I think we have all been there. You are staring down a long par 4 from the tee box. The fairway is lined with trees on both sides. The landing area is tight and hitting 3 wood or iron is not an option, the hole is too long.

You pull out driver and tee up the ball, knowing to win the skin with your buddy you have to land this tee shot in the fairway. You take a few practice swings, address the ball, look down the fairway (it looks a little tighter than before), begin your backswing, and bang!

Your body tightens up. You hold onto the club and hook it into the tress. You think to yourself that bogey will now be a good score. You are upset at yourself and watch as your playing partner swings a smooth driver that lands the ball on the left side of the fairway.

You begin to grudgingly walk towards your ball, hoping you will find it, saying a few things under your breath, and questioning your swing mechanics.

What just happened? A situation that most of us have encountered at some time in our golfing career. We take some smooth practice swings, but when the ball is before us and we have to execute the shot we tighten up and hit a chunky, thin, or fat shot. We have allowed tension to seep into our golf swing. We all know that the swing is a free-flowing movement that requires your body to be loose.

Dean Reinmuth, one of Golf Digest s top instructors, speaks extensively about this term in his book. He discusses how a swing needs to be free and flowing. This allows for the club to travel on the correct swing path and develop club head speed. Muscle tension will impede and ruin your swing.

If your muscles are tight, how will you be able to swing a club in a free-flowing manner? You will not be able to do so. If you are gripping the club with a Hulk Hogan sleeper hold, how are you going to swing the club freely? You can t. If you are unable to feel the club head, how are you going to swing the club freely? Again, the answer is you will be unable to do so.

If you have your doubts, give it a try. Head out to the range, purchase a bucket of balls and go at it! Warm up with a few wedges and then grab your 7-iron. Hit a few half shots and let s begin the experiment. First off, take the club and grip it as hard as you can. Now, attempt to hit the ball. What happened? I am guessing not a good outcome. One more time with our experiment, grab the 7-iron and address the ball. Now, when hitting the ball your thought should be: I am going to hit this ball as hard as I possibly can. Go ahead, try to hit the ball. What happened? Again, I am guessing the outcome was not good. What happened in both of these situations? You developed tension in your swing, and it impeded your hitting the ball solidly.

Next question: how do you develop a smooth, free-flowing swing that is tension-free? Quite a few aspects are part of this equation. Developing proper swing mechanics is part of the answer. The swing is an intricate movement that is the blending of a series of movements into one free-flowing movement. In order to develop a tension-free swing you must develop your swing. This is a process that takes time, proper instruction, and practice.

Additionally, you must develop the proper mental confidence in your game. The example in the beginning of this article is a prime example. If you are not mentally confident in your swing, what do you think is going to happen on the tee box? Your body reacts to your mind and tightens up, resulting in a poor swing.

How do you develop the mental side of the game? This is again done through the development of your swing, practice, and playing. As your game develops, confidence in your swing will develop. It is a give and take, so to speak. As your golf swing improves, so will the mental aspect of your game.

Finally, we must discuss the body. Yes, the body has an effect on a tension-free swing as well. Follow the logic, for muscles to be loose and free-flowing, they must be flexible. Being tight and not flexible puts you in a state of tension even before you get to the first tee! If you do not believe me, go to the gym and do 10 sets of heavy bench presses and then go to the range. See how well or poorly you hit that bucket of balls!

If your body is not flexible, you will not be able to perform the free-flowing movements of the swing. The body needs to be flexible for a tension-free swing. If you are inflexible, the ability to even develop your swing mechanics to a point where they are free-flowing will be impossible.

Bottom line is you need to develop your flexibility around your swing.

How do you go about doing this? The implementation of golf-specific flexibility exercises into a training program will do the trick.

The swing and the mind work together to develop a tension-free swing. You cannot develop one without the other. A comprehensive approach is required when developing a tension-free swing. Working only on your swing mechanics will not work if your body is inflexible. Doing only flexibility exercises will not do the trick if your swing mechanics are incorrect. And focusing only on the mental side of the game will not work if your swing is a mess, and your body is as well.

A tension-free swing allows for great shots from all over the course. Developing this type of swing takes time and effort. You must train the body, the swing, and the mind. This is the ticket to your tension-free swing .

About the Author Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour regularly with 2005 PGA & 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. He has made many of his golf tips, golf instruction and golf swing improvement techniques available to amateur golfers on the website http://www.bioforcegolf.com. To contact Sean, you can email him at support@bioforcegolf.com.

