When traveling on a plane we need to know a few things before we start packing our bags, like the weight restrictions and the amount of liquids that we can carry. Airline authorities have become very strict about what we can carry on the plane, especially after the 9/11 attack on the world trade center. Many times I go to the airport praying that the security will allow the items that I have in my hand bag like the new designer perfume that I bought for my niece. Most of the times the gifts that I have brought for my family are left at the security check points leaving me exasperatedly asking the nonchalant guards what can I take on a plane. Well if you have experienced this you will understand my frustration and if you haven’t I wish that you never do.
Carry-On Baggage Items
Passengers are allowed one carry on bag per passenger according to the Transportation Security Administration. I used to wonder what can I take on a plane as hand luggage until a friend explained to me the 3-1-1 rule. This is what I understood about what can I take on a plane with me after looking at the carry on luggage rules and restrictions. Since 9/11 the restrictions on the amount of liquids that can be carried on to the plane has changed drastically. Your travel will become smoother and faster if you carry your toiletries in 1 clear plastic zip lock bag and the volume of the liquids you are carrying should not exceed 100ml. If you are carrying medicines they need not be carried in a zip lock bag but it will help if you carry the prescription. Baby formula and breast milk can also be taken on the plane but please declare it at the security check point. I was still thinking what can I take on a plane if I am thirsty and the answer is quite simple. If you want to carry water on board, you will have to buy it from the shops which are in the secure area after you cross the airport security check. If you want to take perfumes on the plane you will also have to buy these from the shops in the secure area. See below a list of items that are not allowed in your carry-on luggage, this is not a conclusive list, this is just to give you an idea about what you can’t carry.
Ice Picks
Razors
Knives
Base Ball Bats
Golf Sticks
Ski Poles
Hockey Sticks
Firearms
Ammunition
Flares
Lighters
Matches
Hammers
Axes
Saws
Gasoline
Lighter Fluids
Fire Extinguishers
Spray Paint Checked Baggage Items
When it comes to checked baggage weight and size restrictions are the most important things that you would have to look up and these may vary depending upon the airline and the class that you are traveling. I also wanted to know what can I take on a plane in checked luggage and I was advised about a few things which really helped me. The rule of 100ml liquid bottles does not apply to checked baggage so you can travel with your perfumes and deodorants in your checked baggage. If you are carrying any sharp objects like knives or scissors, you will have to cover the blades with a sheath, to avoid injury to security officers and baggage handlers. Thousands of people travel everyday and there is a risk that your luggage set may get lost or stolen, so it’s advisable that you keep your jewelry and precious items in your carry on bag. One important air travel tip is to put your laptop and precious items in your carry on bag to avoid thefts at airports. It is also advisable to clearly mark your bag for identification as the airline tags might come of. See below a list of items that are not allowed in your checked in baggage, this is not a conclusive list.
Pesticides
Car Batteries
Acids
Alkalies
Matches
Aerosols
Radioactive Material
Magnets I always wanted to know what can I take on a plane before I started packing my bags or even before I thought of a trip. Conforming to the safety and security norms and being aware of these norms makes modern day travel much safer and faster.
For many amateurs golf can be a very frustrating sport. They step up on the tee and are never quite sure which direction the ball is going to travel off of their club face. However the one thing that keeps bringing people back for more and more is the wonderful feeling of striking a ball flush from the middle of their driver. As an old Taylor Made ad stated “distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
The mechanics of a golf swing are more complex than perhaps that of any other sport on the planet. A good golf swing must be underpinned with sold fundamentals including solid grip, square alignment to the target, a solid base / stance, and a dynamic upright posture. For the purpose of this article I am going to assume that you have solid basic fundamentals. If you are a chronic slicer of the ball, hook the ball regularly or even top or slice the ball these tips will serve only to add length to your shot shape. Thus if your natural shot is a “hook” for example, the ball will travel further but in the direction of your natural shot.
