The Automatic Champion

by Saleem Rana

“Babe” Didrickson Zaharias was a phenomenal athlete. This Texan ran, jumped, rode horses, and played basketball and baseball-with tremendous flair.

In the Olympic tryouts in 1932, she won five first places in track and field events. In the games of that year in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the women’s 80 meter hurdles, a gold medal in the javelin throw, and a silver medal in the high jump.

After the Olympics, Zaharias turned to golf. Although she started from scratch, she won the National Women’s Amateur and the British Women’ Amateur.

The press hailed her as a “natural athlete.” They often referred to as an “automatic champion.”

But the real story behind Zaharias fairy-tale success was her painstaking diligence.
Her success came from studied repetition. In every sport she undertook, she was methodical, deliberate, and persistent. She was neither “natural” nor “automatic.”

When, for example, she played golf for the first time, she did not automatically master the game. Instead she studied the game carefully, covering all its complex skill sets, under the tutelage of the finest golf teacher she could find. She looked at all the elements of the golf swing, broke it down into parts, then put it all together in a fluid movement.

Besides using an analytical approach to understand the game, Zaharias also locked the information into her motor nervous system through exhaustive practice. She would spend as many as 12 hours a day on the golf course, hitting as many as a thousand balls. Her hands would often becomes so sore that she could hardly grip her club. She stopped only long enough to tape up her hands before picking up the club again.

Zaharias learned to play golf the right way. She started out by hiring an exceptional teacher. She analyzed each part of the golf swing then put them all together in a fluid motion. She practiced for about 12 hours a day. She exercised self-discipline and self-sacrifice. And she didn’t doubt herself. Her previous successes had created an enduring self-confidence. She believed that if she applied herself she would be a golf champion. She proved this belief true.

Zaharias took a risk. She risked her reputation as an athlete by trying something new. She also risked the time and money it cost her to perfect her new sport.

Above all, she was methodical in the way she went about inventing herself as a champion golfer. She chose a gifted teacher, studied all aspects of the game, and put her new knowledge into practice, converting theory into motor learning, coordination, and stamina.

Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life. Free information. http://theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It’s a shareware article.

Would you like to discover the secrets of golf’s longest hitter? If so, read on…

Over 31 years ago, 64-year-old, Mike Austin set the Guinness Book World Record for “longest drive in competition” by driving a golf ball 515-yards.

No one in the history of the game has come within a football field of this amazing record.

Just to prove to you the statement above is true check out these top drives of some of today’s hottest golf pro’s:

Jason Zuback averages 355 to 375 yards.
Tiger Woods averages 300 to 330 yards.
John Daly hit a 414 yard drive.
Sean “The Beast” Fister nailed a 406 yard shot.

By the way, Tiger Woods did crush one 412 yards… but… it was during a practice round. And Tiger’s drive is 103 yards short of Austin’s world record. Despite the fact Tiger is in his prime and Austin was an “old” man of 64 when he set his record.

Anyway, golf insiders have speculated why Austin was able to hit the ball so darn far. The fact is he used four simple swing secrets anyone can learn.

Swing Secret #1: The Forward Press
This is how Austin would start his swing. The forward press gets the body into motion and initiates the backswing. All of which builds the power for monster drives.

Swing Secret #2: The Compound Pivot
Harnesses your body’s natural strength from a simple 8″ shift in your center of gravity.

Swing Secret #3: The Hands And Arms
Sets the club on plane and keeps it there for distance and pinpoint accuracy.

Swing Secret #4: The Release
Modern golf instructors teach that delaying the release is proper form. Nothing could be further from the truth. The major secret to massive power is the release. Because it takes advantage of gravity so you get a running start at the ball.

Austin’s four power swing secrets landed him in the Gunniess Book of World Records.

They do take a little bit of practice… but… once you get them down your game is going to change forever.

Hit ’Em Long.

John Anghelache is a golf researcher and writer. You can find out more about golf’s longest hitter and his power swing secrets at… http://www.LongDrivingSecrets.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Anghelache

The legend of Callaway golf is not one of those hundred year old tales that start in Scotland. Instead, the story begins when Ely Callaway sold his former business, a vineyard, in 1981. At first Callaway tried retirement, and like most men of his age, he took to golf to pass the time. One day, he was shopping in a golf shop in California when he spotted a pitching wedge that reminded him of the clubs of yesteryear.

To his amazement, however, instead of being just a fragile hickory-shafted club, these Hickory Stick clubs were reinforced with steel. Their core was filled with the metal, which endowed the clubs with power and steadfastness. Callaway was so taken by these clubs that he didn’t just buy a set, instead he bought half of the company.

