Best golf holiday insurance

Making sure you have the proper coverage for your golf holiday is important to cover you and your expensive golf equipment. It is important to know why you need golf insurance and what it usually covers. If you want to spend your golf holidays without worrying about any eventualities, keep on reading! At Play In One, we want to give you some guidelines so you can choose the best golf holiday insurance.

Why do we need golf insurance?

Public liability is the most important reason why you should get golf holiday insurance. Accidents happen rarely around the golf course, but they do happen. You can be held responsible for hitting another player with a wild shot or for damaging someone else’s property, so make sure to know basic safety rules before stepping into the course and exercise caution at all times. Your golf insurance should cover you against these accidents and any associated legal costs. 

Seasoned golfers know that golf bags can hold quite an investment; also; regular travel insurance won’t typically cover your equipment. Your golf insurance should include coverage against any loss, damaged or stolen equipment, and in case you are renting, the insurance should provide coverage as well.

If you are unable to play due to bad weather, sickness, or accident,  golf insurance should refund any green fees paid in advance, cover medical expenses, and emergency medical assistance as well.

In addition, If you are lucky enough to hit a hole-in-one, some insurance providers will even cover your bar tab, so you can rightfully celebrate your achievement with a complimentary round of drinks.

How much coverage do you need?

It depends on the particular situation of each golfer. Consider the total cost of your equipment and the tech gadgets used. How much will we be paying in green fees? this becomes important is we are playing expensive and prestigious courses. Also, do you need coverage for a pre existing medical condition? Be sure to contact Play in One if you have questions regarding golf insurance and how much coverage you need. Our advisors are standing by and ready to help you.

A word of advice while on the golf course

There are some things that happen that we just can’t control like bad weather or an illness that will prevent us from playing; However, there are some things we can control that will help us stay out of trouble:

1. Be mindful of others around you and make sure you can swing your golf safely. 
2. Before taking your shot, make sure there are no other players on the green or fairway. 
3. Exercise caution while driving the golf cart and look out for other carts as well and intersecting paths.
4. If bad weather catches up to you while in the course, beware of lightning and make sure to take cover or head to the clubhouse as soon as possible.

Visit us at Play in One  to book your next golf getaway in one of the many golf paradises in Spain and Portugal. Our travel experts will help you put together the best package for an unforgettable golf holiday experience.

Best golf putting drills to practice at home

The best place to practice your putting skills is of course a real course green. Going out to practice on a real course green will give you a better sense of how the ball rolls and how to read the slopes. However, if you lack the time or simply want to make the most out of your time at home, here, we’ll review some of the best putting drills at home, so you are a step ahead of the game every time play on real turf. Want to practice putting at home?

1) Practice direction and hitting the ball with a square putt face

This first drill does not need anything but your clubs and a few golf balls, and a coffee mug. The idea is to practice hitting the golf ball square and not at an angle which is very important for the direction of the shot. Get one of your clubs and place  it parallel to your feet; it will serve as a guideline for the putt. It is not important to follow a straight line on the backswing, but the putt should be square as it hits the balls. The mug will serve as a target to shoot at.

2) Target practice with one handed putts

Practice putting at home by hitting targets about 2mts apart with just one hand. Start by first using your right hand and then switch to your left hand. You can keep your club or stick from the previous drill to get a sense of direction. Again, try to hit the ball with a square face until you get consistent results. This drill will help you improve the accuracy and direction of your shots.

3) Practice putting to a drawn circle or zone

Practice putting at home by shooting puts into a zone or drawn circle. You can use scotch tape or an erasable marker to draw a circle on the floor. Line up five balls on the floor and see how many putts you can get in the circle during each round. As you get better, make the circle smaller or step back a little to increase the difficulty.

Basic golf putting tips

The number 1 golf putting tip is all about preparation before actually hitting the ball. There are a few important steps you should take to do it. First, read the slope of the green to anticipate the path of the ball.  To make this task easier, step back from the ball and crouch to see the green from a flat close to the ground position. See if you can get a feel for the path the ball will take once you hit it. Second, do some practice swings to get a sense of the power and direction of the shot. Third, take the shot. Your swing motion should avoid wrist movements or flexing your elbows.

Visit us at Playinone golf vacations to book your next golf getaway and know more interesting facts about golf. Our travel experts will help you set up the best package for you for an unforgettable golf experience.

Discover the secret pressure points for a smooth swing

The mechanics of the golf swing is very complex and is affected by the movements of your body, your position towards the ball, your grip, etc. especially for beginners it can get a little frustrating the first time out on a golf course. However, after some practice, the swing becomes more natural and the results are very rewarding. At this point, it is time to go further, seek perfection, and study the different ways to swing a golf club. At Play in One, we want to give you some pro tips that will help in your path to perfection. This article will focus on golf grip pressure points for a smooth swing.

