Blaine561's Sports and Travel Portal

You have probably tried everything, from following advice that worked for your friends to so called ‘tips from experts.’ So what else can you really do to improve your golf swing?

Actually there is plenty you can do, as long as you are prepared to change your mindset.

Thinking “outside the box” is a common expression we all like to use in boardrooms and offices these days, and yet the mindset or prejudices we have still hang heavily and hinders many people from making progress at anything.

The situation is really very much the same when it comes to any attempt to improve your golf swing.

You my have heard that professionals do work outs of sorts but your mindset keeps you from even taking a look to find out whether the exercises are really as strenuous and vigorous as you fear they may be.

Meanwhile 70 year old and 80 year old men and women continue to dramatically improve their golf swing taking simple exercises and work outs that even help to improve their general health.

Difficult to get out of the sort of mindset that emphasizes that golf is a leisure activity where workouts have no place, no matter how light. At least that’s the sort of golf you want to play. So do you really have a chance of ever getting to improve your golf swing?

I really do not think so. To improve your golf swing you really have to be prepared to look at things from a slightly different perspective. And maybe to take a closer look at why other people’s games and most important their golf swing has improved so much.

No it isn’t Bill Gates. It isn’t the diamond merchants of South Africa or the oil barons of Saudi Arabia either. The world’s highest paid job is crab fishing in Alaska. The frigid waters off the Alaskan shoreline house a veritable fishing goldmine and crab fishing in Alaska has been aptly dubbed the last great gold rushes on earth.

Crab fishing is the most significant of the Alaskan commercial shellfish industries. The waters of Alaska, notably the Bering Sea, Bristol Bay, Dutch Harbor and the Kodiak and Aleutian Islands are home to rich bounties of crabs: tanner, Dungeness and the famed Alaskan King crab.

The different varieties of the Alaskan crabs possess immense commercial value and the Alaskan King crab in particular is a prized dish in the culinary world, valued as highly as caviar or vintage French wine. US and Japanese restaurants are the primary importers of Alaskan King crab in the world.

An idea of the valuation of crab fishing in Alaska can be garnered from the fact that a seasoned fisherman can hope to rope in US$50000 worth of catch in an eight-week period.

The commercial crab fishing industry in Alaska had its beginning way back in 1950. The returns were promising from the very start and the region quickly attracted hundreds of US fishing boats. The 1980s were the heydays of crab fishing in Alaska. During this period of king crab boom, the fishing boat captains regularly earned US$150000 in a season and the crab fishing boats boasted of saunas, music systems and microwaves.

But by 1983, the Alaskan King crab industry crashed for no apparent reason. The worst slump in fishing history, it forced fishermen to look into alternative fishing sources. Thus Alaskan commercial fishing branched out either to salmon and halibut or bairdi and opilio, two types of tanner crabs.

Since then the Alaskan crab fishing trade has looked up a little with the year 2001 bringing in 23.2-million pounds of fishing stock worth US$36-million. But crab fishing in Alaska still continues to command the highest pay packet in the world.

But this is only the rosy side to the job. Crab fishing in Alaska is one of the most perilous of all jobs in the world. To fish for crabs in the glacial waters of the Arctic Ocean in sub-zero temperatures, with pounding waves thrashing on the deck and tossing the fishing boat treacherously and icy winds howling continuously, needs a stout heart and an able body. Furthermore, your work will involve negotiating the enormous crab pots and coils of line along the slippery deck.

Each and every muscle and sinew of the body is stretched to the hilt and exhaustion to the point of breakdown is common. Crippled limbs, crushed fingers and ribs, broken legs are the staple fare in the grueling 20-21 hour daily schedules, while men toppling overboard are not uncommon incidents either. In fact, every year there are some casualties in these fishing trips.

However, in spite of all the hardships, there is no dearth of men seeking employment in this fishing trade. Crab fishing in Alaska remains a haloed job to land.

Growing to lengths of more than eight feet and weighing more than 280 pounds, it is easy to see why the tarpon is one of the most sought after saltwater gamefish in the world. It’s habitat is close to the shoreline so fishermen of all types and skill levels can catch them.