Please try a selection of the following tips and see which ones have a positive impact on your game. I can guarantee that you will begin to hit the ball further than you have ever done before.
Tip # 1 – Change Your Equipment
Perhaps the easiest way to add distance to your drives without changing any of the mechanics of your swing, is to change your equipment. Simply changing to a harder two piece ball with a hard outer layer will add approximately 10 yards to a well struck drive. You will lose an element of control around the greens, but for winter golf or even a higher handicap golfer the change will be worthwhile.
Modern drivers have changed the way the game is played. Large oversized titanium heads have provided golfers with an unmatched level of performance and forgiveness. These drivers will add distance to your drive by virtue of the fact titanium is lighter than steel. Thus even though the head size has increased the overall swing weight has been reduced. This enables drivers to generate more club head speed thus increasing the distance the ball travels. The very fact the head size has been increased, means that off center hits will also travel much further because the size of the sweet spot has increased accordingly.
The most important element in the distance and accuracy of your drives is the often overlooked type of shaft you are using. If you are using a steel shaft, you are sacrificing club head speed due to the additional weight. You really should get a custom fit graphite shaft suited to your swing. If you are a beginner or a golfer with a relatively slow swing speed then you will gain additional distance by playing with a whippy flexible shaft. These shafts have a higher kick point so that at impact they spring at the ball and unleash an additional burst of speed through impact. However beware if you have a higher swing speed a stiffer shaft will produce longer straighter results. This is one element of your game that you need custom fit equipment. Run a search on Google to find a custom fit center near you.
Tip # 2 – Adopt a Stronger Grip
A neutral golf grip is when you can see 2 knuckles of your left hand / the hand at the top of the shaft. A weak grip is when you see less than 2 knuckles on the upper hand. This action tends to promote a fade or slice as the grip returns to neutral at impact thus ensuring the face is opened if the grip is weak. A strong grip is one in which you can see 3 or 4 knuckles on your left hand (for right handed golfers).
A good way to measure a strong grip is to make the “V’s” formed by the thumb and index finger point towards your right shoulder. A strong grip will tend to promote a draw which every golfer knows is a top spin shot that travels much further.
This is especially true with their left hand. To achieve this you should see about three to four knuckles on your left hand. This gives you so much more leverage in terms of your wrist movement. You are able to wait to the last moment to release the club, which results in a surge of club head speed through impact.
Tip # 3 – Release Tensions in Your Hands and Arms
If you were to really tense up your leg muscles and attempt to run a race, you would not be able to walk very fast let alone say run. The muscles in your hands and arms are no different. The grip pressure is perhaps the most important element to eliminating a tense rigid swing. Grip pressure should be light but firm. Professional golfers have stated that you should grip the golf club with the same pressure as if you were:
Lightly squeezing a tube of tooth paste
Holding a child’s hand
Holding a small bird in your hand
Use which ever analogy is best for you but remember always be conscious of your grip pressure especially just before you commence your take away. It is impossible to hold the club too lightly. Your muscles will instinctively increase grip pressure throughout your swing to ensure the club does not fly out of your hands.
A light grip pressure will also have the positive effect of releasing tension in your arms. Build a few waggles into your pre-shot routine to further ensure there is no build up of tension.
You will be shocked an amazed how much further your ball will fly as a result of relaxed hand and arm muscles.
Tip # 4 – Increase the Width of Your Arc
Try this simple drill to realize the importance of the swing arc. Hold a golf ball in your hand 10 or so inches directly over your right shoulder. Now throw the ball as far as you can. You will notice the ball didn’t travel very far. Now extend you right hand back as far as is comfortably possible and throw the ball as far as you can. You will notice that the ball traveled significantly further. Many amateur golfers fail to realize the importance of the width of the swing arc in determining the distance the ball flies.
Perhaps the best tip that I have come across for creating a wide powerful swing arc is that of Greg Normans. Greg Norman has long been one of the longest straightest drivers of the golf ball. His tip is simple and powerful. At your address position ensure your left arm and club shaft form a straight line down to the ball. Make sure there is no tension whatsoever in the hand or arm.
