by South Florida Golf Pro | Dec 7, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Fun Golf Facts, Golf News, Golfing, Health Benefits of Golf
As the weather cools down almost everywhere else in the country, South Florida becomes the hot spot for snowbirds to stay warm for the winter. At Deer Creek, we know many people will be eager to dust the snow from their golf clubs and get out on the course. Golf is considered a safer, accessible sport, but it requires skill and concentration above power. This doesn’t mean injuries can’t happen.
Lower back injuries are common in amateurs. If the player has a poor swing and lacks training, then the likelihood of an injury can be higher. Our experts at Deer Creek have some tips for back exercises for golf to help prevent injuries and keep your back safe.
Golf Swing For Bad Backs
The leading cause of back injuries is poor swings and not having the proper conditioning. The way golfers swing can cause stress on the back if the player leans forward too much, twists, and bends on the side. These pressures can be minimized by using our tips and some of the best stretches for golfers.
Swing Tips:
- Slow down your swing, even when swinging through the ball
- Stand just a few inches closer to the ball
- Turn your inside foot out; this will help get the hip to turn
- Choose narrower stance
- Play the ball to the center of your stance
- Taking a shorter backswing will prevent the spine from twisting too much
- Let the outside heel float
- Keep weight balanced
Best Exercises For Golf
Deer Creek’s experts have put together some exercises to help strengthen your back to relieve some of the back pain after golf or before! A lot of the following exercises have a lot to do with strengthening your core to help strengthen your back.
Planks
This is one of the top exercises we recommend! All it takes is holding a pushup position. Start by tightening your torso so that your stomach doesn’t sag to the ground. Hold this position for as long as you can, rest, and repeat. For beginners, start by holding it for 10 seconds at a time.
These can be done weighted or with body weight and can be done without a gym membership and equipment.
Seated Rotations
This type of exercise can help limber up the lumbar spine, which will help keep your back safe with every swing. Rotation is a major part of golf; it’s almost everything!
To do this exercise, sit in a chair or on a bench, grab a golf club, and hold it on your shoulders behind your neck. This will keep your posture good during the exercise. Now, without moving your hips, slowly start to turn your upper body side to side, stopping at the center each time. Repeat ten times. This can also be done as a warm-up before tee time!
Glute Bridges
This is the type of exercise not only for the core or lower back; it also activates the gluteus maximus muscles and stretches the hip flexors. There is a condition called an anterior pelvic tilt; this is when the “wing” of the pelvis points down toward the floor. Pelvic tilt can lead to problems with walking mechanics and lower back pain.
Contact Deer Creek Today!
If you are interested in learning more about our golf tips are ways to improve your game, check out our golf school or contact us today! And if you are ready to join our family, you can learn about our memberships here.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Dec 6, 2022 | Golf Course Weddings, South Florida weddings, wedding venue, weddings
Planning your wedding is a large feat. While some brides want to take this on, some find it overwhelming. This is where having a professional who understands all aspects of a wedding to assist you plan can help calm down your nerves. They can also help elevate your big day to something even more magical. Deer Creek Golf Club has been a beautiful wedding venue in South Florida long enough for us to be able to put together a few reasons to hire a wedding planner.
Some experts at our South Florida wedding venue have put together their advice and tips.
Reason #1 Bring Your Dream Vision to Life
Hiring a complete wedding planner for everything leading up to the big day can help bring your wedding visions to life. Most planners encourage their clients to start collecting items and images that speak to the bride and groom both as a couple and as individuals. It lets the planner get to know the couple, which will make their job easier when trying to make their wedding dreams come true.
Great planners will have a heavy hand in the long to-do list that comes with a wedding. In knowing the couple and what they envision, the planner will consider this when completing each task on the wedding list.
Reason #2 Manage Your Budget
Many planners will ask the bride and groom what the 3 E’s of their wedding will be:
- Emotion – What emotion do they want to invoke?
- Environment – What kind of environment do they want to create?
- Experience – What kind of experience do they want for themselves and their guests?
Once they have these items established, then the planner and the couple can identify the priorities and the ideal investments. Another key factor is knowing where all the funds will be coming from and who is contributing. Helping with budget management gives the bride and groom a better and more realistic understanding of their investment and financial decisions. It also keeps the couple on track and on target to stay within their budget.