If you have ever had the privilege of hooking up on a big tarpon then you know the exhilaration and thrill of testing yourself in battle against one of the most sought after gamefish in the world. This distinction is easy to see at first glance as the tarpon starts a series of spectacular acrobatic leaps in the air that will have your heart pounding, your rod bending and your drag screaming. You better hold on!

Since the tarpon’s habitat is so close to the shoreline, fishermen of all types and skill levels can catch them. They can be caught from jetties, passes, docks, bridges, beaches, piers and rivers. Tarpon can be caught while using many types of tackle, rods, baits, lures and rigs either while fishing from a boat, canoe, kayak or walking and wading from the shoreline as the tarpon work up and down the beaches.

Live bait fishermen’s bait of choice is the ‘dollar crab’. A small live blue crab about two inches across its carapace, hooked through one end of it’s shell or underneath through a swimmer leg. Other extremely effective live baits include pinfish, threadfin herrings and pilchards. On days when the tarpon is being finicky in it’s tablefare selection, try these for the best results, and oh, by the way, don’t forget about a live mullet. If you can get them, use them. Flyfishermen are not left out either. The stealth of casting the right fly can sometimes be the trick to hooking up.

But Just What is a Tarpon?

S

cientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Elopiformes

Family: Megalopidae

Genus: Megalops

This exceptionally fine creature is a prehistoric animal and the only fish with an air bladder. This allows it to absorb oxygen and live in waters with very low oxygen content. You can see them gulp air at the water surface. Tarpon are also called poons, tarpum, sabalo real, cuffum, silverfish or silver king and belong to the bony fish family Elopidae. The Latin designation is Megalops atlanticus.

While only microscopic at birth, tarpon have been documented at lengths of more than eight feet and weighing 280 pounds. Catches weighing more than 200 pounds, while uncommon, do occur. Many fish caught are well over 100 pounds. Their growth rate is slow, taking 8 to 10 years to reach maturity, and generally those over 100 pounds are female. Tarpon can live 55 to 60 years. They are greenish or bluish on top, and silver on the sides. The large mouth is turned upwards and the lower jaw contains an elongated bony plate. The last ray of the dorsal fin is much longer than the others, reaching nearly to the tail.

They are found primarily in shallow coastal waters and estuaries, but they are also found in open marine waters, around coral reefs, and in some freshwater lakes and rivers. Their normal migratory pattern ranges from Virginia to central Brazil in the western Atlantic, along the coast of Africa in the eastern Atlantic, and all through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Florida is widely regarded as having many of the best tarpon fishing locations in the world, especially the world-renowned Boca Grande Pass in Southwest Florida.

Fishing for the tarpon can at times be an excercise of patience and discipline. You may be surrounded by large schools of rolling tarpon containing hundreds of fish and they will not hit anything you throw at them. Other times, it is a feeding frenzy. So, go fishing for tarpon every chance you get, that next world record catch may be waiting just for you.

Golf swing improvement can be elusive for most golfers. I have read many articles and studies on the huge number of golfers quitting the game every year. They are tired of putting in the time, buying equipment, taking lessons, and purchasing every golf training aid on the market only to see no golf swing improvement.

You can’t fault a frustrated golfer who experiences the above and quits. Life is too short to spend 5 hours on a golf course and not enjoy it.

Let’s discuss why this happens!

First off, golf swing improvement should be approached from the inside-out. That means starting with your body. If your body has physical restrictions, you won’t ever be able to make a repeatable golf swing with any power or accuracy. It’s a physical impossibility.

You can try-and-try, but it won’t happen!

You body dictates your golfing ability. Like in any sport, raw talent is hard to come by and is only for a small percent of the athletic community.

Do you feel like you should be a better golfer? How many times have you walked off the course in disgust…knowing you should have played much better? This is a common occurrence and one that can be fixed quickly.

The right approach to golf swing improvement is one that looks at your current golf swing faults and the ‘physical’ reason behind it. I see this all the time. A golfer takes a lesson; the instructor tells the golfer what he needs to do; and the golfer can’t do it!

