MYLOCALGOLFER.COM

So you have already planned your dream golf vacation, and already made your reservations for some great locations like Sarasota, Tampa, or Clearwater. Maybe some friend with inside local information has tipped you off about great but less famous courses down around St. Petersburg. Whatever the case, you've laid your plans and are already counting the days.

Of course, you are getting in plenty of practice at your local golf courses in the meantime, polishing your skills and working on your posture and grip. Are you remembering to take along the best friend a golfer can have these days? I mean your digital camera, of course. Not only can this camera snap shots for your memory book, it can also record video! Recording yourself while playing golf can make you improve with your game and see what you are doing wrong.

Now before you groan at the thought of “home movies” you need to stop and consider the potential advantage that video can give you in the sport. With a small tripod, you can record your play to study yourself to figure out how to make your game better. You know how easy it is to see all the little mistakes when watching someone else take a swing. As you watch, you see their weaknesses, things you'd do differently in the routine, or notice those little things about their grip or posture that are costing them some of their performance. If you start recording your own practice games, you can study your own form in privacy later. Years ago, shooting video took bulky equipment and a team of people to handle it. These days, with practice, everything you need can be small, lightweight, and take less than a minute to set up. Professional athletes have studied video footage of themselves to improve their game for decades now, but it is really in recent years that the gear has become small and “smart” enough for the average enthusiast to make use of the potential.

Making your digital camera one of your regular golfing buddies now also lets you get in plenty of practice using it before you go on that dream golf vacation. If you are already quite adept at taking good photographs with it, there's not better time to brush up on the basics of what makes an outdoor sports picture something really worth looking at. It is not just about practice, either. With a little thought and experience, you can catch some great moments of your game to enjoy gloating over later. Imagine the camera at a low angle near the hole as you sink that perfect putt. The best moments from your dream golf vacation can be enjoyed for years, and shared with other enthusiasts. If you start working it into your regular practice now, so that it is second nature to you when vacation time finally rolls around, you can look forward to getting some great shots with your camera as well as with your clubs when you play.