Reason #3 Problem Solving Pros
A complete wedding planner will be able to cut through the hours of research and get you directly in touch with vendors that fit your style and budget. Professional wedding planners can also objectively make quick decisions and be your guide in times of uncertainty. This will allow you to take a deep breath while they help to come up with unique solutions based on your needs. Even if a full-service wedding planner isn’t what the couple wants, we still recommend using a “day-of coordinator” to help with any obstacles that might present themselves on the day of your wedding.
Reason #4 Make Sure No Key Details Are Forgotten
Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of the planning process, key details can slip through the cracks if there is not someone or something to remind you of them. That is why a wedding planner is perfect. It is their job to handle all the details, no matter how big or small. They can help select vendors based on the couples’ theme, budgets, and preferences. With their ability to see the whole picture, they can make more impactful decisions for the bride and groom to be. Having the ability will also help the planner work through the upsells to make sure the couples’ money is being spent wisely. Upsell is a name for anyone providing a service or good. Sometimes they are beneficial and amazing, and other times there are better places for the money to be spent.
Reason #5 Keeps You on Track
The overall checklist of a wedding can quickly become overwhelming when looking at it as a whole. One of the best reasons to hire a wedding planner is to remove that overwhelming feeling. They are the stress relief that keeps the couple from losing focus and becoming unorganized. They break down the list into smaller parts that will help keep everyone on the same page and timeline for getting things done. The list can be tackled by weekly tasks or even monthly, depending on how large the task is.
As items are completed off the list, the next set of tasks can be approached without the added stress. Some clients tend to dive head-first into the planning process and can quickly become overwhelmed. This can lead to details being missed or forgotten. Even if you don’t hire a complete wedding planner, reach out for help and advice and even outsource some of the to-dos on your lists.
Contact Deer Creek Today!
If you are a bride or even a planner who is interested in hosting a wedding at Deer Creek Golf Club, contact us today. Our team would be more than happy to assist you.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Nov 30, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Fun Golf Facts, Golf course dress code, Golf News, Golfing, Golfing Etiquette
While there are different golf courses, the behavior and rules on the courses don’t change. It is important when you start golfing that you know the proper etiquette so you can play accordingly. What is golf etiquette for beginners? The experts at Deer Creek can help answer that.
There are three categories of golf etiquette to know:
- Consideration for other players
- Pace of play
- Care of the course
When people head to the course for the first time or even their 100th time, they should know basic golf etiquette for beginners.
Golf Etiquette for Beginners
Depending on the seriousness of the group you are playing with, you may or may not want to adopt some of the more formal etiquette practices. It is important to know the expectations of the group before the round starts. Whatever your group rules are, here is some basic etiquette you should follow:
- The lowest score on the previous hole tees off first.
- The player furthest from the hole goes first. This includes the green.
- Mark your ball when on the green while others are putting.
- Don’t walk in between a player’s or your own ball and the hole on the green.
- Be quiet while others are hitting their shots.
These are the universal etiquette rules unless the group has decided against them or on different rules for the day. It can also depend on the skill level of the group. If the group has a higher skill level, then the more traditional rules will work best. If the skill level is lower or mixed, then the game may move differently. However, the ability to play golf shouldn’t dictate the pace of play. If you’re new to the game, you can set a limit for yourself. Start with a stroke limit of 8 for each hole. Once you get to 8, pick up the ball and place it on the green to finish your hole from there. There are also etiquette practices regarding the pace of play:
- Write down the scores at the next tee box.
- Park your golf cart on the side of the green towards the next hole.
- When it’s your turn to play, make sure you are ready.
- Limit the amount of time spent at the turn (between holes 9 and 10), or let the group behind you play.
- Limit practice swings to 2. You should hit the driving range beforehand to get some practice in.
- If you are a larger group of 3 or more, send the first person to putt at the next tee box as soon as they are done with a hole.
It is easy to get wrapped up in your own game. Be mindful of the groups behind you to ensure they aren’t waiting for you and your group to finish every hole. If this happens 3 to 4 holes in a row, think about letting them play ahead of you, or you can play more quickly.
Contact Deer Creek Golf Club
Once you have these rules down, then you can check out our tee times and rates. If you have any questions about our course, then contact us today.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Nov 1, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golf Lessons, Golfing, Golfing Tips
“Slicing” in golf is when a sidespin is put on a ball, which means golf shots go right for a right-handed player and left for left-handed players. It is known as one of the most common faults in golf. It is not as destructive as the hook (a ball that curves during flight,) but it still does not help one to get a good score in their game. Unfortunately, it is not always a quick or easy fix, either.