What a frustrating situation!

For every swing fault, there is an underlying ‘physical’ reason why it keeps happening.

Let me give you one of many examples to substantiate the above statement.

You are a slicer. That means you come “over-the-top” with your upper body. Do you want to know one of the many reasons why this happens?

Here goes!

You have poor core strength and flexibility.

If your body cannot initiate the downswing with the lower body, especially the hips rotating; it is because your core muscles are sending a message to your brain saying, “we can’t do this, so figure out another way (compensation) to get me back to the ball.”

Now the upside to this scenario.

You work on your core rotational strength and flexibility. You don’t hit more balls. You don’t add more swing thoughts to your swing. You don’t do drills at the range til your hands are bleeding. You just improve your core. That’s it!

The result?

You are able to initiate the downswing with your lower body, create and retain stored energy in your core area, and you not only stop your slice, but you add 30 yards to your drives!

That’s golf swing improvement the right way!

Again, this is just one example of a golf swing fault; and the cause and solution to eliminating it forever.

Now golf is fun again!

So when you think of playing better golf; take a new approach to your golf swing improvement.

The chip shot is one of the easiest to learn in the game. Yet, many recreational players have trouble hitting the short chip shot, even after several golf instruction sessions. In fact, they’re so bad, they substitute their putter for wedge, which isn’t always wise, as I explain in my golf lessons.

Using a putter when you need a pitching wedge or a sand wedge is, needless to say, a poor decision. It can add strokes to your overall score or cost you a hole in match play. It’s a problem you must overcome to lower your golf handicap. If you can’t hit a short chip shot well, don’t despair. There’s help.

The inability to hit a short chip shot is as much mental as physical. To overcome these obstacles, you need to simplify both your mental approach and your physical technique. The next time you have a short chip shot, try using an 8 iron instead of a wedge. It’s an approach I sometimes use myself. That’s because it works.

Here are 6 keys to chipping as if you were putting that I recommend in my golf lessons:

• Replace your wedge with an 8 iron

• Take a normal putting stance

• Place hands and weight forward

• Hold the club vertically

• Hit the ball off the toe-end of the clubface

• Rock your shoulders to control roll of ball

First, set-up as if your were going to make a long putt. Use your normal putting grip and play the ball back in your stance, off the inside of the heel of your back foot. The 8 iron is ideal for this type of shot because it’s short enough to deloft without the club’s shaft hitting you during the shot.

Also, keep your hands and weight forward, favoring your front side, as you would if you were hitting a chip shot. Hold the club vertically, so that the club’s heel is raised off the ground, enabling you to stand closer to the ball. And spread your elbows

Moving the ball back in your stance and shifting your weight forward positions the ball off the toe-end of the clubhead when you hit it. Using the toe-end will deaden the ball when you make contact. It will also help control the ball’s roll.

Hit the ball with a gentle rocking of the shoulders, as you would if you were putting. This technique raises the club several inches off the ground in the backswing and forces you to hit down on the ball slightly, chipping it into the air. Concentrate on maintaining the width of the gap between your elbows as you swing thorough. It also ensures a pure arms-and-shoulders motion.

Using the 8-iron approach takes your wrists out of play. Recreational golfers who have trouble making short chip shots often have overly active wrists. With my approach, you’ll eliminate your wrists yet still strike the ball solidly—just keep your head still and focus on making a short, firm follow-through,

You can also use my approach for longer chip shots. Just lengthen your stroke to play the longer shot, as you would if you were hitting a long putt. For extra long chip shots, try using a 5 or 6 iron to get the required roll.

Chip under Target Drill

The key to accurate chipping is keeping the ball low so it runs like a putt when it hits the ground. Here’s a drill I use in my golf lessons designed to teach players to keep the ball low.

Lay a club or bag horizontally across two baskets placed about three feet apart. Then, step back a few feet and try chipping under the obstacle toward the hole, using either a wedge or an 8 iron.

