Golf is a very popular sport for seniors for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it is one of the few sports they can still play at their age. So to help out the senior golfers, I have put together a few golf tips for seniors to help them get the most out of the game of golf.

Golf Tips For Seniors

Tip #1: Improve Strength And Flexibility

Senior golfers don’t have the bodies and health that they used to in their youth. Preventing injuries is very important if they want to play more than one or two rounds of golf per year. This is why exercises and stretching that are specifically designed for injury prevention are critical for senior golfers. Here are a few important examples

#1: Torso Rotations –

Sit upright in a stationary chair with your back against the back of the chair. Hold the back of the chair and rotate your body to one side as far as you can and hold yourself in that position for at least 20 seconds (do not over-strain).

Repeat the same process on the other side. Do 10 reps on each side. You should feel a good stretch in your back and other torso muscles which are the same muscles used when swinging a golf club.

This is a great stretch to perform daily to increase your flexibility, but it is also a great stretch to use just before going out golfing to get you loosened up.

#2: Side-Lying Leg Circles –

Hips are a very important joint to take care of as you age and golf can be very rough on your hips. For this reason seniors really need to build muscle and increase their flexibility in their hips.

To perform side-lying leg circles, lie on one side with your bottom arm bent under your head for support. Your top arm should be in front of you with your hand on the ground to support your body and for better balance.

Slowly lift your top leg upward as far as you can while still maintaining pelvic stability. Move that leg in small circles 10 times one way, and then 10 times the other way. Switch legs and repeat. Do a couple sets with each leg.

Make sure your core is tight throughout the exercise to help stabilize your core and to keep tension off of your shoulders and neck.

#3: Use A Training Aid –

The best training aid for all ages that I have found is the Orange Whip Swing Trainer. This aid is designed for improved strength and flexibility, among other things. It’s patented counterweight system increases your flexibility and strengthens the exact muscles you need to swing your golf club. This all improves your range of motion which in turn will help prevent injuries.

Other benefits you will get out of the Orange Whip Swing Trainer are improved balance, rhythm and tempo. So not only will it improve your strength and flexibility to prevent injuries, it will actually help improve your overall swing.

Like stretching, it is a good idea to use this training aid every day to get the benefits from it, but it is also a great tool to use just before you swing your actual clubs on the course. Like a baseball player swinging a heavy bat while on deck, this aid can be used to loosen up the exact muscles needed when swinging your club, and can increase your club speed.

Tip 2: Learn “Senior” Swing Techniques

As we get older and our muscles start to lessen, seniors must learn to swing the golf club differently. They can’t just rely on the same muscles and mobility that they had in their youth.

Some of the best training seniors can receive is training developed specifically for seniors. One of the best programs out there that is designed for seniors came from Alex Fortey of The Eagle Golf Group and is called The Simple Senior Swing System.

With this system, age does not affect your swing and claims that it can add up to 70 yards of “straight as an arrow” distance off of the tee. Your swing will be so relaxed, limber and pain free that you will feel just as good after 18 holes as you did when you woke up that morning.

The great part about this system is that you do not have to rebuild your swing, spend money on new equipment, and works even if you are lacking in strength, flexibility and are plagued by pain and ailments.

The system is only $39, downloads right to your computer so you don’t have to wait for it and comes with a 60 day risk free guarantee so there really is nothing to lose. For more information click here: The Simple Senior Swing System.

Tip 3: Change Out Some Equipment

Many golfers get attached to their favorite equipment and don’t even want to think about changing as they age. Unfortunately for them, equipment that is optimal for younger golfers might not bethe best equipment for older golfers.

Equipment companies specifically design equipment to taylor them to specific skill sets, meaning that there are golf clubs and balls designed specifically for seniors. Examples of the differences are:

-Drivers, like the Cobra F9 Speedback Driver, have less drag and larger sweet spots making them more forgiving

-Increased (larger) grip on clubs, giving the senior a better feel for the club and allowing his grip to loosen a bit so it is not as hard on the fingers. It also helps absorb the shock of impact better, which means less stress for golfers with weaker hands.

-Light weight clubs make them easier for seniors to swing with more velocity

-Irons with deep cavities for increased accuracy

Change With The Times

The hardest thing for a senior to admit is that he or she is a senior. Once you can come to terms with that, change is inevitable. You just can’t play golf the same way you used to and still be effective.

You need to continually be working on your strength and flexibility in order for you to play well and prevent injuries, learn a “senior” swing so you can still hit the ball far without as much effort, and it really helps to get equipment that is specifically designed for seniors.

If you’re a senior and are really serious about and love the game of golf, implement these tips and you will have a very long and productive golf game.

In an ironic twist of what some are calling damage control public relations, Coca-Cola’s latest campaign is not about selling sodas–it’s about fighting obesity.

In the first commercial of the campaign, called “Coming Together,” Coca-Cola says that it would “like people to come together on something that concerns us all: obesity.”

More commercials from the campaign are set to follow on television starting this week.

Soda: the kiss of death?

