Thanks to an ever-increasing availability of assistive playing aids, the number of people with disabilities who play golf these days is higher than ever before. Although figures vary from study to study, current research points to 6.8 million disabled American players currently using assistive devices in their golf game.

Ranging from remote control golf carts to magnetic ball markers – and countless products in between – golf aids for the handicapped are designed to provide a wide array of empowering benefits. Whether decreasing or eliminating the need for bending and stooping, improving mobility, or enabling an individual in a wheelchair to play from a seated position, assistive technology has one primary goal: to ensure that anyone who wants to golf can continue playing with comfort and convenience, regardless of disability.

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of golf is the need for constant bending and stooping. Teeing up the ball, picking up the tee, retrieving the ball from a hazard or from the cup, even replacing the flag – all of these activities can be especially hard on someone who has chronic pain or physical challenges. A number of golf aids for the disabled have been developed to eliminate the need for this repetitive motion. They come in many forms, such as add-ons (that can be clipped or screwed to your golf club), adapted products (such as golf clubs that have been altered to accommodate the needs of people who have a hard time bending), and specially designed apparatus (such as automatic teeing devices).

While the potentially harmful physical effects of bending and stooping are bad enough on the golf course, they can increase exponentially on the driving range or practice green. This makes these assistive devices attractive to able-bodied players as well as those who suffer from problems with their back, hips, or knees. In fact, some of the products that assist with ball positioning and tee retrieval without bending are a great idea for golf gifts for instructors, as they deal with this repetitive motion more than anyone!

Assistive golf aids are especially helpful in putting the fun and comfort back into the game for people who have mobility challenges. One of the first challenges facing disabled golfers is getting around the course. While riding in a cart, or walking the course while carrying clubs or using a push- or pull-cart may be options for many who are not limited to a wheelchair, these alternative options present their own set of concerns. Riding in a cart eliminates many of the cardiovascular benefits of walking the course, often limits the player to cart paths or at the very least restricts his access to where the ride-on cart can travel, and presents a certain amount of damage to the grounds. Walking the course with a push- or pull-cart, or while carrying a 30- or 40-pound bag of clubs, preserves the cardiovascular benefits of the game, but both options are especially hard for one with knee, hip, or back disabilities. One category of playing aids designed to address this mobility issue is the electric golf caddy. Not only do they help with mobility issues, they also allow the golfer (disabled or not) focus on his game.

For the golfer who is not able to walk the course, there are adaptive playing aids designed to assist one who is playing or practicing from a wheelchair. This is normally achieved by adapting golf equipment in a manner that makes it usable by someone who needs to play from a seated position.

Whether originating from traumatic injury, a health condition, or degenerative disease, physical disability does not need to stop a golfer from playing his game. Thanks to golf playing aids, most golfers can continue playing regardless of the challenges posed by disability.

So a good golf swing starts from the ground up. What on earth does this mean? I’ve heard it, you’ve heard it, golf instructors and golf magazines throw this phrase around like we all know what it means, as if it’s as easy as 2 + 2 = 4. Well, it’s not quite that simple, and I bet most people have differing ideas about what this means, or how to incorporate this ground up logic into your swing. Enter Sevam1.

Sevam1, a Canadian ex-amateur golfer dropped a bombshell of information in a golf forum in 2008 about what this meant. In fact he claimed that he confirmed his findings with the great Moe Norman. Not only did Mr. Norman affirm what Sevam1 said was the key to the golf swing and swinging from the ground up, but also acknowledged that Ben Hogan was doing the same.

So one of the greatest ballstrikers in the history of the game confides in Sevam1 that the key to the golf swing is in how you grip the ground with your legs and feet. “Grip the ground”? Yes, creating resistance with the ground is the only way in which you can add leverage to your swing.

Think of it this way…is a baseball pitcher able to generate more force and throw a fastball harder if he pushes off the rubber on the pitcher’s mound? YES. If there were no rubber would he be able to throw as hard? NO. The pitcher is creating a resistance with the mound by using the rubber. The same holds true in the golf swing.

But how do you do it? Simple. Well, there is no rubber or pitcher’s mound for you to resist against for any of your golf shots. But, you can still create that type of resistance with your rear foot, the ground, and the spikes in your golf shoes (they’re there for a reason!).

This was the premise behind that golf forum thread in 2008 when Sevam1 was able to break through with tens of thousands of people with this information. The feedback was plentiful, and the results were outstanding.

So, a good golf swing starts from the ground up, so says Moe Norman, Ben Hogan, and Sevam1.