To chip under the obstacle, you must deloft the club, which you can do by keeping your hands ahead of the clubhead when you swing. Having a visual obstacle to hit the ball under forces you to develop your ability to keep the ball low. Keep practicing this shot until it becomes second nature

Hitting the short chip shot well—whether you use a wedge or an 8 iron— is a start toward improving your short game, and chopping strokes of your golf handicap. And aren’t those the real goals?

Utility golf carts can be used in a variety of ways other than a trip around the back 9. For example, golf carts can be used whenever a need for transportation arises. Whether or not you are patrolling a large area or the quick trip between movie sets, the use of utility golf carts are infinite.

Many models of golf carts are available. One of the most primitive is the small personal cart, which typically has a single seat with a basket attached to the front. These are designed to help aid the elderly in getting around during their daily activities.

A contrasting to the previously mentioned golf cart are the multi-seat, four wheel drive, or even the carts that have trailers behind them.

Utility golf carts are commonly found at the workplace. These are utilized in large workplaces to cover alot of ground in minimal amounts of time. Mutli-seat carts are ideal in this situation in that many people can be moved from one place to another in a short amount of time.

Besides usage in the workplace, utility golf carts can be used on the homefront. For example, my grandfather owned many acres of land. The older he got in age, the more difficult it was for him to tend to all of his land on foot. The utility golf cart he owned aided him in getting from one end of his property to the other with ease. With the golf cart he was capable of getting where he needed to go.

Here in England we are on the verge of the new football season and there is a large amount of transfer speculation and the like occurring. With football, we often find that the players who are doing well are confident. When they are having a great spell of the season, scored a lot of goals or something like that, their competence escalates as they feel more confidence. When their confidence is knocked, they might go through a bad spell and often their skills seem to be less available. My point here is that of self image and how we perceive ourselves. This is true with our golf swing also.

Our self-image often works like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have got a great friend who won’t mind me saying that he is not classically good looking (whatever that might be) however, he thinks of himself as attractive and as a result he carries a certain way about him that people are attracted to. Anyone who truly believes themselves to be acertain way; unnattractive or lacking in self-confidence for example, sabotage their chances of being anything else. This is the same with our own internal image of our golf swing.

Our self-image is very important to mention here; remember, you can never be better on the outside than you believe yourself to be on the inside. So you need to believe in your golf swing.

If someone feels negative, sad, angry or frustrated with their golf swing when they enter certain circumstances, events or situations, especially when taking to the golf course, it is very likely that they are going to feel lacking in confidence and this leads to lacking in competence with the golf swing. You need to change your self-image and paint a better picture of yourself in your mind as to how you believe your golf swing to be and what you feel capable of doing and being. No other person can reach inside us and change our feelings for us. If you really want to feel more confident about your golf swing, your self-image needs to be changed in relation to your golf swing. If you see yourself as successful, skilled and confident, you can enter any golf course with your head held high and standing tall and feeling safe and protected by it. You are feeling good about yourself and your golf swing.

We all react automatically to life according to our inner sense of ourselves. Our self-image is our inner sense of ourselves and we refer to that part of ourselves all the time to see how to behave or perform in certain circumstances. In other words, your reactions are founded in your self-image. Building and developing and creating a progressive, positive self-image with regards to your golf swing ensures that your automatic reactions come from a sense of freedom, confidence and are powerful.

I once attended a course whereby the facilitator had devised a wonderful technique that I use a lot with many of the individual clients that consult with me to better their golf swing. The reason I like it so much is because it makes you instantly feel good about your golf swing. This simple technique can be done absolutley any time that you are in a room with a mirror.

So many people I meet condition themselves to feel uncomfortable or bad when they look into a mirror by looking into it and thinking about fat, wrinkles or a blemish or how poor their golf swing is! I have noticed several of my friends look into a mirror and “tut” at themsleves while reminding themselves of all the bad things that attack our confidence. So this technique interupts that process and allows you to recondition yourself to feel better and more confident about your golf swing.

Ok, so first up, take a seat or position yourself comfortably in view of a mirror so that you will be able to see your entire self, however, do not look into it straight away. Just wait and look away for a moment.