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), says that soda is one of the number one culprits of obesity in the country. But Coca-Cola is singing a different tune, pointing out that 180 of its beverages are low- and no-calorie drinks.

The campaign’s core message is that “all calories count” and that “if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you’ll gain weight.”

CSPI, on the other hand, believes the campaign is just “a damage control exercise” and not a valuable or meaningful push from Coca-Cola toward ending obesity.

Moderation, please

According to Jacobson, soda isn’t inherently bad, but moderation must be exercised–a trait that doesn’t seem to come easily to Americans.

“We don’t want to wipe out soft drinks. But we would like to see soft drinks return to the dietary role they played in the ’50s, which was occasionally, and small portions, (as a) special treat. Now, people are guzzling huge containers of soda every day of their lives, practically.”

Coca-Cola has also decided to add calorie counts to the front of soda labels, making it easy for consumers to know what they’re drinking. And the company’s spokesperson Ben Scheidler said they’re dedicated to educating people about “energy balance.”

“We’ve never been more committed to doing our part to help address the issue of obesity,” Scheidler said.

Playing golf is not as easy as it looks. You can’t just pick up some clubs and go out on the course without any practice or training or you are going to be in for a world of embarrassment. And even if you have gone to the driving range a few times, it is a lot different when you are out on the golf course ready to hit your ball, all by yourself, with everyone watching you. If you hit the ball at all you should consider yourself lucky.

It doesn’t help that every club you pick up out of your bag has to be swung differently. Are you teeing off, driving the ball for distance, chipping high and far, chipping short, or putting? All of these have different stances, ways to hold the club, swings, etc. So to help out all of you “newbies”, I’m going to teach you about driving a golf ball for beginners and how to do it consistently so at least you can get out of the tee box.

Driving the ball off of the tee is a crucial part of your game. If you do not hit a good tee shot to begin the hole, then your score will start shooting up faster than you can yell, “FORE!” So read on and master this part of the game before anything else.

Without A Good Stance, You Are Doomed From The Start

Before you can have that amazing feeling that hitting a long shot straight down the fairway can give you, you must start with the basics. And the most basic part of driving the ball is your stance. For a good stance you must start with aligning yourself based on where you want the ball to land.

Start with setting your feet about shoulder-length apart with your body weight on the balls of your feet, evenly distributed over both feet and your knees slightly bent. Position your body so you are aligned with a target down the fairway where you want your ball to land. The ball should be lined up with the heel of your left foot for right-handed golfers and the heel of your right foot for left-handed golfers. Imagine an invisible line between the ball and your front heel.

The next important part of the stance is your upper body positioning. Your back should be in a straight line and you should bend at the hips. If doing this correctly, your butt should be sticking out slightly (just picture doing the hokey pokey). As for your arms, they should form a “V” shape and the butt of your club should angle slightly toward your front hip. This is all going to feel awkward at first, but the more you do it the more natural it will feel.

Proper Grip – Don’t Strangle The Club

The way you grip the club is also very important. Many people feel that the harder they squeeze the club, the farther your shot will go. In fact, it is just the opposite. You should hold it with a very relaxed grip at the end of the club so the club will turn over easily in your hand.

To help the club turn over easily, grip the club with your left-hand first (for righties, opposite for lefties) with your thumb on top. Do the same with your other hand, thumb on top of the club, and place your left pinkie finger between your index finger and middle finger of the left-hand (again, opposite for lefties).

Baby’s Got Back Swing

When you start your back swing, shift your weight back along with it. This will help build momentum and create more power on your swing.

Take your time on your back swing, the faster your back swing the more it will take you out of alignment. Proper alignment is more important than power!

In a sweeping arc motion, bring the club back until it is behind your head. Your front arm should remain straight throughout the entire process.

At this point take a slight pause at the top of your back swing before you start your downswing.

The Downswing – Where The Magic Happens

Even if every other part of the swing is perfect up to this point, if you lose your concentration now you could still end up in the woods or the bottom of the pond. This is the part of the swing where you make contact with the ball so this is the most exciting part, but also the easiest part to speed through.

Start your downswing calmly and speed up the club as it approaches the ball. Best case scenario is that the club is still accelerating when it hits the ball. This should be done in one fluid movement utilizing your entire body which will give you the power you need.

One More Tip For The Perfect Drive

The last tip to remember seems like the most simple, but can easily be forgotten. It is the same tip that can be heard in a lot of other sports like baseball, football, basketball, etc. And that tip is to always keep your eye on the ball. During the entire process you must keep your head down and your eye on the ball. Now, you can look up at your target while you are getting in your stance and preparing to swing, but once you are ready to swing your head MUST stay down. You can’t hit what you can’t see.

When you take a great swing you are going to be in a hurry to see how far and how straight the ball is going. This makes it easy to pull your head up early. Make sure you tell yourself before each and every swing to keep your head down all the way through the swing.

Time To Celebrate

If this whole process is followed perfectly, then you will be looking at a great tee shot straight down the fairway and will be ready and willing to start bragging to your golf partners. Unfortunately it is not that easy. Those are a lot of steps to remember each and every time, which is what makes golf such a difficult sport.

