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Help a beginner on where to begin!


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I'm absolutely new to the sport.  Upon searching on topics and where to begin, it's easy to become overwhelmed.  There is so much out there and a lot of which contradicts each other.  I was hoping someone here could help me on where to begin?  I purchased a set of Cleveland 588 altitude irons (4-PW), Cleveland 588 driver, Cleveland 588 5 wood, Cleveland Rotex 56 sand wedge, and a Cleveland Classic 1.0 putter.  So I think I have the equipment covered for getting started.  I also picked up a Jef chipping net to use in the yard when I'm not able to go to the range.  Any suggestions on where to begin, what to practice, any drills that will help, etc?  I have a slice in my drive, which I think is caused by a combination of me leaving the club face open and not swinging on a plane.  I also have a problem with not staying down on the ball and topping it, with my irons.  My short game is HORRIBLE.  I chip from one side of the green to other.  There is no one in my area that offer lessons.  We only have one local course and it's less than average at best.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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if your new go right to a pro and get lessons so you dont develop bad happens right away...

Driver: Nike Covert

3W & 5W: Cobra Baffler

3 Hybrid: Ping G25

4 Hybrid: Ping G25

5 Iron - Gap Wedge: Ping G25

SW: Ping Tour Series

Putter: Ping My Day(Old School)

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if your new go right to a pro and get lessons so you dont develop bad happens right away...

I second this. A trained set of eyes is imho your best bet to learn the game.

I played for almost a year before taking lessons, I did everything wrong on my own, of course we didn't have the internet back then... :-D

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Find a pro with a beginner's program/class. It's less expensive and is fun. Afterwards, private lessons. Find a way to video yourself on the range.

There is so much contradictory advice out there ... you'll save money and time avoiding golf magazines, don't blame your equipment, but educate yourself with lessons and video. You will find good vids. learn about how equipment, design and how it helps you, on this site.

Ping G400 Max 9/TPT Shaft, TEE EX10 Beta 4, 5 wd, PXG 22 HY, Mizuno JPX919F 5-GW, TItleist SM7 Raw 55-09, 59-11, Bettinardi BB39

 

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Punisher, a place to check for lessons might be one of the local courses... their golf pro might be able to learn you some good stuff.

Aside from that, if you've got a slice then start on here looking at the fundamentals.

MVMAC has a good thread on proper grip. It helped me tame my slice some to more of a fade.

Do a search on here for the 5 keys... then practice them. They'll help you out.

Most importantly, have fun!

Chris

I don't play golf, I play at golf. There's a difference.

TM RBZ driver, RBZ Stage 2 Tour 3 wood, RBZ 7 wood, TM Burner 2.0 4-AW, Cleveland CG16 Black Pearl 56* sand wedge, Yes! Golf Valerie putter, Snake Eyes golf balls, TM stand bag

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I'm a beginner too.  Only been at it about 3 months.  Started out just buying a driver and some used clubs and hitting balls at the range and a computer simulation site w/o instruction just to learn how to swing a club.

Within a month after I started, I signed up for a 5 lesson Golf Ready beginners course.  Most places charge $99 of this, but my course only cost $65.  Also signed up for 5 "intermediate" courses for $55.  You can find PGA Golf Ready classes near you here: http://www.pga.com/play-golf-america/get-golf-ready

The classes really didn't "teach" me all that much.  Learned how to hit the driver and other clubs relatively straight and w/o a slice by looking at a lot of golf videos, reading some stuff online and just swinging away.  But, the PGA instructor has offered a few suggestions on how to "improve" my swing, which now "looks" better but (as far as I can tell) hasn't yet helped me to hit longer or straighter.  But, never know what you might learn and I don't regret taking the classes.

After you learn how to hit the ball w/some control (ie, more or less straight w/some distance and not too many mis-hits), I suggest you try walking onto a 9 hole course on your own when it's NOT busy.  Playing an actual hole is a lot different than hitting balls at the range.  The holes are generally short but some are long enough to use a driver, as long as you're not a really long hitter.  I'm not.  You'll also get a better idea how long you hit various clubs and how difficult it is to hit the ball out of different lies.

If you go when it's not busy, you can take your time to practice your swing and hit as many balls as you like.  I've hit as many as 3-4 balls off a tee before I got one I liked.  I play the best shot and pick up all of the other balls that I can find.  I'm using fewer balls now than when I 1st started; sometimes I even hit the ball on the green in 1.

I never bother scoring or trying to "find" any balls I've lost and, if the lie is really horrible, I'll just move it.  I'm still in practice/learning mode and I don't think there's any point in trying to play the ball "as it lies" until I get good enough to even think about scoring a round or posting a handicap.