Then, think about an occasion when someone you know was being sincere when they paid you a compliment following a shot you played. It can be any compliment what so ever of any kind related to your golf game.

Thirdly, remember what it was that they said and hear it again in your mind and remember how it made you feel. Locate where abouts in your body those feelings were. Really tune into them.

Now, imagine that feeling of being complimented, feeling good about your golf swing and feeling talented spreading through your system, working its way into your cells and into your mind, really imagine it spreading and travelling through you. Imagine that the more it spreads, the more intense the feelings become, this is going to make your golf swing awesome.

Now, turn or look up and into the mirror. Really look at yourself while feeling that feeling.

Spend some time enjoying this feeling.

Lastly, imagine taking a picture of yourself just like that image in the mirror. Imagine taking that picture right into your heart. Keep it there, right there, so that you can look at it whenever you want to remind yourself of how good you can feel about your golf swing.

Please remember; self-confidence is innate. It is built into us from the day we were born. We can often lose touch with it and learn to worry or lessen it, however, confidence is simply hard-wired into you. It is there all the time underneath your worries. Worries and lack with regards to your golf swing are things that can go up and down, can be learned and unlearned. Your confidence is always there beneath all that. Let it permeate in to your golf swing.

It is like when a baby keeps on wanting to walk and keeps on falling down and keeps on at it. However may times they stumble, they get up and they learn and they benefit from it. The persistence is rewarded. Your confidence is hard-wired into you. We all have it. Every technique in both parts of this confident golf swing article are just ways of reminding you all of what you already have.

Good luck with getting that confident golf swing.

Alaska’s fishing vacations are one of the most popular with tourists. With people wishing to escape the hustle-bustle of the daily life, these relaxing fishing vacations are a great way to can get closer to nature.

Salmon is common along the Alaskan coast. So is giant halibut. Visitors can also catch salmon weighing up to 50 pounds. King salmon over 50 pounds are not at all uncommon. Grayling and northern pike are easy to catch in many inland streams. Other varieties of fish, like grayling and northern pike, are easy to catch in many inland streams. And you can fish amid some of the most incredible scenery on the continent.

To be sure, it’s not perfect. The productivity of most Alaska streams is not high in comparison with those in warmer climes.

This means that some heavily fished streams do not quickly produce many large fish, particularly in the Interior. Large salmon runs compensate in many streams, however.

The extreme tides and ocean currents surrounding Alaska creates ideal habitats for baitfish, which in turn attract returning salmon and bottom fish in astounding numbers. Alaska promotes fishing as its main sporting event. Large numbers of tourists visit the place to take part in this adventurous sport.
South-central Alaska is home to the most famous fishing areas in the state. Coastal waters and watersheds embody the place with varied land and seascapes. In addition to salmon and halibut, other fish like trout, pike, grayling, Dolly Varden, burbot, whitefish and other species can be found year-round in the many watersheds that form the main tourist attractions.

Southeast Alaska, sometimes called the “panhandle,” is a land of deep fjords, rushing mountain streams and glaciers. Much of the land is in the Tongass National Forest. Summers are cool and moist; winters are cooler and snowy, but much less cold than portions of Alaska not warmed by the ocean. Salmon return in large numbers to thousands of streams. Halibut move into near shore waters in the summer. Several species of trout are available. A variety of bottom fish can be caught. Shrimp and crab can be found in some waters.

Lower Cook Inlet is also a popular fishing destination in the summer months. Clams, halibut and salmon keep the anglers busy throughout the day. The Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers drain most of Interior, Arctic and Western Alaska, which is sparsely covered by trees. Grayling are most widespread in the region, along with trout, pike, burbot, char and shellfish.

It is advisable that first-time visitors should have a professional guide to advise them. It is always wise to visit the place as part of a guided tour, which will provide all necessary fishing equipment.