So as a beginner do not get discouraged when you are not hitting the ball very well. Go to the driving range as much as you can and continually practice your swing over and over again until your muscle memory takes over. At that point you won’t have to think so much. Instead you can just enjoy the game of golf like it was intended.

Yes, believe it or not, it’s true. Diabetes mellitus, also known as diabetes, it can not dogs. Come about 1 in 500 dogs may be suffering from this disease. The races will most tend to be diagnosed with diabetes, are the German Shepherd, Schnauzer, Beagle, Poodle, Golden Retriever, and Keeshond. The disease usually occurs in middle-aged dogs between the ages 6 to 9 years. Most dogs are affected by type 1 diabetes, a disease where the body no insulin at all. Symptoms of research are alcohol abuse, bulimia, frequent urination, dehydration and weight loss possible or weight gain. If you’re one of these symptoms in your dog, take him to a veterinarian for examination.

The veterinarian will confirm the completeness of testing blood and serum chemistry and urinarlysis to see if your pet has diabetes. If your dog is diagnosed with diabetes, it is not the end of the world. Diabetes can be controlled with a high fiber, medium-carbohydrate diet and insulin injections. You can easily learn how to give daily insulin injections for your dog, and if you and the dog used to it, it becomes a daily routine. It is very important to diagnose and begin treatment for diabetes in the early stages of the disease.

In doing so may cause complications such as blindness and nerve damage. Untreated diabetes can be life threatening. Think about the symptoms and make sure that your beloved dog at least an annual physical examination by a trained veterinarian. A healthy, happy dog is a loyal, faithful friend and companion. You and your dog will not earn less!

In addition to writing Donna has many other interests, was one of them a deep and abiding love for animals. She is also interested in antiques and marble contemporary art glass.

The golfing public knows the Augusta National Golf Club has the reputation of being a stodgy, behind-the-times country club among the non-golfing public. That may be due to the club being ran by business-like old gentlemen, but it’s certainly getting further and further from the truth, at least with respect to technology.

Tech Shots

At least part of this year’s broadcast will be in 3-D. High-Def and 3-D together could be nice, but that remains to be seen. Immediately provable, at least for iPhone owners, is The Masters Tournament iPhone app.

At the moment, as the tournament is still a few weeks away, only last year’s tournament is available, but there’s enough to demonstrate the most of the Masters application’s functions.

Live Video

Historically, the Masters limited viewers to watching play on limited holes. That has changed in recent years, but working fans still can’t squeeze in much of the live tournament during working hours. Live video through the Masters app can change that, quite possibly to the dismay of many employers.

Fans will be able to see live coverage of Amen Corner (holes 11, 12 and 13), featured group pairings, and holes 15 and 16. Potentially best of all Master app users, what is called “Masters Extra,” an extra hour of additional Masters coverage not available anywhere else. It isn’t known what type of coverage that will be, whether tournament play, player interviews or something else, but any coverage will be a nice bonus.

Live Radio?

Yes, live radio. iPhone app users can plug in the headphones and listen to a live broadcast of the Masters. The radio broadcast begins at 2:00 p.m. Eastern each day of the tournament and remains on air until the conclusion of the day’s play.

Leader Board, News and Photos

With the possible exception of having an updated leader board at the fingertips, finding each of these is, well, it would be hard not to find them. Masters news and photos can be found everywhere from Ask.com to Yahoo! and all points in between. Having all three together, though, is certainly a positive.

Pre-tournament news is already being updated with some regularity, but the photos are limited to stock photos related to news, last years tournament, and popular photos from years gone by. Again, that will most certainly change in the days leading up to April 8-11.

The Course

The Masters iPhone app displays a table containing hole numbers, an artists rendering of each hole that rivals photo quality, par for each hole, and hole yardages. Touch a cell within the table and to see a detailed description of the selected hole. Touch “Watch the Flyover Video” and see a short video flyover of the hole.

Other Pros and Cons

Fans of the Masters know the feeling. The one that comes back every year when television commercials begin promoting and sports channels start talking about the tournament, accompanied by images from the beautiful old course. The Masters app has captured that same essence. Open the app and from the easily navigable home page it feels like the Masters time of year.

Some of the functions, such as course flyovers and course map, have episodes where they’re not useable. In nearly three weeks of review, those problems have only lately arisen, and it isn’t known whether they are related to the application or to some other technical glitch. Since the Masters is getting closer, the problems could be related to updates in preparation for peak usage.

The only consistent negative has been the quality of the video in hole flyovers. The videos appeared grainy, especially when compared to the quality of the rest of the application.

The Masters Golf Tournament iPhone application, available free for both iPhone and iPod Touch, should be a great competitor for the large sports applications. It surpasses in design and functionality most of the others. It simply gives off that Masters vibe, which means a lot.

Let’s define the strategy of preeminence before we even go any further into this. It is essentially being the superior choice within your market. It attracts clients to your law firm, eager to hire you rather than your competition.

