Below are three popular myths I like to debunk in my golf lessons and golf tips. One or two of them may have an element of truth in them. The other may have no truth in it at all. Regardless, all of them embody ideas that can elevate scores and boost golf handicaps.

1.Aim at the Target
We&’ve all heard this statement before. Maybe even said it. The statement isn&’t so much mythic as it is confusing. The question is, aim what at the target? Your clubface? Your shoulders? Your body? The statement doesn&’t really say.

The problem with this myth is that it can cause people to misalign themselves in one of two ways, hurting his or her golf handicap.

&’ aiming the feet, hips, knees, and shoulders directly at the target, leaving the clubface following a line well right of the target; or,

&’ aiming to compensate for ballflight errors, like when you aim left to compensate for the ballflight error of a slice (for right handers).

When aimed correctly, the leading edge of the clubface sits at a right angle to the target line while your body aligns parallel-left of the target line. This set up establishes perfect parallel alignment. This position doesn&’t come naturally. So you need to work on it on the range to recognize when you&’re aiming correctly on the course.

Here&’s a drill I use in my golf instruction sessions.

First, pick a target and lay one club down on the ground a few feet in front of the ball, but on the target line. Then, take a second club and lay it down parallel to the first but along your toe line to indicate body alignment. Make adjustments as necessary. Finally, hit a few balls and see what happens. After awhile you&’ll have trained your body and eyes to accept this new alignment.

2.As the swing gets longer, it gets faster
If you&’re like most golfers, you swing the driver faster than the 7-iron or 8-iron. Most of us invariably ramp up our swing speed with longer clubs because we envision hitting the ball harder and driving it farther. It&’s a natural tendency, one I often see when giving golf lessons.

Unfortunately, when you ramp up your swing speed, you destroy your natural swing tempo&’the total amount of time it takes to create your swing from beginning to end. That&’s not good. When you start varying your swing&’s tempo from club to club, you destroy the timing required to hit consistent golf shots. It&’s one reason why you feel that you can hit your irons well one-day but not your woods, and vice versa.

All of us have our own swing tempo. Some of us have a fast tempo, like Nick Price. Some of us have a slower tempo, like Fred Couples. Either way is fine, as long as you keep the same tempo for each club in the bag. It&’s not something you control. If it takes two seconds to hit the pitching wedge, it should take you two seconds to hit the driver. Practice consistent tempo with all your clubs and you&’ll hit consistent shots.

3.Play the ball back with shorter clubs
Most of us vary ball position as we change clubs. The shorter the club, the farther back we position the ball. But incorrect ball positioning can create major problems. With the ball positioned too far forward, our shoulders tend to align too far left of forward. Since your club swings where our shoulders point, we slice. With the ball positioned too far back, our shoulders tend to close, encouraging a push or a hook.

While you should position the ball more forward for the driver than the pitching wedge, you should never place the ball farther back than center for any normal shot with a level lie, regardless of the club you&’re using.

Remember, for normal shots on level lies, there are just three basic ball positions;

&’ Short iron: one inch left of center

&’ Mid-irons: two inches left of center

&’ Long irons & woods: three inches left of center.

In addition, always relate the position of the ball to your upper body, not your toes. Using your toes can create the illusion that the ball is positioned correctly when in fact it isn&’t. For example, if you use your toes to position the ball with your foot flared out but then close up your foot, the ball seems to move forward in your stance, when it actually hasn&’t.

These are just three of the more popular golf myths that exist, many of which I address in my golf lessons and golf tips. There are lots more. Unfortunately, many of them are just plain wrong.

So be wary of them. And don&’t be afraid to challenge them. Even if you&’re wrong, the worse thing that can happen is that you can learn something valuable about the game of golf.

If you happen to be a senior golf player then you might enjoy a few toys that just help enhance the game a little more. Golf Cow Online has some great gifts and accessories to give that special golf or just buy the things yourself. The first thing on your list might be the Skycaddie. This is a handy gadget that will tell you were the bunkers are located and some other areas of the course to avoid. This handy rangefinder is something that will have you playing like a pro in no time. It is approved by the USGA and the R&A.

Senior golf enthusiasts will want a Speed cart to make things easier on those walk only golf courses. Since you cannot have a golf cart, the motorized Speed Cart starts up and away it goes. You can set it to go by itself for up to sixty yards without you behind it to control the buttons. You can sue it as a manual cart or as a self-powered cart that will make your day even more enjoyable. Save your energy for the golf swing, let the Speed Cart do all the heavy work. You will never need a caddie again.

If you have a few problems finding the golf ball, you might like the Ball Finder Scout. It can help you find them hard to balls that seem to disappear out of sight when you least expect it to. Never worry about losing sight of another ball. If you happen to hit the ball in water or into a wooded area, the little gadget might not work, but if the ball is even one to two percent visible, it should find the golf ball. For a senior golf player this might come in handy.