Now simply push your left elbow back away from the target. Keep pushing it back, back, back all the way. Sooner or later as your swing reaches the three quarter way position, somethings going to give and your wrist will automatically cock at the top. This business of an early wrist cock advocated by some of the games teachers doesn’t work very well because it eliminates the extension of your arc which is a key source of power in the swing. This is a powerful technique easy to reproduce that will add yards to your drives with practice.
Tip # 5 – Delay the Club Head Release Through Impact
Many of the games greats will differ in their back swing but generate a very similar down swing sequence. Contrast “Jim Furyk” with “Tiger Woods”. One swing attribute that they all have in common is a powerful late release of the club head (also known as club head lag). In my opinion the golfer with one of the most powerful late releases is “Sergio Garcia”. He has a rather unorthodox back swing but a powerful late release ensures he hits the golf ball a long, long way. What I mean by late release of the golf club is a delayed uncocking/release of the wrists just before impact.
Many amateurs suffer from the dreaded ‘casting’ motion whereby they throw the club at the ball from the top of the swing. Thus they are releasing all their power long before the club ever nears the ball. In order to create a late release you should consciously focus on retaining your fully cocked wrists for as long as possible prior to impact. I have come across two excellent tips to achieve this goal. Please only use one or the other as you should never have two simultaneous swing thoughts prior to impact. The club head is moving too fast to execute more than one.
Insert a tee peg at the butt end of your shaft and focus on the mental image of trying to drive that tee peg into the back of the ball. To condense this into one neat phrase think “pull butt of shaft down to back of ball”. This will cause a very late release of your club and store up considerable power during the downswing which can be effectively delivered to the back of the ball.
Ernie Els advocates a late release maneuver created by Harvey Pennick called ‘Golf’s Magic Move’. To execute this technique, one you arrived at the top of your back swing think “right elbow down to right side”. This effectively retains the wrist angle and ensures a late release into the back of the ball.
Tip # 6 – Increase Your Coil
This move is not for those who have a stiff, unsupple back or back problems in any sense of the word. Effectively one of the greatest sources of power in a golf swing is the coiling of your shoulder turn against your hip turn. The further you can turn your shoulder and limit your hip turn the more wind up you generate in the backswing. This results in a powerful uncoiling in the downswing generating substantial power into the back of the ball.
The effect is similar to wrapping an elastic band around your finger. The more tightly you wind it the faster it unwinds. A good mental image to achieve this goal is to imagine you are standing in a barrel of cement. Your legs and hips are thus restricted in their movement. Now focus on turning your back fully to the target. This will create a powerful shoulder turn on top of a limited hip turn. You will generate substantial increases in the distance your ball flies with this one tips alone.
Tip # 7 – Widen Your Stance, Retain Flex in Right Knee
In order to generate strong club head speed, you need a stable base to ensure it is correctly delivered to the back of the ball. Ensure the inside of your insteps are outside the width of your shoulders. To ensure the correct distance apart simply hang two clubs vertically from the outside of both shoulders. The club heads should be directly over the insteps in both feet.
Tip # 8 – Retain Flex in Right Knee
A critical element in the creation of a powerful golf swing is the retention of flex in the right knee in the back swing. If your right knee straightens it’s like snapping the tension in the swing and all your power is immediately destroyed.
A good tip is to bend the right knee and tilt it slightly in towards the ball. Focus on retaining this inward tilt throughout the back swing. Then in the downswing start with leading your front left leg slightly toward the target. This ensures dynamic impact position and helps retain the angle in your wrist thus delivering a late release.
Conclusion
I hope you found these tips useful and enlightening. Golf can be made out to be a very complex sport so I hope this demystified some of the technique required for generating more distance for your drives. Do not attempt to use more than one of these techniques all in one go. And most certainly do not take all these swing thoughts to the golf course.