Don’t you want potential clients to feel like your firm is there to help them and not sell them? When your law firm is perceived as the authority it naturally draws clients in and they don’t feel like they are being sold anything. They truly feel that your firm is there to help them – because they see you as the leader.

Once you get on the path to preeminence and authority domination, you will never have to worry about where your next case is going to come from. You will never have to worry about what marketing strategies are losing you money and which ones are barely delivering a ROI. Your business grows exponentially and the financial reward is an added bonus.

So, How Does YOUR Law Firm Get Preeminence in YOUR Market?

Preeminence comes when you completely change the strategy and focus of your business growth. You have to see and position your firm as the local authority in your market. Not only do you need to appear to be the top dog, but you also have to believe it, feel it, and live it daily. This attitude will help you to position your law firm as the most reputable and trusted option in the eyes of anyone seeking legal help within your market.

You also have to love what you do. The business is going to come, the money will follow, and the growth will be rapid. When clients come into contact with your firm they need to sense you have a genuine interest in helping them, personally. When they sense that you care more, they will engage with your firm because they will feel you are a far better choice than any other law firm out there.

It Starts With Genuine Communication

Preeminent law firms are those that are trusted, mainly because they have established themselves as the authority online. When a potential client performs a search in Google and they see one firm occupying the top real estate it is automatically viewed as the best option.

Now, when you combine top Google rankings with authority placements and mentions on some of the largest and most trusted news and media websites, what do you get? When a potential clients sees that you have the search results covered as well as major media exposure they not only feel like they already know you, but they completely trust you before they even speak to you. The power of a digital presence is unlike anything else that you can do to brand your firm.

• How do you get potential clients to feel like they know you before they even meet you?

• How do you get them to feel as if they already have a personal connection to you?

The answer is simple: Personal Branding.

Take a look in your local market for a moment. Chances are that the other law firms that you compete with have absolutely no persona in your market. If you simply step outside the box and work on your personal branding the impact will be substantial.

We have single handedly helped law firms grow from one and two man operations to huge firms that had to change office locations multiple times to accommodate their size as they grew.

Very few law firms understand how to do this correctly. They believe that their degrees and accreditations are enough that cases and clients are magically going to call their firm and hire them. We live in a digital age, where people instantly turn to the Internet when they want to look up information or attempt to solve a problem.

Now, let’s assume that your law firm was in Los Angeles and you practiced criminal defense. What would happen if someone in the Los Angeles area went to Google and typed in “criminal defense attorney Los Angeles” – would your law firm show up? If you aren’t at the top position find your firm in the search results and ask yourself these questions:

1. If I were the consumer looking to hire a law firm would I click on this listing that is down below with hundreds of other search results?

2. Why would they click on my website rather than one of the top search results?

3. Will they feel confident about hiring my firm seeing as we aren’t ranking on top and viewed as an authority in our local market?

Having a digital presence that makes your firm desirable automatically results in consumers taking action.

So, how do you get your firm to that point?

Attract Authority

Many law firms feel that in order to sign a client they need to overwhelm them with information and statistics, but that is not the case at all. Trying too hard to “sell” or impress a potential client will only push them away.

The best way to ”sell” is to not sell at all! When someone can take the information available to them and make a decision whether or not they want to hire your firm or not, it is always going to result in a higher quality client. These types of clients are less maintenance and they are hiring your firm because they truly believe that you are the best choice. They didn’t base their decision on a fancy sales pitch.

Ways to Make The Decision Easier For Potential Clients

1. Rank on top of the organic Google search results

There is nothing more powerful than showing up on the top of Google’s organic search results. This instantly gives your law firm major credibility and a potential client is automatically going to believe in his or her mind that your firm is the best.

Complete domination is key, ranking on top for several keywords that pertain to your location as well as the areas of law that your firm practices. If a client is searching a generic term like “lawyer in (your location)” as well as “personal injury lawyer (your location)” and sees that your firm is listed on top for both they are going to instantly see you as the best choice. It is human nature to see impressive search results and automatically associate them with being the best. There is a reason why the majority of Google searchers never navigate past the first page, and why the majority of clicks go to the top three results. Naturally, we want the best, or at least what we assume is the best!

2. Compliment your organic rankings with paid search rankings

While organic search rankings deliver an incredible value it is also a good idea to occupy the top of the paid results as well. Implementing a PPC campaign into your marketing effort is a way to make sure that you completely own the top of the Google search results.

There is going to be a small percentage of individuals that gravitate towards the paid results – after all they wouldn’t exist if they didn’t receive a large percentage of clicks. By dominating the organic as well as paid results it ensures that your firm will receive the majority of search traffic from both the organic and paid channels. When you are just getting started you can focus on organic rankings, but once the revenue and growth is on the rise you need to ride the wave and keep up with the exponential growth and allocate advertising funds toward pay per click marketing. It will actually

3. Build authority through PR

Public Relations outreach is very effective for helping you to build that authority and image as the best choice. When we take on a brand new client for our law firm SEO services, the very first thing we do is syndicate a news worthy press release throughout network of journalists and media contacts. This gets picked up by some of the largest news media outlets, including ABC, Fox News, CNBS, and others. How do you think prospective clients would view a local firm that received press in these major news outlets? Are these outlets currently featuring your competition? The answer is most likely no.