Another little compact gadget for the senior golf player is the Zelocity Pure Contact Launch and Flight Monitor. How it works is amazing, how to use it is easy. This is something that can help you improve your swing for distance and tells you how you hit with the club you are using. This is nice for making over that bunker coming around. If you know how many yards you get with that one club, you can accurately choose the right club for that specific shot. This works great for conditioning yourself and teaches you how your swing is decreasing or improving as well.

As a senior golf player, you might also want some little gadgets that have your name on them, such as golf tees, spot markers, golf balls and a hand towel with your name or initial. There are so many different accessories that can help enhance your game and some that just make you feel good about yourself. It is every golfers desire to hit the ball and play like a pro and with some help you can accomplish everything you want to as a senior golf player. Golfing is fun and some minor accessories only enhance the game you might say.

For years, women have been playing golf and the senior golf pros prefer courses that are not as long as the men’s courses. They prefer courses that are considered “linked”. There are three popular courses for women, although there more these three are the top of the list. The Chisholm Trail, Bandon Dunes and the Royal Links are the three top golf courses, which have shorter distances and are not as tricky as what the men play. One golf course the women want to stay away from is Whistling Straits. They do not feel this is a friendly course to play.

The Royal Links in Las Vegas is friendly golf course for women. The course is shorter and if the women senior golf player can avoid the sand bunkers, you can actually have a scoring game. The Royal Links is a walking course only, you will want a caddie to help you along the way. Every hole has a different theme, while the course is designed and styled after the golf courses from Scotland, Ireland and England. On the eighteenth hole, you will find no water at the Royal links, which is rare for a golf course. This course is definitely a ladies senior golf friendly course.

The Bandon Dunes in Oregon look out over the Pacific Ocean and have a spectacular view. This golf course has gained recognition for being the best links golf course in the United States. The course has a bounce and roll reputation, which the women like. There are however some high winds will have you playing more of a ground game. The wide fairways also make it easier to stay out of trouble. The course is also a walk only course as the Royal Links and you will want a caddie to take care of your equipment.

The Chisholm Trail gained popularity as a mom and pop golf course when an optometrist retired and used a farm tractor to make the course. The sand hills in Kansas are the hot spot for this golf course. Many senior golf players would rather play this course than any other. You will not see any water surrounding the course, but you will see sand dunes and firm fairways and grasses that are native to Kansas. If you need some experience with low shots and some rough grass, this is a golf course to play. Sometimes the winds are as much as thirty-five miles an hour, but it is not uncommon to have consistent winds of about fifteen miles an hour.

You can other popular courses around for a good game of senior golf as everyone differs and has a favorite course different from someone else. The entire idea about golf is to find courses that require a little creativity to play. This is how the golfers prepare themselves for the trickier golf courses that the PGA and LPGA play throughout the year. The courses played by the pros are usually more or less groomed and designed to attract the tours that are nationally televised.

Back Nine &’ This is the last set of 9 holes that are on the golf course. This is determined by the order that the course is played in. For example, if you start playing on hole 1, the back nine would refer to holes 10 18. However if you started playing on the 10th hole it would actually refer to holes 1 9.

Birdie &’ This is when a score for a particular hole comes in one stroke below par for the particular hole that is being played. This means if the hole being played is a par 3 then the score must be a 2, if the hole is a par 5 it must be a score of 4.

Bogey &’ This is a score that comes in a single point over the par. For example, if you are playing a par 3 hole then a score of 4 would be a bogey. In going further, anything that was a par 5 would need a score of 6 to be a bogey. This is just an example and is not restricted to only certain pars.

Bunker &’ This is what is created as a depression in the ground that is generally filled in with sand, which provides a greenside hazard that needs to be avoided. While the bunker typically shows up in the greenside, it is possible for them to also along the fairways or even beside the fairways.

Green &’ This is what the very end of a hole is call where the flagstick is located. This is typically, where you will putt out the rest of the hole. The shape can vary, however most are either oblong or oval shape.

Handicap &’ This is an indication of the overall playing ability that a player has. It is generally compiled based upon the last several scores that have been played as well as the course rating and the slop ratings that accompany the courses that were played. Generally, someone who has a typical average of 10 over par will have a slightly better handicap. In terms of handicaps, someone with a 2 is better than someone with a 3 or higher handicap.

Hole &’ This is the exact area where the flagstick resides to mark the exact location of the hole on the green. In addition it is also often referred to as the as the specific hole on a course &’ for example a golf course typically has 18 holes.

Over par &’ This is the term used to describe any score that comes over the par for the course or even the individual hole. An example would be a score that was 5 on a hole that was a par 4. This would result in an over par. However, while this can refer to just a specific hole it can also refer to the entire course as a hole as well.

Par &’ This is considered the expected number of strokes in which it takes to actually sink the ball. To determine the par you should take at least 2 for putts, then add strokes based upon the length of the green. Very long greens will require higher values. A very long green would allow a par of 5 for example, while a short green would only allow a par 3. The par number is generally added both for the individual hole as well as for the entire golf course as well. This allows players to see exactly what they are looking at distance wise before they even begin playing.