Your job now is to go to your local golf range with a bucket of balls. Print of this sheet of paper and try to reproduce these tips on the golf range. With practice you will build muscle memory and the swing changes will become a habit that will not require any conscious effort to execute. In the immortal words of John Daly “Grip it and Rip it.”
Whether you’re planning your first business trip or you are already a seasoned traveler, we have put some business travel tips together to make your life a little easier and to help you get the maximum benefit from your trip.
Tips on how to travel wisely
You can make things a lot easier on yourself simply by getting your travel arrangements organized to provide best comfort and convenience. There’s nothing worse than scrambling off the plane or train and turning up for a meting feeling like you’ve just been put through the wringer. It’s a good idea to get yourself a travel wallet to keep all your travel related papers in one place and to give you easy access.
Always pre-book your travel tickets and print off any confirmation documents to go in your travel wallet. Similarly, always pre-book your accommodation and again, print off any confirmations to put in your travel wallet.
Always take your laptop keep it with you. Never put it with the baggage. Speaking of baggage, or rather luggage, hand luggage, take a small bag or case (the type that the airline will accept in the cabin – or you can just put in the boot of your car, or easy to carry on a train) and just have a change of shirt, underwear, and socks with you should you need them.
Electronics – Be prepared for any eventuality
A little thought and research can go a long way here, especially if you are travelling abroad. Different mains plug configurations can be a problem and the easiest way of solving this one is to buy one of those universal adapter kits. Just remember to check that your destination country is covered by that particular adapter. Similarly, telephone sockets vary. Not all countries have Wi-Fi so you may need to connect your laptop to the internet via a phone socket. Again you can buy an adapter kit that covers most countries.
Your mobile device may allow you to connect to the web, but check what ISP’s are available where you are going and, if appropriate, sign up with them beforehand. Get a portable printer and take that with you complete with spare ink cartridges and paper. Great for preparing agendas etc from your hotel room. It’s always a good idea too, to take an Ethernet cable. Not all hotels have them in their rooms. One last thing is a couple of USB memory sticks.always useful.
Has this ever happened to you? You’ve just returned from a business trip and your briefcase is bulging with receipts, meeting notes and other essential paperwork. You’ll probably spend your first day back in the office just sorting through the chaotic mass of paper before you can even think about getting down to business!
Or, perhaps you travel all over the city attending one meeting after another. By the end of the day your briefcase is a pile of to-dos with no particular order. Phone messages are scattered on various pieces of paper and you just know that an important message is hidden somewhere in the mess. Then there are the business cards you collected: some require follow-up, but you’re not sure where you put those important cards. If only you had kept things in a safe place so you could remember where you put them.
At this point, all those good intentions to take action and follow up on hot new business leads fizzle into frustration. But there’s not time to think about how you misplaced those essential items. The minute you’re back in the office you find there is a pile of emails waiting for your response in addition to a large pile of papers on your desk begging for your attention. You dive right in to the emails and before you know it the morning is gone and it’s lunchtime. You work through lunch in order to attack the pile of paper on your desk. Then you realize you haven’t listened to your voicemail messages, so you abandon the paper pile and listen to all your voicemail messages. It’s a never-ending circle of paper, email and voicemail, and you haven’t even cracked open your briefcase. You just spend the day reacting to emergencies and interruptions with no planned scheduled time to deal with the important issues that you had hoped to get to.
This continues day after day and you’re still dragging all those papers from your business trip in your briefcase and you’ve been adding to it during the week as you attended more meetings. Now you have no idea what’s what and it all melts together into one big mountain of paper begging for your attention. How long do you let this go on before you decide to take action? For some its days and other’s its weeks or months. Those hot new leads you made on your business trip aren’t so hot now and the longer you leave it the more you procrastinate on taking action. Eventually you take mountain of paper out of your briefcase and drop it on the floor by your desk and say you’ll deal with it later because you have more important things to take care of in the office. Guilt sets in and it constantly nags at you to do something but you don’t. You know you should get your business receipts handled but you’re not sure where they all are and it ends up costing you money when you could have been reimbursed.