This media trust can also be leveraged on your website as well. A simple “As Seen On” section complete with logos from the major news outlets that featured your firm builds instant credibility and a potential client is going to be more comfortable picking up the phone and calling your firm or submitting your consultation request form after seeing them. These are outlets that every consumer interacts with almost daily, so the familiarity factor combines with the trust and authority factor to make them completely comfortable.

4. Leverage media placements for branding and link building

Being features on huge websites such as The Huffington Post, Business Insider, and Inc are great for what we just discussed above, public relations, but they also help to enhance the SEO effort. Links from these types of major authority websites are virtually priceless. They are the links that your competitors would love to get but they have no idea how to get them. They are the links that every SEO company will tell you they can get, but none of them can deliver them.

Law Firm Authority can get you those links using our strategic outreach, and these are the types of links that help to push your law firm to the top of the Google search results. A single link from an authority source such as The Huffington Post is worth more than thousands of low quality links that the other SEO companies are building.

As SEO switches gears and more emphasis is place on actual PR and natural link building rather than spammy keyword heavy anchor text, these placements become extremely valuable. Automated software isn’t placing these links all over and a team of link builders isn’t building them. They are earned and placed by the media outlet. Leveraging a piece of custom content or a recent case that your firm handled allows us to get picked up by these outlets and earn the most highly desirable links.

You want these links, don’t you? You want major media coverage, right? You want to completely dominate your local market and be able to pick and choose the most appealing and profitable cases for your firm, right? If you answered “Yes,” then you need to contact us today and schedule a free strategy session, where we will review your current digital footprint and develop a custom strategy to have you controlling the search results and being the authority law firm in your market.

Achieve Greatness Using The Strategy of Preeminence

Every law firm wants to be the best. They all want to have more business rolling through their doors than they can handle. They want to be able to grow. Nobody wants to be average, but not everybody is willing to take the steps necessary to reach greatness. It doesn’t happen without the hard work and strategic planning.

Step #1: Picture what you want to achieve in terms of growth and revenue

All of your competitors that aren’t achieving greatness are stuck in a rut because of this first step. They simply can’t picture in their mind what complete domination looks like. They can’t even fathom what being the authority firm in your market would be like.

You have to be able to envision what it would be like to be the top firm and have your phones ringing off the hook. Take a look at some larger markets and look at the biggest and most successful firms. If you can’t picture yourself in that position it will be difficult to ever achieve it. In fact, if you can’t envision greatness you will never experience it and know what it feels like.

Step #2: Establish the solution to help you reach your growth and revenue goals

You need to identify what is going to help you achieve your goals and experience greatness. Dominating the digital space will help you reach your goals, and Law

In 2017, there was a substantial increase in the number of automobile accidents that resulted in deaths. Knowing the possible causes of accidents can help people be more attentive for their cause of action and recognize when they have to speak with a personal injury lawyer in their own claim.

Increased Fatalities in Little Village Chicago

The National Safety Council noted that there was an increase in automobile fatalities during the first half of 2017. In that time period there were more than 18,680 individuals who died in motor vehicle accidents and over two million individuals who sustained serious injuries across the nation. There were 40,000 people who died in automobile accidents in the year 2016. This number of deaths demonstrated that a 6 percent growth from 2015 and has been the most significant increase in motor vehicle fatalities in 53 decades.

Common Causes of Motor Vehicle Accidents

Almost 100 people die in automobile accidents daily in the USA. According to statistical data, the most common causes of Automobile accidents include the following:

Speeding

Another frequent cause of motor vehicle accidents is speeding. Speeding has been a leading cause of motor vehicle accidents. When a driver is speeding, he or she has less time to brake or otherwise react before an crash. The motorist may be not able to correct the direction of the automobile, brake or prevent the collision. Speeding is often done together with other dangerous driving actions. By way of example, a motorist may speed while texting on a telephone, drinking and driving or impaired driving. When motorists fail to adjust their pace when the roadway is wet from rain, ice, sleet or snow, then they may skid off the roadway and be injured or killed in serious accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has attributed 33,000 fatalities in the United States to the greater speed limits throughout the nation.

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving has now surpassed drunk driving as the leading cause of motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Distracted driving happens when a driver takes her or his eyes, palms or attention from the road. Distracted driving includes eating, drinking, talking to passengers, fiddling with the radio, adjusting the GPS unit, reading and grooming. A serious and common form of driving is speaking on the telephone or texting. These kinds of distracted driving are particularly dangerous since they might take the motorist’s hands, attention and eyes off the street.

Distracted driving is very significant for drivers under age 24. Additionally, more than 220,000 teens of the exact same age were treated in emergency room departments for the injuries that they sustained.

