Here’s a little tweak that will improve your ball-striking immensely. It’s easy to do, takes just a little adjusting to, and you will be amazed at the improvement you get right away. Keep your elbows together throughout your golf swing.

In his book, Five Lessons, Ben Hogan stressed keeping your elbows pressed as close together as possible in order to have the arms operate as a unit. When that happens, he said, “they tend to pull all of the elements of the swing together.”

Mickey Wright, owner of whom many people (including Hogan) said had the finest swing they ever saw, also recommended keeping your elbows close together. The reason, she said, is that she keeps her clubface square throughout the swing by keeping the arms and elbows in the same relative position at all times. She even sold an elastic strap to wear as a training aid.

If the two golfers who had arguably the best swings in history both advocate setting and keeping the elbows close together, we should pay attention.

Before you start experimenting with this idea, keep in mind that whatever you do, you must not put tension in the body. Just as we want to be relaxed but not loose, we want to be firm but not tense.

So if you take your stance then pull your elbows in as close together as you physically can, you’ll feel a tremendous amount of tension both in your arms and upper body. Try it. That serves no one, even the best golfers.

To get your elbows where they should be, take your address with a club in hand. Stretch your arms out, by straightening the elbows, as far as they will go. You can feel the tension. Now relax your arms to the point where the tension leaves, but no more. This is the correct position for your arms.

During the swing, have the feeling in mind that they stay this close. They won’t, but feel as if they do. You will find it difficult to get the clubface out of square because arms have to turn, preventing the clubface from closing, but they can’t turn too much, which opens the clubface.

If your shots curve one way or the other and you just can’t figure out why, try this. It’s another example of how important a proper setup is for leading you into a good swing and a good shot.

The sun is shining on your shoulders as you step out onto the course, feeling the spongy grass soft under your spikes. Morning birds sing a song as you hoist your bag higher on your shoulder and you take a minute to enjoy the serenity of the early morning. You don’t need to consider the generations before you who have done the same thing, but you do anyway. After all: golf is deep in tradition.

Since the Scots began organizing the 18-hole game more than 500 years ago, there have been few changes. While the fashion has changed (even though you can still find players in kilts on a lucky day), the main items of golf equipment needed to play the game have not changed.

Golf clubs are the most important pieces of equipment. Despite their intended purpose to project a ball close to the hole, each club is different to carry out specific types of hits. For example, there are three major clubs: woods, irons and putters. Woods, or drivers, are heavy clubs intended to hit the ball far down the fairway; players often begin each hole with these clubs The face of these clubs is round with a flattened sole so it doesn’t dig into the ground during a swing. Drivers also have longer shafts to provide more power, although shorter woods do exist. The name of these clubs comes from their solid, wooden composition, which was standard until the late 1980s. Since then drivers have been made from steel, titanium and, recently, carbon fibers.

Once the ball is on the fairway, players use irons to maneuver it through obstacles like sand traps, rough, through, and trees. Irons come in sizes according to their length; 1-4 irons are considered long irons, which provide more power. 5-7 are mid-irons, and 8-plus are short-irons. Also, the faces of irons are slanted at different angles to accommodate different terrain. For example, sand wedges have an angle of 54-58 degrees.

Because of their specific purpose, putters are a golfer’s best friends. After the ball has made its way from the fairway to the green, it is the putter’s job to ease it toward the hole. Because this moment proves so crucial during a game, players put a huge amount of emphasis on the quality of these clubs. These clubs have a flat face which provides smooth stroke, good glide, and bounceless topspin.

Golf bags are especially valuable for a player to transport their clubs. New bags come with wheels that make them easy to pull, but traditional golfers carry them. Pockets on the side also make it easy to store and transport items like extra balls, gloves and towels.

Golf shoes are another important type of golf equipment. These shoes have small spikes on the sole to help stabilize a player on wet grass. The spikes used to be made of metal, but replaceable soft spikes are becoming more common today. Actually, soft spikes are often required by golf courses because the cause less damage to the physical course.