You’ve heard it. C’mon, be honest, you’ve heard that voice in your head. It’s the voice that seems to show up just in time to sabotage your success. We’ve all heard this unwelcome intruder and we’ve all been influenced by it but you don’t have to give in to it any more.

Who is this inner critic and who invited him or her to the party anyway? Our inner critic doesn’t need an invitation because its sole purpose is to remind you that. “That wasn’t good enough”, “This won’t work” and “You can’t hit that shot”.

The word “critic” is derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge. (Click here to read the article in full)

Would you like to hit the golf ball further? Yes! After all, it’s as much about ego as it is about need. Whether it be the little old lady valiantly driving the ball 150 yards on the long, cruel course, or a senior golfer who only took up the sport at age 60 or a long-drive champion who’d like to win at ’Vegas or THE Tiger Woods – everyone wants to hit the ball further. Now, anyone can.

Of course it is said that Tiger has controlled his distance as he’s matured, in order to strive for more accuracy. What, however, if he could have them both – the supreme long, soaring drive, and dead-centre-of-fairway accuracy? (Click here to read the article in full)

For a straight golf shot, one must start with a straight or SQUARE club face: face pointing to the intended target. Often times golfers do not know what “square to the target” looks like.

The vertical lines on the club face should be parallel to the intended target line. To see this you can use stripes on a range ball: aim the lines toward where you want the ball to go and place the club face so that the vertical lines are parallel to the stripes on the ball.

(Click here to read the article in full)

In golf, the yips is a movement disorder known to interfere with putting. The term yips is said to have been popularized by Tommy Armour — a golf champion and later golf teacher — to explain the difficulties that led him to abandon tournament play. In describing the yips, golfers have used terms such as twitches, staggers, jitters and jerks.

The yips affects between one-quarter and one-half of all mature golfers. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that 33 percent to 48 percent of all serious golfers have experienced the yips. Golfers who have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition.

Although the exact cause of the yips has yet to be determined, one possibility is that, in some golfers, the condition may result from biochemical changes in the brain that accompany aging. Excessive use of the involved muscles and intense demands of coordination and concentration may make the problem worse. Focal dystonia is mentioned as another possibility for the real cause of yips.

The yips are most commonly associated with putting, and renowned golf coach Hank Haney has written a book specific to the subject in his 2007 “Fix the yips forever”. He is best known as the current coach of world number one player Tiger Woods. Haney goes on to explain in his book that the yips are not restricted to putting but are also a common, although often undiagnosed, problem amongst advanced players for putting as well as chipping yips and full swing yips.

The yips also affects other sports, mainly cricket and tennis, and Australian rules football. Guillermo Coria, tennis player from Argentina, who was number three in the world ranking, appears to suffer yips in his service. Nick Riewoldt, a StKilda AFL player also suffers from the kicking yips. In cricket, bowlers who suffer from yips are those who have trouble releasing the ball at the end of their action, such as bowler Keith Medlycott.