Celebrities Get Hooked On Golf

If you've never played golf, perhaps you'll never understand the attraction. But if you're like many celebrities--whether they've been playing for years or just recently began to tee it up--you'll agree that the game has an unusual appeal that can consume you.

Golf has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, so much so that the game--long and wrongly considered a less-than-physically-challenging sport--is inspiring yoga and Pilates workouts. Celebrity golfers, who often pay personal trainers big money to help them get in shape and help them stay physically fit--say there are some definite physical benefits associated with an outing on the links.

Experts say you can get the most out of a round of golf if you walk the course, the length of which can measure about 5 miles, depending on the course. Walking improves your cardiovascular health, builds endurance and allows you to burn a moderate amount of calories. If you carry your clubs, you can get an upper body workout as well. And hitting the ball actually can improve your hand-eye coordination, which can be useful in many other areas.

Many celebrities and professional athletes have begun playing to add another level of competition to their lives and to be able to spend more time together with their families, who are joining them on the course.

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Some players like Oakland Raiders cornerback Ray Buchanan love the sport so much that he and his wife, Sheree, built their dream home at Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth, Ga., home of the PGA Tour's Bellsouth Classic. Their multimillion-dollar mansion overlooks the 9th hole, and Buchanan, a former Pro-Bowler, plays two to three times a week during the off-season.

"At first, I didn't like golf," says Buchanan, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons. "But after a while, it was like a virus--so contagious that I wanted to keep playing and learn more."

Sheree Buchanan, who starred as part of the "NFL wives" team in the Emmy-winning reality TV series The Amazing Race 4, just started playing golf a few months ago, in an effort to spend more time with her husband. She took up golf; he took up her favorite sport--tennis. She's just beginning to understand why her husband loves the game so much--the competition with yourself and a desire to always do better. Eventually, the couple hopes that their four children will grow to love the sport as much as they do.

 "[Golf is] still brand new for me," Sheree says. "For us, it's fun. He teaches me, and as long as we don't have a lot of people [playing] behind us, it's OK."

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who also owns an entertainment company and nonprofit foundation, says he started playing golf when he entered the NFL and "fell in love with it."

"Golf is something that is very relaxing for me," says Muhammad, who already is encouraging his 3-year-old son to play. "I think being able to play golf allows you to meet and associate with different people."

But it's not only professional athletes who enjoy time on the course. Actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and Will Smith, and singer Johnny Gill also love the game. Even celebrity couples make the rounds together.it comes to golf: "We wish we had started to play when we were kids."

--
Paddy'

Do Golf Lessons Really Help?

For many years I would go to Phoenix Arizona between Christmas and New Years to visit some relatives and friends. Every year my friend Ray and I would play golf at least 3 times during my stay and every year it would be a contest to see who won the most games.

Over the years, I think we were about equally matched, we each had our good games and bad games, but over all I won more games then Ray did.

One year I won all three game of golf and I could tell that Ray was a little frustrated. The last night of our stay, we met back at Ray's house for supper and Ray said if he couldn't beat me at golf, he'll beat me at Chess. Well, I hadn't played Chess for years, but for some reason, I won all the games and Ray was even more frustrated, but we were still friends.

The following year, Ray called me at home right before I left for Phoenix. He told me our first golf game tee time was the number one spot, early the next morning. After driving to Phoenix, knowing I had to get up early, I made sure I had everything ready for the next morning.

The next morning I drove over to Ray's house and when I got there he was waiting for me and was real eager for us to get going to the golf course. He put his clubs in the car, got in the car and started putting on his golf shoes while I was driving. When we got to the course, he had me drop him off at the club house before I parked the car and said he would meet me at the driving range.

After parking my car I went to the club house, signed in, grabbed a cup of coffee, got my golf cart and drove to the driving range.  By the time I got there, Ray had already gone through his worm up exercises and almost finished hitting most of his practice balls. He then told me to hurry up and put my golf shoes on and take a few practice shots that we had to get going. I ask him why he was in such a rush and he said he just wanted to get started playing.

Normally we would take our time, BS for awhile, joke around and just have fun. But this time was different, Ray was real anxious and focused on getting started and I couldn't help but wonder why. After taking about three practice shots and gulping down my coffee, we drove over to the first hole. Ray said he wanted to tee off first and I said okay because I still needed to stretch and wake up. 

Well, I found out why Ray didn't say much and wanted to get started that morning. He teed up, took a couple of practice swings, stepped up to the ball, swung and hit the ball. I watched the ball take off and after it looked like it would level off, it kicked in the after burners and kept on going. It was one of the best shots I had ever seen, on or off television.

After Ray took his shot, I looked at him and ask, when did you learn how to do that. He looked at me with a big grin on his face and said, I have been taking lessons almost every day since you left last year. He said he was so frustrated at himself, that know matter how hard he tried to beat me, it just wasn't enough. So, he said he made himself a new years resolution, that know matter what it took, he was going to learn how to play golf better.

Needless to say, Ray was a lot better then he ever was and for me, well, Ray had to wait for me on almost every green until I got there. So, to answer the question, do golf lessons really help?

I had taken a few lessons, that's why I was able to beat Ray most of the time before.

Advice On Golf Training Aid Products

There are many different types of golf swing faults and golf training aids can go a long way in helping any golfer deal with their specific problem area.

The golf swing is the essence of the golf game and therefore it would not be a bad idea to get even two golf training aids that are specific to your swing fault.

The golf training aid that I have found to be very effective is the weighted club. This is a very golf-specific golf training aid as you go through the exact same motions you do with an ordinary club but with more weight. This greatly helps in strengthening and conditioning all the relevant muscles.

The inside approach is another great golf training aid to help improve any golf swing. This particular device is extremely useful for slicers and helps deal with this problem fairly quickly.

Another golf training aid is exercise tubing, which is very affordable and yet very effective. The strength of this device is in its’ ability to break down the golf swing into as many different phases as you would like to focus on for the sake of improvements. It offers specific resistance training for each phase.

A stability ball is a golf training aid than any golfer with a bad back should have. There are almost countless different stretch exercises that you can with it. And what makes this golf training aid even more attractive is the fact that you can do your exercises in the office or at home when you have a moment.

A simple pair of dumbbells can be a golf training aid that is very useful to any golfer. They are usually very portable and there are many exercises that can be done with hand weights.

Use of a golf training aids all boils down to the golfer knowing exactly what they are doing when using it.