Deer Creek Golf Club has seen and worked with many golfers over the years that have overcome this fault in our golf school. With this experience, we are able to offer some advice and tips on how to not slice a golf ball.
Tips to Stop Slicing
There are a few factors at play when a golfer continuously slices. No one wants to waste a tee time on slices and bad shots. Here are ways that work for some, including our professionals’ basic tips and things you can work on.
#1 Work on Proper Weight Shift
A common theme among slicers is having incorrect or insufficient weight transfer in their swing. When players get to the top of their backswing and the first move is made by the shoulders and arms is where the expression “coming over the top” comes from. The feet get stuck because the player is putting too much weight on the back foot.
A good weight shift comes from the proper sequence of movements starting in the lower body, feet, knees, then hips. Then the upper body follows the upper torso, arms, and hands, all in that order. This means that the hands, which control the club, will stay more inside the correct path for a decent swing.
#2 Turn Through the Impact
Good golfers who have proper weight will shift and turn their bodies through the impact and, more often than not, won’t slice. If professional golfers are analyzed, it will often be seen that their shoulders are about 15 to 30 degrees left of the target, and hips are between 30 to 60 degrees leftward.
Tips #1 and $2 are about correcting the motion of the body as a way to stop slicing.
#3 Don’t Aim for a Slice
Many golfers who are dealing with a slicing problem attempt to aim more left as a fix for how to correct the right slice in golf. That is not the answer! If a round is being played with a left-to-right wind, then aiming more left will just further exaggerate the slice. A wind that is coming off the left may stall the ball’s forward motion, meaning it’s going nowhere.
By working on correcting the swing and path of motion, golfers learn how to get the clubface and stance more squared up, which helps overcome the slice regardless of the wind patterns.
#4 Try Stronger Grips to Make It Easier to Square Up the Clubface
The face of the club naturally rotates closed as it approaches impact. A common problem that golfers have is being able to allow this to efficiently happen. Some players overdo it, and suddenly, instead of slicing, they’ve pulled insanely left.
A way to square the clubface up to avoid either of those bad shots is to strengthen the grip a little. For right-handed players, stronger grips mean more knuckles of the left hand and, if necessary, dropping the right hand slightly under the shaft.
#5 Use Softer Flex Shafts
As golfers swing down, the club head is initially lagging behind the hands. With stiffer and heavier shafts, it makes it harder for it to catch up correctly, while light and flexible shafts help the club head kick forward before impact. This creates more rotation of the face which then helps square up the face and adds loft to the face, which minimizes the headspin on the ball at impact.
Softer shafts should be used by players who slice, while heavier ones should be used by those who struggle with the hook.
Contact Deer Creek Golf Club
We hope our tips for how to not slice a golf ball have helped and if you are interested in our golf school, tee times, or rates, contact us today! If you are in the area, you can also check out our pro golf shop, filled with all the attire, accessories, and equipment you’ll need to look like a pro golfer.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Nov 1, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golf Lessons, Golfing, Golfing Etiquette, Golfing Tips
Deer Creek Golf Club has helped and taught many players golf strength and conditioning workouts to better their game. Focusing on this type of fitness is a great way to target specific areas that could be affecting your golf game. Golf fitness involves a lot of mobility work and balance that can translate into a better swing. There are four main areas that should be focused on when thinking about golf fitness:
- Balance
- Stability
- Rotational strength
- Power
Adding these elements together and into your regular fitness routine will only be beneficial to your swing and overall golf game. In addition, keeping up with proper fitness can prevent your body from feeling pain which can be caused by incorrect form or weaker muscles. Practicing this type of fitness can target all the muscles needed when playing golf.
Balance Workouts
Balance is often the part of golf fitness that gets forgotten or doesn’t get the amount of attention it deserves. Here are some tips and workouts to incorporate into your fitness routine to focus on balance.
Single-Leg Hip Circles
Stand with your hands on your hips and your feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight over to your right leg and slowly lift your left leg out to the side. After establishing your balance, begin making circles out to the side with your left leg. Try to maintain stability and balance in the knee and ankle of the left leg to reduce too much movement. All movement should be in the left hip. Do it five times clockwise and counterclockwise, then switch legs and repeat.