Fatigued Driving

Fatigued driving results when a individual becomes tired while driving. Drowsy driving is much more common for those who work night shifts, get insufficient sleep or that drive many miles. Drowsy driving is of specific concern in the trucking industry, where automobile drivers log several miles and have an incentive to take shortcuts so as to get paid quicker. Drowsy driving results in one million motor vehicle accidents each year. Drowsy driving is dangerous because it impairs judgment, slows the capability to make decisions, reduces a driver’s alertness and attention.

Impaired Driving

Impaired driving also causes a significant variety of automotive mishaps in Illinois and across the country.

Drugged driving incidences also have increased over the past couple of decades. Drugged driving contains accidents brought on by impairment by prohibited substances as well as legally prescribed drugs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that over 22 percent of drivers test positive for some kind of medication, if it be illegal, over-the-counter or prescription drugs.

What should you do if you are in an auto crash? When it happens, injuries may be severe and emotions. But, there are important things to do in the scene of the accident and soon afterward. Below is a listing of items to do after an crash, if possible.

Stay at the Scene

Never leave the accident scene until it is appropriate to do so. If you leave, especially if someone has sustained injuries or was killed, you can face serious criminal penalties for being a shout motorist.

Assess on All Drivers and Passengers

Get medical attention for anybody who needs it. If a person is unconscious or has a neck or back pain, do not move them until qualified medical aid arrives, unless a danger requires moving the individual.

Call the Police

When there’s considerable property damage, bodily injury, or death, you want to telephone the police. Ask that a police report be filed in situations where cops do arrive in the scene, and receive the name and badge numbers of the responding officers.

Law enforcement will document the scene of the crash, record information about the involved parties, and ensure the protection of those involved in the crash as well as passing motorists. The priority is security, but the fact of the matter is data collected in this process can be vital to future lawsuit.

Exchange Information

If there are passengers, additionally obtain their names, numbers, and speeches.

But you should not apologize for anything at the scene. Is everybody okay?” You may be admitting legal liability for what occurred. Immediately after an accident, it may not be evident who was at fault or more in fault. Moreover, in many states, fault is not determinative of which insurance companies will pay for any reduction. Therefore, try not to acknowledge guilt unintentionally or unnecessarily.

Speak to Witnesses

Request every witness that which he or she saw. Get their names, numbers, or addresses, if possible. Ask locals if they’ve ever witnessed other accidents in the same place.

Contact your Insurance Provider

As soon as possible after the collision, call your insurance carrier. Insurance companies have coverage guidelines in order to extend coverage to their policyholders, and failure to report an accident in a timely manner can lead to the insurance company denying your claim at a later date.

Timeliness is especially important if you believe you’re at fault for the accident. If you’re sued, your insurance provider, in most situations, will offer you a defense, provided that you have met the obligations outlined on your insurance policy.

Cooperate with them and tell them the facts about what occurred and the extent of your injuries. Explain the facts clearly. If the insurance company finds out that you have lied to them about anything, you can get into serious trouble, including potential denial of coverage for the accident. Obtain and review any police record filed, so that you may point out who broke what traffic laws or that was at fault.

Seek medical care

It’s important to get checked out in the ER. Shock in the accident can numb the pain of harm for a while. Medical professionals might have the ability to see the telltale signs of accidents not clear to the naked eye.

Keep Track of Your Medical Treatment

Note any physicians, physical therapists, nurses, or other caregivers which you receive treatment from, and each medical provider that referred you to other health professionals. Keep a detailed account of those remedies or medications you receive. Additionally, ask copies of all medical reports and invoices as these help you prove your medical expenses later.

Medical costs are relatively easy to document, but suffering and pain is trickier to establish. Keep a list of how your injuries have impacted your daily life. Contain any missed workdays, listing any routine activities you can’t undertake, and describe how the injuries have affected your life.

Take photos

If it’s safe for you to accomplish this, take some pictures of the vehicles’ places, the harm, the location where the accident occurred, and any other photos you think would help in proving what occurred in the accident.

If you cannot take photos, then take notes. Draw diagrams of the scene, so it will help when you’re talking details with law enforcement and your insurance company.

Photos help your insurance adjuster determine how much you should be compensated for the damage to your car and can help in court. Photographs of your car before the accident can offer a great “compare and contrast” to show the real extent of the damage suffered in the crash.

Speech the damage to Your Car

Regarding the property damage on your car or truck, and subject to any information provided to you by a attorney, talk with your insurance carrier about the damage to your car or truck. If the other party is to blame for your crash, the compensation should be managed through another party’s liability insurance. If you are at fault, your damage will be handled through your own policy’s crash policy, subject to your deductible. Most insurance carriers will guide you through the process of getting your car repaired, and a few even recommend repair facilities that cover repairs under a short warranty.

Obtain your insurance company’s damage valuation. If you are not satisfied with how your insurer has valued your vehicle, don’t give up. Get two independent repair estimates or replacement estimates. Assertively notify the adjuster of your worries. If you can not agree on your auto’s value, consider mediation or consult an lawyer.