Here are some tips on how to put an end to the briefcase drama scenario:
1. Streamline and organize your briefcase so you know what the next action is on any piece of paper while you’re out of town and when you arrive back at your office. There is a sleek durable and professional looking product on the market that I like to use. Go to http://www.simplyproductive.com/
products/toolstrade.html to view and order the product. What I like about it is the durable fabric on the outside with insertable tabs, zippered side pocket and zippered closure. The zipper pocket on the outside is great for storing a pen, pencil, small post-it-notes and a highlighter. Inside this mini-travel briefcase there are 13 dividers to hold important papers while you’re outside the office. The zipper enclosure allows easy access versus the accordion files with a flap enclosure that are awkward to use. Remember, ease of access and functionality are very important when using any organizing product.
2. Label the 13 tabs inside this mini-travel briefcase with the next action -Call, Data Entry, Discuss, Expense Reimburse, File, Meeting Notes/Agenda, Photocopy, Read, or Write-. Their will be extra tabs inside this mini-travel briefcase for you to insert your business cards, small brochures, thank you cards and other items you need to want to have on hand when you travel. You’ll be amazed at the amount of paper that you can get into this sleek travel briefcase.
3. How to use this mini-travel briefcase when outside your office. File meeting agendas under the file tab labeled -Meeting Notes/Agenda so when you get to the meeting it’s all together. If you collect business cards during your trip there are 2 things you can do with the business card: (1) enter it immediately into your PDA, or (2) file it into your mini travel briefcase under -Data Entry-. When you return to your hotel or your office any cards that you wanted to get into your database are all grouped together. You can enter them yourself or delegate the task to someone else.
4. Define the next action. No more putting it aside to deal with it later. This is what I call -deferred decisions-. Instead, ask yourself this very important question: -What is the next action I need to take on this piece of paper?
5. Schedule a specific time in your calendar to handle that next action. This is the key to getting things done. A pile or file labeled -To Do- is only an intention to do something, where as a scheduled appointment is a commitment to take action on something.
6. Use clear project folders to keep like papers together. Go to www.simplyproductive.com to view and order these timesaving and space saving project folders. Use these project folders to keep your agenda and meetings notes together in your mini-travel briefcase. You may be attending several meetings and these project folders are sure to keep your papers grouped together. Do not use paper clips, they tend to attach to other pieces of paper and get caught on other paper clips.
7. 80/20 Rule – 80 percent of what we file we never refer to again. Therefore, ask yourself, “What is the worst possible case scenario if you tossed this piece of paper away?-. If you can live with the results of your answer to this question, then toss the piece of paper.
8. What to file for future reference. If you decided to keep the information on a piece of paper, ask yourself: “If I want to retrieve this information again, what trigger word would you think of?- Write the trigger word on the upper right hand corner of that piece of paper and file it in your mini-travel briefcase under “File”.
9. Transferring papers when you return. When you return to your office after the business trip or day of meetings, everything that you’ve gathered during your time away from the office is grouped together by the next action. Instead of a mountain of paper spilling out of your briefcase, you’ll be ahead of the paper chase game because you’ve already defined the next action. All there is for you to do is to schedule time in your calendar to handle the actions in your mini-travel briefcase. Some of the actions like Data Entry, File, and Expense Reimburse you can delegate to your assistant if you have one. That feeling of guilt and shame won’t be there because you’ve handled what you said you would do when you returned to your office.
Travel tips:
- Schedule time at the end of each day when you are traveling to file papers into your mini-travel briefcase.
- Schedule time in your calendar when you return from your business trip to handle your action items in your mini-travel briefcase.
- Use your mini-travel briefcase as a visual checklist for items you need to bring with you. For example insert items to read under the -Read- tab. Double check that you have enough business cards and brochures, thank you notes, letterhead, postage and return address labels, if you need them.
