Ron Kaspriske

You stand over so many golf shots each season, it’s understandable if you take your address posture for granted. Same goes for how you set up for a putt. But if you’re experiencing low-back pain, it’s probably worth doing a posture check to see if you’re putting unecessary stress on your spine, says Chris Cooper, a Golf Digest Certified Fitness Trainer.

Here's a golf rule you might not know that comes into play on nearly every hole of every round: You can mark your ball on a putting green, or anywhere on the golf course if it interferes with someone else's play, using virtually anything you choose.

The Rules of Golf explain whether you have to use your putter to move a ball marker out of the line of another golfer on the greens

Here's a golf rule you might not know that comes into play on nearly every hole of every round: You can mark your ball on a putting green, or anywhere

One of the best trainers in America says it's time you tried isometrics.

Most gym-goers are well educated on concentric training, which is exercise that requires muscles to contract to perform the movement. Think of a dumbbell arm curl. It’s the opposite of eccentric training, which is the lengthening of muscles to perform a movement. Using the same dumbbell curl as an example, the lowering porition of the curl, if done slowly, is an example of eccentric training.Both are useful in gaining strength, power, mobility, etc., but they also increase risk of injury, especially as the person doing them increases external loads or pushes his or her body to its maximum capability. You might be able to jump on a box that is 24 inches high. Then you try a 30-inch jump and, bam, you end up on your back.The point is, golfers can greatly benefit from strength training but also risk cutting golf season short if they get injured. That’s why Jonathan Avalos, one of Golf Digest’s Best Fitness Trainers in America, says isometric training is a great alternative.If you’re not familiar, isometrics are exercises where there is no movement, but the muscles needed to perform it are firing like crazy. Think of a plank. You’re not doing anything but holding the position and yet, your abs feel like someone set them on fire. Your shoulders, too.”I’m a big fan of isometrics because they let golfers produce a lot of force without a lot of moving parts,” says Avalos, who trains golfers at Athletic Golf Fitness in Charlotte and is a Golf Digest Certified Fitness Trainer. “That means fewer chances to lose form when effort goes up—and you can target strength and stability in key positions without feeling wrecked the next day.” Avalos divides isometric exercises into two categories and offers some examples of each—all of which are beneficial to golfers.The first category is “overcoming isometrics,” which are short in duration (5-10 seconds, maximum effort, 3-5 reps) and require the golfer to push or pull against an object that won’t move. An example is pushing laterally against a wall or similar with the foot closest to the wall off the ground.

The Rules of Golf get specific about what constitutes a stroke, and that comes into play in just this situation

The Rules of Golf get specific about what constitutes a stroke, and that comes into play in just this situation

It's bad enough you missed the fairway by 50 yards, but now your ball is up against one of the course's boundaries.

There are many relatively new terms in the Rules of Golf that regular players are still getting used to saying. Matches, for example, are no longer "all square" when neither side is up. It's now called "tied." Another one that might trip you up, especially if you've been playing for a long time, is that there is now no such thing as an "outside agency." It's now "outside influence", and it covers things that might move your golf ball like animals or someone who tries to pocket it.