Be careful what you say at the Crash scene

Even if you feel that the crash was your fault, do not admit fault or blame at the scene. The phrase What you say can and will be used against you in a court of law typically identifies criminal cases as part of their Miranda Rights, but it also applies in civil cases, such as those that originate from accidents in a car accident.

Keep communications with the other party civil as well as brief. Maintain your cool and refrain from “finger pointing” at the scene. When you’re interviewed by a police officer about the truth, keep it easy, and refrain from imagining things like speed and space. Just stick to what you understand. If you aren’t sure how to answer a query, say simply, “I do not understand.”

Don’t speak to anyone about the accident aside from your attorney, your insurance company, and the police. Don’t speak to a representative of another insurer, without the knowledge of your attorney or insurer. Also, tell your lawyer or insurer about the call.

Be Wary of Early Settlement Offers

Be careful, if you’re given a settlement from an insurance company. Confirm all your physical injuries have been treated. Some injuries don’t show up or reach their greatest degree of discomfort until many days, weeks, or months afterwards. Don’t settle a claim until you understand you’ll be paid for all your injuries, and consult a lawyer before signing any settlement records.

Mental Incompetence

If the victim is mentally incompetent after the accident, the statute of limitations may be tolled. These sufferers have just two years to file a personal injury lawsuit once they regain their capacity.

Discovery of Harm

Some legal doctrines extend the statute of limitations so that a person may be able to file a lawsuit after the conventional statute of limitations continues to run. 1 such legal concept is the discovery of harm rule. This legal theory holds that in some cases a plaintiff may not be aware of the injury that he or she has suffered. Rather than holding the victim to the same two-year statute of limitations, the statute of limitations would be tolled or stopped until the plaintiff discovers the injury after which the statute of limitations begins to tick from that date.

Nonetheless, in order for it to apply, the court has to be convinced that the plaintiff didn’t realize the harm he or she suffered until a later date and that this delay of finding out this advice was fair under the conditions. This means that the personal injury lawsuit must be filed within two years from once the cause of action arose. In most situations, this can be within a couple of years from the date the injury happened. This statute of limitations applies to personal injury cases, including medical malpractice and wrongful death cases.

Statute of Repose

Besides some statute of limitations, Illinois has a separate law of interest to the time limit for medical malpractice case. This statute of limitations is two decades. The statute begins to run when a man knew, or should have known through the

Surprising findings about people who have suffered heart attacks reveal that many of these people may have diabetes – and not know it.

Research from the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2014 found that about 10 percent of heart attack patients have undiagnosed diabetes, a condition that can raise the risk for cardiovascular events.

According to the American Heart Association, two out of three people with diabetes die from cardiovascular disease.

Patients from 24 US hospitals studied

A total of 2,854 patients from 24 U.S. hospitals were included in the study. Researchers tested the participants’ A1C levels, which determines blood sugar levels for the previous two to three months.

Findings showed that 287 patients (a little more than 10 percent) were newly diagnosed with diabetes while being treated for heart attack, and less than one-third of those 287 patients received any sort of diabetes medication or education when released from the hospital.

Even more discouraging was that doctors failed to diagnose diabetes in 69 percent of the previously undiagnosed patients, but they were 17 times more likely to recognize the blood sugar condition if they conducted an A1C test during treatment for heart attack.

Research highlights role diabetes plays in heart disease

Suzanne V. Arnold, M.D., M.H.A., lead study author and assistant professor at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and the University of Missouri at Kansas City, said that catching diabetes in patients who have experienced heart attacks is crucial because of the role diabetes plays when it comes to heart disease.

“By recognizing and treating diabetes early, we may be able to prevent additional cardiovascular complications through diet, weight loss and lifestyle changes in addition to taking medications,” Arnold said. “Another important reason to diagnose diabetes at the time of heart attack is that it can guide the treatments for the patient’s coronary artery disease.”

The American Heart Association recommends that people who have had a heart attack be tested for diabetes.

How sport can teach someone to deal with life’s ups and downs by developing a winning mentality and a more positive frame of mind.

Very rarely in life is everything simple. Just as things are going great, life has a cruel way of dashing hopes and upsetting carefully formed plans. Whether it is to do with family life, job security, illness or simply ruining a good score on the golf course, sometimes things go wrong.

At that point it is being able to adopt a positive attitude that can make the difference between defeat and victory. For many it is not natural to relish the challenge of fighting back, but it is definitely a form of behaviour that can be learned. The seed of success in many champions has been sewed at the time of maximum dejection. Tell Gary Player he was four down with five to play and the adrenaline would immediately start to flow.

Body Language When the Going Gets Tough

Some people naturally want to fight their way out of trouble, others have to learn a winning frame of mind. For those who struggle the first thing to do is control body language. Irrespective of whether it’s to do with golf, or life in general, when things go wrong it can drain a person of energy.

Look at the body language of a second class sportsman taking a beating – shoulders slump, the head drops, we can almost see the negative thoughts swamping the brain. To start the comeback these physical signs have to be controlled.