Getting your grip right is vital for a good golf swing, and gripping the club too tight or too loose can have negative consequences. Let’s examine these effects and proper pressure grips. It is common for beginners to grip the club too tight. This will result in your wrist not moving as it should through the swing which in turn reduces the clubhead speed. Even if you hit the ball in the right spot, it will not carry as far as you want to, and it will not create much spin.

On the other hand, gripping the club too loosely will surely cause you to slice the ball. This is particularly bad when driving out of the tee box since will it will quickly put you out of bounds and in a bad position to finish the hole with a decent score.

Now, let’s examine the proper grip pressure points. For starters, your golf grip should not be too tight or too loose, and that is probably out of the box.  We know it is easier said than done, but after enough practice, you will find your pressure sweet spot.

How do you find the grip sweet spot?

One useful drill that we can use to gauge correct grip pressure is to think about a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is a totally loose grip and 10 would be holding the grip as tight as possible. Once you have established this scale, you should aim to hold the grip at a level 3.  Now, start moving your club around a bit until you get a sense of weight for the clubhead. After some time, the club will feel more like a natural extension of your arms.

Pressure points on your lead hand and trail hand

The fingers are the most sensitive part of your hands, so we should properly use our fingers to properly apply and sense grip pressure. When we are correctly holding the golf club, the pressure point on your lead hand should be sensed on the heel pad near the pinky finger. As for your trail hand, the pressure point should be sensed on the middle and ring fingers. It will take some time to get a proper feel for these pressure points.

Different ways to swing a golf club

There are two different ways to swing a golf club, the classic swing and the modern swing.  In the classic swing, hip rotation is accompanied by torso rotation while in the modern swing hip rotation is restricted while the torso rotates to create torque. At the top of your backswing, these two variations will transfer pressure to different points of your grip. The classic puts grip pressure on the thumb and index finger of your trail hand while the modern puts the pressure on the three last fingers of your lead hand. 

Visit us at Play in One to book your next golf getaway and know more interesting facts about golf. Our travel experts will help you set up the best package for you for an unforgettable golf experience.

What degree is a sand wedge?

If you happen to be shopping around for your next set of golf clubs, you will find the sand wedge is usually not included or is sold as an extra, and more importantly, you definitely need one in your golf bag. But, how do you know how to choose the right one? and what degree is a sand wedge?. At Play in One, we want to make sure you get your sand wedge right!.

The sand wedge is the club that will get you out of trouble, and by trouble we mean, falling into a sandtrap. But first things first, avoid falling into sandtraps. We all see the pros on TV of getting out of sandtraps like it is very easy, but in reality, it is very tricky. It is difficult to control the distance of the shot, and If you are trying an approach near the green you may end up overshooting and falling short of distance. In my opinion, I rather used the sand wedge for rough areas around the green, but other players would prefer using the pitcher club for these situations.

Now, back to our former question, what degree is a sand wedge? The degrees in a sand wedge range from 54 to 60 degrees, and there is usually a marking in the clubhead indicating the corresponding degrees. The sand wedge has one of the highest lofts or tilts of all clubs, this basically means it will send your ball high and it will help you create more spin. If you have seen some golf tournaments on TV, you have probably noticed in a close-up camera shot that the ball rolls back as it hits the green. This effect is created with some irons but more extremely with a sand wedge.

If you are starting out, you are probably better off choosing a sand wedge degree that is midway in the range of degree lofts. A 58-degree sand wedge will prove more versatile as it is easier to hit from the sand than a 54-degree wedge, and it can be used around rough areas around the green or fairway.

How to use the sand wedge in a sand trap?

If you fall into a sandtrap, get your sand wedge and be ready to come out like a pro. Never hit the ball directly in the sand. Instead, hit the ball about two inches behind it. The sand wedge is meant to slightly dip into the sand to pull your ball out of the sand trap. This shot will cause the characteristic sand cloud we see on some glamorous golf shots. But, there is nothing glamorous about it. Just don’t fall into the traps.

In a sand trap, the sand should be loose. However, in worst-case scenarios, you may find traps with compacted or wet sand. Get your pitcher or nine iron ready to get out of this nightmare. Also, you may hit the ball more directly but without falling through your swing completely.

Visit us at Play in One to book your next golf getaway and know more interesting facts about golf. Our travel experts will help you set up the best package for you for an unforgettable golf experience.