Find out the best way to cast your fishing rod. Learn the different types of fishing rod casting

Fishing Rod Casting

The action of a fishing rod is the behavior of the rod while being cast by an individual. The action of the rod may be the same for all the people who cast with it and it may be different for every person who casts with it. Very few casters cast exactly alike. Their hand, arm, muscular and nervous systems are never exactly alike and they con¬sequently perform a cast with a rod differently than any other hand and arm, etc. The action of most rods will react substantially the same for all casters, however. When a rod does not react the same for one caster as another, the action of the rod for each caster is different. That is, a rod may be called a stiff action by one caster and a med¬ium stiff action by another, and both are correct. The action of a rod, then, depends directly on the particular caster using it and may vary from caster to caster.

We will discuss rod action as it applies to fly rods, only. The rod actions are only discussed in general terms.

Wet Fly Fishing Rod Casting

WEJT FLY ACTION: Years ago, a “wet fly action” fly rod was considered to be a rod that was very limber and which bent freely from the grip to the tip. The theory of such limber, soft rods was that they allowed the flies to fall gently into the water and the line to fall straight into the water. Either claim has questionable advantages under many conditions. Gradually, as the years have gone by, fisher¬men began to find out that these old “buggy whip wet fly rods” were actually poor rods for casting the wet fly and that rods suitable for dry fly casting generally cast wet flies much more satisfactorily. Act¬ually, wet fly rods are non-existent today except when a maker turns out a poor dry fly rod and sells it to some novice as a “wet fly rod.”

Dry Fly Fishing Rod Casting

DRY

FLY ACTION:

There are many ways to build a dry fly rod or dry fly action into a rod. Most of these methods produce good dry fly rods. I will briefly describe some of the better known methods of producing dry fly action in a rod.

HEWITT DRY FLY ACTION:

Edward H. Hewitt, as you un¬doubtedly know, was considered the best fly fisherman for trout in the world. There are those who are prone to minimize Hewitt’s abil¬ities for personal reasons or self glory. However, I have never known or heard of anyone from reliable sources who could beat Hewitt for actually putting trout in a creel. Hewitt used a rod with action or the bending in the lower or middle part but not as pronounced as in the standard Dry Fly action. On a three piece rod, for example, the upper half of the middle section and the lower half of the tip have “level tapers”, that is, the tapers are slight. This leaves these areas a little stiff. Such a rod has action all over but slightly more of the bending is in the butt section, the lower half of the middle section, and the top half of the tip.

Hewitt action is identical to the Standard Dry Fly action describ¬ed below, except that the variations in the “level tapered” areas are less from a straight taper than the Standard Dry Fly action “level tapers.

”
In one of the last letters from Hewitt, he wrote me that he much preferred this type of rod to all others and that he never was able to wear one out or soften up the action of such a rod no matter how long he use it. This means something coming from Hewitt. He not only had used rods of various types for a great many years but used them a great deal ever year. As always, Hewitt had Leonard make his rods and he always had the highest praised for them.

The Low Down On Worms

We all know that plastic worms are one of the most productive lures there are, but did you know certain worms have special uses? I have a whole tackle box with nothing but plastic worms in it, hundreds of them!

Here is what I use a certain worm for:

Floating Worm…I use this worm in shallow water and mainly in the spring. I use no weight whatsoever and like to use it when the fish just start thinking about spawning.

Stick Worm…..I use this worm in 60-70 degree water. If you use it whacky style it will vibrate on both ends.

Paddle Tail…..This is one of my favorite shallow water lures. When I fish vegetation I use long casts and just reel it back in slowly.

Gator Tail…This is also a shallow water worm that I use in the summer. It’s also great on streams and rivers.

Curly Tail….I use this worm in the summer around stumps, docks, timber, lily pads and it’s one of my favorite when I fish deep water to 20 feet.

Straight Tail…This is one of my favorites for docks, timber and brush. I have found it doesn’t wrap around brush like most worms do.

French Fry….I always carolina rig a french fry and use it in clearer water. The action of this is amazing when you move your line and the weight comes up the line.

Ribbon Tail…I read about 30 years ago of people fishing with a 10 inch ribbontail at night. I’m here to tell you this works, I have caught some nice bass on a big ribbontail. I use a regular ribbontail when fishing 10-15 feet of water too.

If you like to worm fish now, try some of the types of worms above for specific conditions. I think you’ll like the results.