Urban Golf - 3 indoor golf venues in London

Urban Golf has launched a package of golf lessons and practice sessions aimed at ensuring golfers don’t let their game suffer during the winter months.

The Winter Warm Up package costs £225 and consists of:
6 x ½ hour lessons with a qualified Urban Golf Professional
Free use of Urban Golf’s simulators during off peak times (Monday – Friday between 10am and 6pm) in January, February and March.

Founded in 2004 Urban Golf operates 3 indoor golf venues in London in Soho, Smithfield and Kensington. Each venue is fully licensed and house at least 6 golf simulators on which guests can play 50 championship golf courses. Services offered include golf lessons, golf club fitting, corporate and private events and freeplay sessions.

Urban Golf’s Managing Director; James Day, came up with the package as a way for golfers to beat the expected harsh winter.

James says: “In 2010 there were courses up and down the country that shut due to the snow and frost, often for over a month at a time. What I wanted to do was give golfers the chance, not just to keep their eye in but make sure they’re practicing the right stuff with tuition from our expert professionals.”

James Maclean @ Urban Golf

Steve Smith, Urban Golf’s head professional says “Each spring I get inundated by clients wanting a last minute tune up before the season begins in earnest. If you’ve not played or practiced for 3 or 4 months there’s no way you’re going to be at your best when you step out onto the first tee. Our Winter Warm Up package is a great opportunity for golfers to steal a march on the competition and make the 2011/12 season the one where they reach their golfing goals.”

To book your place on the Winter Warm Up package or call Urban Golf on 0207 248 8600.

GolfGym Weighted Training Club

Over the past year three PGA Professionals have analysed my golf swing and given me the same critique.  The backswing is, apparently, pretty good.  But like many amateur golfers I have a tendency not to follow right through the ball in a straight swing; and as a result if I’m not careful, my driver shots can be affected by a fade.

Attempting to train myself to swing true, I was told to place two clubs together and swing them several times.  It sounds simple but works.  The weight of the clubs helps to keep my forward swing inline and complete.

The problem with placing two clubs together is you cannot hold the clubs with a proper grip.  I thanked the Pro who recommended this to me last year and was surprised that, as far as he was aware, a manufacturer hadn’t produced a heavy club, as he said this was a tried and tested technique.

Well now GolfGym, a golf fitness company based in California, have produced a weighted club, and it works a treat!

The GolfGym Weighted Training Club comes in two weights: Club 38 weighs 38oz. (2.4 lbs) and Club 28 weighs 28oz. (1.75 lbs).

The GolfGym Weighted Training Club design distributes the weight to perfectly match a standard golf club, with half the total weight in the bottom third of the club.  The added weight increases flexibility and balance; and the weight of the club forces you to keep on the correct swing plane.

In much the same way as the excellent Explainar golf training aid forces you to follow the correct swing plane through a heavy weight system, the GolfGym Weighted Training Club works perfectly for me.  The only difference is the weighted club is portable and fits in my golf bag.  The Explainar is big, expensive and even though I could buy a portable version to fit in the boot of my car, it’s hardly practical to use as part of my warm up on the first tee!

The GolfGym Weighted Training Club comes with a  left or right hand grip that forces your grip, which I’m not overly keen on to be honest.  But that aside, I really can’t praise this golf training aid enough.

It includes a training DVD showing exercises well respected bio-mechanics golf coach Joey D employs with the five PGA Tour Pros he is currently working with.

The Weighted Training Club is part of a complete range of golf training aids from GolfGym and PGA Tour Coach, Joey D. GolfGym has just announced that the Joey D Signature Series is now being shipped globally.

The GolfGym Weighted Training Club costs $59.95