Highwire Shoulder Raises
This is a combination of shoulder work and balance. Start with a light dumbbell (5 to 10 lbs) in each hand, and your arms should start by your side. Place your right foot directly in front of your left foot as if you were walking on a tightrope or highwire. Once you find your balance, lift your right arm out to the side until it is parallel with the ground. While keeping that balance, lower your right arm and repeat with the left arm. Continue until you’ve completed 10 reps on each side.
Switch legs and repeat.
Single-Leg Chipping
Grab a club and set up as if you were about to knock a 30-yard chip onto the green. Bench your trail knee (right knee if you are right-handed, left if you are left-handed) and lift that foot off the ground. Maintain your balance in this one-legged set-up potion and practice your chip shot. Aim to keep that trail leg up in the air and keep the clubhead from touching the floor for at least three perfect shots at a time.
Once you have mastered this, switch the foot that is in the air and try to get three perfect shots without the front foot touching the ground. As you master the skills, up the distance of the chip shot to 50 yards and so on.
Stability Training
Stability and balance go hand in hand in most sports and workouts. It is no different in any golf training guide. If there is a lack of stability, then the swing of any golfer will be compromised. Here are some stability training workouts to work on.
Shoulder Taps
Starting on all fours, lift your knees off the ground so that you are now in a high plank position. Slowly alternate between one hand tapping the opposite shoulder and placing it back on the ground. This type of exercise strengthens core and cross-body stability. It also helps protect your lower back and helps efficiently transfer force through the spine while maintaining the angle.
Side Leg Side Reach
Get your balance on one foot and keep the opposite foot low to the ground, then reach side to side without losing your balance. Let your head and upper body lean in the opposite direction to maintain a nice long line from the tip of your head to your foot. This will help build up stability in ankles, knees, hips, and spine in the frontal plane and help transition weight side to side like you would in a golf swing. Do this for three sets of 10 reps on each side.
Palloff Lunge
For this exercise, you will use a cable machine or a resistance band. Have the cable or band directly out to your side and hold it in your hands directly in front of your sternum and begin stepping forward and dropping into a lunge. Switch between legs and only lunge as deep as it is comfortable. This will help build rotational stability over a dynamic lower body, which in turn helps with a more efficient transfer of force from the lower body through the core to your arms and club.
Rotational Strength Training
It’s pretty obvious that rotational strength is important for a golfer’s swing. There are a few ways to improve your rotation, which also means improving your swing. Being consistent with golfing exercises and stretches is a big part of golfers being able to continuously improve their rotation and swing. Here are a few ways to do that.
Stability Ball Twist With a Dumbbell
Starting by lying on your back with shoulders on the stability ball and hips off in a bridge position. Keep feet a little wider than hip-width apart, and have the dumbbell straight above at chest level. From this position, maintain a strong core, keep your hips in the bridge position, and slowly rotate towards one side and then the other. Make sure to keep your arms straight and feet pressed on the floor. Repeat five times on each side.
Half Kneeling Cable Lift
In a half-kneeling position with the knee down closer to the cable machine, maintain proper hip, knee, and ankle alignment on the forward leg. It is important to maintain a strong core and bring the weight towards your chest and then simultaneously rotate and push the weight away. Keep bare at eye level upon full rotation, control the movement through your core and avoid twisting through the lower back. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Half Kneeling Resistance Band Rotation
In a half-kneeling position, the front knee should be closest to the wall. Place a ball between your leg and wall, grab a resistance band and create a little tension with arms pulled shoulder width apart and slightly lower than shoulder height. With your front knee pushing the ball to the wall, rotate your upper body away from the front leg. There should be little to no movement through your hips. Follow the movement with your eyes throughout the rotation. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Power Training
Power is something every golfer strives for because power can translate to more yards off the tee and to the irons. Here are a few power exercises to add to your workout regime:
- Slam Skater Vertical: Using a medicine ball, stand on one leg at a time and slam the ball side to side, maintaining your balance.
- Split Power Jump: Starting in a lunge position, power through grounded feet and keep your core tight and explode up.
- Weighted Power Jumps: Power up from grounded feet in an explosive move. These can be done with or without weight.
- Squat with Med Ball Rotation: Stand with feet separated shoulder width apart and toes forward. With a slight bend in the knee, engage your belly and keep your arms straight as you rotate slightly and toss the ball to a partner or against the wall.
These exercises will help build strength and control in a golfer’s swing.
Contact us today if you are interested in our golf school, tee times, or rates.