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Wilson , Callaway, Titleist, Adams , King Cobra, Yonex, Ping , Taylor Made, Mizuno, and Spaulding are all excellent name brand golf clubs. As a beginning or even a professional golfer, trying to decide which set of golf clubs to purchase, however, may often feel like taking a shot in the dark. In a society that is increasing name brand conscious, many of us are tempted to simply buy what everyone else seems to be buying. Selecting the proper golf clubs, however, is something that you shouldn’t do without having a good idea of what types are available and what the specific use of each club is. Using the proper golf club can and will greatly improve your game. Other important things to consider are choosing the right lie and the right shaft flex. The flexibility of the shaft of the club is known as the bend or flex. If you’re a powerful swinger, you’ll have more control with less bend. Beginners and less powerful swingers are better off with more flexibility.

If you’re new to the game of golf, the first thing you need is a basic set of golf clubs. A basic set will include irons, putters, wedges and drivers, and even though most nongolfers don’t believe it, each type of club is designed to improve the speed of your swing and will help you correct faults in your game. Using the right type of golf club is essential and will make the learning process quicker and easier. The first thing to consider when choosing a set of golf clubs is your basic ability level. There are basically three ability levels including: low handicaps, mid handicaps and high handicaps.

If you’re a low-handicap golfer, you generally score less than ten strokes over par. Low-handicap golfers should carry at least one fairway wood and a driver as well as lower irons, and at least 3 wedges, a pitching wedge, sand wedge and either a lob wedge or approach wedge. A mid-handicap golfer in the 11-20 handicap range should add a 7-wood or even a 9-wood to their bag. The fairway woods will provide much better control and consistency than the long irons. Mid-handicap golfers should stick to the 3 and 9-irons and the same wedges recommended above. High-handicap golfers are either new to the game or just haven’t mastered the basics and usually shoots over 100. It’s highly suggested that high-handicap golfers use the 3-wood for the tee off and add in the 7 and 9-woods. The same wedges would apply that are suggested for the low and mid-handicap golfers.

Today, common concensus is that the most important club you can have in your golf bag is a hybrid. Many golfers have used this club to replace the three-iron. Tour players are even switching to this club. Hybrids to check out include the Taylormade Rescue Mid (which continues to dominate the market and is found in more bags on the tour than any other hybrid), the Nike CPR, and the Ben Hogan CFT. The hybrid is a club that favors the golfer who is generating good clubhead speed, but needs to add to long-iron trajectory. The lower center of gravity in this club produces higher shots while a short shaft will improve control and accuracy.

Drivers and woods are probably the most important clubs in the bag and everybody loves them. Mainly used for longer shots, drivers are usually the first club out of the bag on the tee. Some advanced golfers, however, may decide to use a driver off the fairway is they need a little extra distance. A fairway or metal wood is also used off the tee if you need a more accurate shot or you don’t need as much distance as you would get with a driver. This club is a utility club that can also be used in fairway bunkers and tight lies in the rough. The most popular drivers on the market today are the Taylormade r7quad, the Taylormade r5 dual and the Ping G2.

Fairway woods are usually considered the most reliable golf club and seem to be a favorite because they tend to make you look better than you really are. This is a club that is evolving slowly but should definitely have a place in your bag. A fairway wood usually improves a golfer’s accuracy and allows him to loft the ball higher. A few favorites include the Cobra SZ and the Calloway Big Bertha.

The iron is a club that is definitely riding on the edge of technology and suprisingly enough is getting less expensive. While this club isn’t perfect yet, it’s getting there, and most players should be using game improvement irons. These irons stress perimeter weighting, forgiveness and higher trajectory. The three irons that are getting the most attention today are the Ping G2, the Calloway Big Bertha and the Calloway Big Bertha Fusion. Often the most overlooked club in the bag is the wedge. This club, however, is a necessity in every golfer’s bag and definitely a trusted friend to every player who’s ever been on the tour. The Cleveland CG10, the Titleist Vokey, and the Cleveland 588 are three of the best. The popularity of the wedge is evident in that Cleveland and Titleist have over 112 combined wedge options.

Finally, the putter is a club that has certainly gone high tech and some of the newer Super Mallets look like they belong in Science Fiction movies. Thankfully, though the traditional putters are still performing well and remain favorites. The Super Mallet putters getting the most attention are the Odyssey 2-ball (White Steel), the Ping G2i Craz-E and the TaylorMade Rossa Monza/Mezza Monza. The old standbys of the traditional putters include the Ping G2i, the PING JAS, and the Yes! Golf C-Groove.

Once you have a general understanding of when and why you need to use a certain type of club, there are still many decisions to make before actually making a purchase. Many driving ranges have golf clubs for rent and it may be a good idea to try out a few different clubs before actually making your purchase. Golf clubs, especially the name brands like Titleist, Cleveland and Nike can be very expensive. If you’re new to the sport, consider starting out with second hand clubs. If you find a set that fits, you can usually get them for a steal.

Vincent Volder is running the website http://www.vicvol.com where he features the latest golf news from the various golf blogs on the web. Updated everyday with the hottest news from around the world.

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