- Photocopy your passport and credit cards. Store document in a safe place.
- Tradeshows, Conventions, Meetings – write on the back of the business cards the date, location and next action. If you have an assistant, delegate the data entry of the business cards and have the next actions scheduled into your calendar or typed into your Task List.
Implementing the mini-travel briefcase will dramatically decrease your stress level and increase your productivity when you return to your office. You’ll turn piles of paper into valuable resources instead of deferred decisions and guilt. Instead of reacting to emergencies you’ll be proactive on your commitments and follow-up.
Contact Simply Productive to order your “Mini- travel Briefcase” with customized preprinted labels ($25 + shipping). Simply Productive will assist you in getting your paper management system set up quickly and easily. Before you know it, we can tame your papers and find anything in 5 seconds or less, guaranteed. It’s what we call the One Day Miracle. Contact Simply Productive for more information about how this works (604) 233-7076 or www.simplyproductive.com.
Kerala is a dream holiday destination of India. Better known as God’s Own Country, Kerala is a heavenly representing splashed with countless of enchanting hues. This beautiful state of India is gifted with unmatched beauty of hill stations and picturesque backwaters, a necklace of lagoons lakes, canals and rivers that run through the length and breadth of this beautiful land. Beside thee Kerala has sun kissed beaches endowed with heavenly ambience and some exotic wildlife sanctuaries and national parks with verity of rich flora and fauna, which is unique to Kerala. Now Kerala has become the core destination for couples and families who wish to explore the vacation holidays.
Kerala is a perfect tourist destination to make your holidays the most memorable part of your life. Since long time newly wedded couples and honeymooners are choosing as a tourist destination for enjoying their romantic days. Holidays in Kerala is a lifetime experience come and explore it and relish for life time.
Some of the must visit tourist places in Kerala and unremarkable landmarks of these states is listed down.
Thiruvananthapuram
Trivandrum is not only capital city of Kerala, but it is also an important center for the culture and heritage of the state which is bounded by Arabian Sea so this place is also the home to fascinating beaches. Trivandrum
(Thiruvananthapuram) is built over seven hills and was one of the most important centers of intellectual and artistic pursuits during the ancient and medieval periods of South Indian history. This town is also famous for its majestic palaces, art galleries and museums. Trivandrum is an amazing mix of past and the present as on the one hand you will come across the modern shopping complexes and business centers, Apart from all this capital city of Kerala is also famous destination f or backwater, which is the lifeline of Kerala Tourism. Make your tour to this place with a memorable event .This place would offer you much more than you might even think of.
Kovalam
Kovalam is world renowned beach destination situated in the capital city of Kerala and is spread with grooves of coconut trees that it make it a tropical paradise. Kovalam beach is a one stop answer to all adventure buffs also. The crescent-shaped beaches of Kovalam can be divided in three sections, which are Lighthouse Beach, Hawa Beach and Samudra Beach. Of all the beaches of Kerala, Kovalam Beach is the leading choice among all tourists visiting this place.
Kottayam
Kottayam is a beautiful Backwater destination in Kerala. Interspersed with a network of canals and lakes, Kottayam is also known for its toddy tappers. Kottayam is located in an area of great natural beauty and you’re sure to be influenced by the scenery around Kottayam on Kerala House Boats with Kerala Backwater. Beside of these Kottayam is a hub of ancient churches and temples.
Munnar
Munnar is a word famous hill station. Munnar is 1600m above the sea level. Sprawling tea plantations, picture book towns, winding lanes, trekking and holiday facilities make Munnar a unique experience. Munnar is essentially a tea town. The tea plantations have now been taken over by the Tata Tea Company.
It is the good choice for tourists whether a family or newly wed couple. So come to Kerala availing the Kerala tour packages and enjoy memorable time in the lap of Mother Nature in a delightful and memorable way.