• Keep the head up
• Straighten the shoulders
• Walk tall
• Take deep breaths (and try to smile)

How to Make a Come Back

When things start going wrong there has to be a ‘timeout’ when problems can be accurately analysed. It may not be your fault that the going has got tough, luck cruelly plays its part sometimes. But as the great Bobby Jones once said, “you have to learn to play the ball as it lies”. Whatever situation you find yourself in it’s probably your fault and you have a responsibility to make the best of a bad job and turn things around.

It is the acceptance that problems do exist, and the commitment to positively do something about them, that is the second step to forming a winning plan. Most golfers fail at this point blaming conditions, injury, or their last lesson. The list is endless. But rather than deliberating on the past, a winning frame of mind embraces the effort to follow a positive plan: there must be a way out of this trouble — what can I do to make the situation better?

Advice, Planning and Golf Lessons

No matter what situation someone faces — the thickest rough on the course, bankruptcy, job loss, illness – there are two ways of devising a plan to get out of trouble. The plan can be your own or you can rely on an expert or trusted friend. It is not generosity alone that makes PGA pros pay their caddies so much money — they earn it with advice when things go wrong.

A golf professional or good caddie can certainly help sort out a golf swing. A financial adviser can possibly help out with the family budget. A doctor can obviously advise on health matters. Find an expert you trust and follow their advice. It may not be what you want to hear but it is probably what is right for you to do. Effort sometimes requires pain. Always remember to carry out a plan with positive body language. Keep that head up!

Positive Frame of Mind and Patience

The initial effort to continue with a positive frame of mind is often the hardest, but without immediate results it is then easy to capitulate and throw in the towel. To turn a situation around it often takes time. In golfing terms it is unlikely a golfer will birdie the next hole after dropping two shots on the previous. Patience at this point is vital.

Whatever your new plan is, whether it is to eat more healthy food, swing the club better, look for a new job; good results do not happen overnight. The courage to keep going when things are difficult is perhaps the single most important characteristic of a winner. It is very true that the tough do get going when the going gets tough.

“Should we or shouldn’t we?”

After the decision has been made to go through with and file for divorce, two spouses must ask themselves the above question regarding whether or not they should arrange a financial settlement in divorce by way of spousal support.

Many couples tend to experience puzzlement when it comes to the manner in which spousal support operates. Confusion can center around the circumstances that allow one spouse to request the alimony support; which party is eligible to receive support payments and for how long a period of time the paying spouse will be obligated to make those payments; and what happens to the payment itself once the receiving spouse decides to remarry.

Contrary to popular belief, not all divorcing spouses are entitled to alimony payments.

For example, it is easy to assume that in a situation such as adultery, the divorce judge will punish the cheating spouse by ordering him or her to pay spousal support to the scorned party. Yet unfortunate to the affair’s victim, divorce laws does not work this way.

Another very common assumption is that because a wedded couple has spent time together sharing a marriage, one of the parties is now entitled to spousal support after divorce regardless how long the union lasted.

So if these assumptions are incorrect, what are the rules governing alimony guidelines, and how do they apply to the two spouses who are petitioning the Court for a marital dissolution?

The first thing to consider before any guidelines come into play is that the two spouses are free to come to their own arrangement for spousal support payments if they so choose.

If they opt for the mutual agreement route, the parties will then have to specify to the Court the amount of support to be paid; the length of time the payments will last; the reasons why the payment figure may increase or decrease in the future; as well as any other matter the spouses wish to include in their spousal support arrangements.

A second advantage to coming up with their own support plan is the parties can agree that the Court will not have the power to change the alimony payment amount at any time, no matter what the current (financial or otherwise) circumstances are of either spouse.

And what about those couples who need a spousal support order but cannot agree on an appropriate amount?

The state of California comes to the rescue with very specific standards for determining how much will be awarded to the receiving spouse.

To start, if the parties were married for less than ten years then alimony will normally be required to be paid for half the length of the marriage. For example, in a marriage lasting eight total years, payments will last for four years.

For marriages that lasted ten or more years, spousal support will be paid until the receiving spouse either remarries or dies.

But how does the divorce judge come to a decision about what constitutes a fair alimony payment amount?

Spousal support figures are determined with court-approved software, which uses the following guidelines when calculating an appropriate amount: the total income each spouse brings in from his or her job; the living expenses for each party; whether there were children born of the marriage and if so, how many days of the year the children spend with each parent; and various other factors.

Should the parties choose to have the Court decide for them on a fair spousal support figure, it is important for them to remember that the Court then has the right to adjust the total payment amount in the event the paying spouse loses a job, declares bankruptcy, becomes disabled or suffers from an unexpected hardship.

Yet this modification by the Court goes both ways, i.e. it will be applied to the receiving spouse as well if similar misfortune occurs and there is now a need for a higher total support amount.

So then what can one expect when it comes to spousal support?

It is really up to the spouses themselves.

In other words, the parties can opt to figure out their own agreement regarding payments; they can ask the Court to calculate and enforce a guideline figure for them; or they can choose to forgo alimony altogether, and become self-sufficient once the final divorce has been granted.