed in gutta percha covering. These balls looked just like Gutties but the driving distance is 20-30 yards longer that its predecessor. By 1901, the rubber core ball was commercially produced and universally adopted.

That’s it. Following decades of technology advances, the rubber core ball has since evolved to the modern golf ball that we played today.

The best place to find golf club reviews in on the Internet. There are many websites offering golf club reviews. Some sites are mainly dedicated to golf club reviews and they have a lot good qualities reviews. Some sites provide reviews on golf equipment that they carry or offer them as a service on top their other business. So the number of reviews may be limited.

Golf clubs reviews come in two types. One is written by in-house expert who test equipments based on certain standard. The other types are reviews submitted by the general public – people who buy and used golf clubs and decide to let others know of their opinions but posting it on the websites.

Golf club reviews written by experts tend to be more consistent and objective since the testers and standard are more constant. These reviews can be used for comparison between different brands and model of golf clubs.

Those reviews submitted by the public are more subjective. You don’t the writer’s skill level, preference and biased. You can’t use them to compare between different model. But you can use them to spot a trend. For example, if a majority of the reviews regarding a particular model are negative, that might a problem.

Best websites for golf club reviews

Golf Gear Review.com
This site is dedicated to golf equipment reviews. Probably the site with the most golf club reviews. Most of the reviews are submitted by readers. A very good search feature to let you find the review from its large database..

Golf Club Review.com
Lots of good golf club reviews by their own experts. They also give recommendation on what golf clubs to get

golfreview.com
Allow you to read and submit golf club reviews. There is also rating system for the golf clubs.

Golf Online – Club Test
Good search function. Golf club reviews are nicely formatted into accuracy, distance, cosmetics, feel and playability. User rating also available.

Equip2Golf
A golf equipment testing company. Their website provide golf club reviews with easy to read format with rating. Systematic testing done with scientific approach.

Epinions.com
You can read reviews and opinions from people who have bought and used their golf clubs.

RankMark.com
They do objective testing and analysis of golf equipment and summarize the result into recommendation for the low, mid and high handicap player.

Free Golf Info
User submitted review. Search function available.

Golf Test USA
They test a lot of golf equipment and reduce the result into a point scoring system. The score makes it easier to compare between different brands and models.

golf.about.com
Limited amount of golf equipment reviews.