The new company was called Callaway Hickory Stick USA. The firm spared no expense in attracting the finest talent in design, research and development, and manufacturing. It quickly developed a name for itself as a producer of high-end golf clubs. This success inspired Eli Callaway to buy the rest of the company.

In 1988 the company was renamed Callaway Golf Company and in 1992 it began to be traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol ELY.

Callaway was the first company to use computer-controlled milling equipment. The investment paid off enormously in the 1990s. It was all thanks to a little lady called Big Bertha driver. Actually, she was no lady if you were a golf ball, and she wasn’t so small when compared to other drivers of the day. In fact, Big Bertha was the first stainless steel driver with a bigger head and more forgiving sweet spot.

Thanks to this club almost alone, Callaway became one of, if not the, top golf companies in the world.

If you want to know more about Callaway Golf, visit the company website at: www.callawaygolf.com. Callaway Golf’s Media Center offers informative and entertaining TV commercials, Callaway Golf Wallpaper for your desktop, and downloadable issues of the Callaway Golf Magazine.

by Donald Saunders

Arnold Palmer, General of Arnie”s Army, was speaking of golf, but he could have been describing his own life when he said, “Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character.” His sense of fairness, kindness toward everyone, and dry sense of humor have made him one of the most popular golfers to ever play the game. And he was pretty darned good at the game, too!

As a world-famous golfer, Arnold Palmer won a majority of his 92 championships on the U.S. PGA tour. The only “major” he never won was the PGA Championship, although he finished second in three of them. Probably most noted for being the first pro to win four Masters Tournaments, it”s not surprising to find that he started playing golf at the ripe old age of four. He worked hard at developing his golf game throughout most of his life, and it shows with some of the prestigious awards he”s won including: the 1960 Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year, the 1960 Sports Illustrated”s Sportsman of the Year, and even Athlete of the Decade for the 1960s in a national Associated Press poll. The awards culminated in 2004 when President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House.

His professional career began in 1954, just a few months after he won the U.S. Amateur Championship. The leading money winner in three of the four years spanning his biggest period from 1960 to 1963, Palmer twice represented the U.S. in the international Ryder Cup Match.

But Palmer never let all that prestige and status go to his head. He unfailingly maintained a dry and subtle sense of humor. After succumbing to bad luck on the 18th hole at the Rancho Park L.A. Open in 1961, a newsman asked how he had managed to make 12 on the par 5 hole. His reply: “I missed my putt for an 11.”

Rancho Park became his home golf course for many years. The 20th Century Fox Studios were right across the street, and many times you”d find Hollywood stars mixing with the regular golfing crowd. It”s said that after Palmer once played a round with Frank Sinatra – the famed singer rumored to have been involved with the Italian Mafia – Sinatra asked him, “How do you like my game?” Palmer responded with a straight face, “I prefer golf.”

Palmer even got along with members of the media, laughing at the statement made by one television commentator who noted during a live broadcast that Palmer “seems to be having trouble with his long putt. However he has no trouble dropping his shorts.” That same kindness, understanding and sense of fairness have carried through his life and led to the unofficial creation of Arnie”s Army, a dedicated group of fans that has numbered in the thousands.

The honor and unceasing dedication those fans offer Palmer is well-warranted. His philanthropic efforts, while never highly publicized, have earned him recognition with those who count – the people who know him. For two decades, Palmer served as honorary national chairman of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and has played major roles in fund-raising drives for hospitals in both Orlando, Florida, and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the town in which he was born.

Now in semi-permanent retirement, Palmer splits his time between Latrobe and La Quinta, California. He has numerous business interests around the world and still keeps his hand in his first passion, golf, serving as a consultant to The Golf Channel, designing golf courses around the country, and owning several golf courses, including being part owner of the renowned Pebble Beach course in California.

Famed golf pro, down-to-earth father and family man, quiet philanthropist – all can be used to describe Arnold Palmer. His life in golf has mirrored his life in general. Speaking of golf, he once noted, “I”ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn”t have a chance to win.” It seems, however, that it has been those who know him that have been the real winners in this game.

Copyright 2005 Donald Saunders
Golf is a great sport that will not only get and keep you fit, but give you endless hours of pleasure amongst some of the world”s most beautiful scenery. Amongst some of the most interesting golf courses are those at Myrtle Beach golf and Charleston golf

Related links:

• The Official Arnold Palmer website
• Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women
• Arnold Palmer Golf Management
• Arnold Palmer Golf Academy
• ESPN.com: Palmer inspired army of followers