At this point, I just think you need to focus on learning and keeping the process "fun" -- you can only do this by taking your time to learn how to play this difficult game and not taking your failures too seriously.

I do this better alone when there's no one else around to see how badly I play the game but others like the advice and encouragement they get from others.  Do it the way that best suits you.

Good luck!

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I am very sympathetic with the OP. At the beginning I practiced without a pro for a year. I must say that after having my first lesson, it wasn't about fixing mistakes and how difficult to get rid of them, rather it was about not doing things properly enough, not enough movement here, not enough movement there... So although I 'd learned to keep my elbows stiff for a year, I am surprised how quickly I unlearned this bad habbit. Now when I grab the club, first thing is that I make sure I relax the elbows and tighten the grip a bit. I used to do it the opposite way for a year. For a year I didn't turn the shoulders enough.

As for beginning and where to begin, if I could start from scratch again, I would learn to putt properly at home on the carpet using the U shaped replacement thing you just put on the floor. At the same time I would learn to chip into a net in the garden. There are lots of videos online showing how to chip. Even if you don't do it well enough for a year, a pro will help you to make the technique good enough for most beginners within a few days. Then I would start with some basic pitching and only after that I would start with full swing and mid irons. Of course, this is without a teacher. In case you can find a pro, you can do all the stuff within a few weeks and learn very quickly I suppose, it depends on your talent and quality of the teacher. Just if you cannot find or afford a good teacher, putting, chippping, and pitching following videos should be a good start. And it is a lot of fun, too. As for the contradicting info, I pick one or two teachers online, ideally a teacher and his pro students, and follow their instructions and videos, for example Butch Harmon and his students' videos like Mickelson or Fowler. Their instructions are not confusing as they are all based on the same golf philosophy. Good luck.

PS even three lessons with a very qualified teacher a year can provide enough material and fun to work on for the time before you meet this teacher again.  A few lessons I had with quality teachers made immediate huge impact and improved my game. So it doesn't hav to be that you struggle, you are frustrated, then you have a lesson, it is confusing and has no effect. It could be having fun learning, looking for instructions and then learning some basic stuff that will immediately show when you take one or two quality lessons. Which is not the end of your progress of course. Unless you give up that quickly.

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I am very sympathetic with the OP. At the beginning I practiced without a pro for a year. I must say that after having my first lesson, it wasn't about fixing mistakes and how difficult to get rid of them, rather it was about not doing things properly enough, not enough movement here, not enough movement there... So although I 'd learned to keep my elbows stiff for a year, I am surprised how quickly I unlearned this bad habbit. Now when I grab the club, first thing is that I make sure I relax the elbows and tighten the grip a bit. I used to do it the opposite way for a year. For a year I didn't turn the shoulders enough.

As for beginning and where to begin, if I could start from scratch again, I would learn to putt properly at home on the carpet using the U shaped replacement thing you just put on the floor. At the same time I would learn to chip into a net in the garden. There are lots of videos online showing how to chip. Even if you don't do it well enough for a year, a pro will help you to make the technique good enough for most beginners within a few days. Then I would start with some basic pitching and only after that I would start with full swing and mid irons. Of course, this is without a teacher. In case you can find a pro, you can do all the stuff within a few weeks and learn very quickly I suppose, it depends on your talent and quality of the teacher. Just if you cannot find or afford a good teacher, putting, chippping, and pitching following videos should be a good start. And it is a lot of fun, too. As for the contradicting info, I pick one or two teachers online, ideally a teacher and his pro students, and follow their instructions and videos, for example Butch Harmon and his students' videos like Mickelson or Fowler. Their instructions are not confusing as they are all based on the same golf philosophy. Good luck.

PS even three lessons with a very qualified teacher a year can provide enough material and fun to work on for the time before you meet this teacher again.  A few lessons I had with quality teachers made immediate huge impact and improved my game. So it doesn't hav to be that you struggle, you are frustrated, then you have a lesson, it is confusing and has no effect. It could be having fun learning, looking for instructions and then learning some basic stuff that will immediately show when you take one or two quality lessons. Which is not the end of your progress of course. Unless you give up that quickly.

I always start a new endeavor with instruction of some kind or another, but there is so much information and misinformation in golf that it makes it really hard for a beginner to navigate through it all. I started off with lessons (not ones that would have me improve my swing), but lessons that could get me on a course and fumble the ball from tee to green. So, I didn't do too well for the first 3 years playing golf.

When I signed onto this site, I never really knew there was instruction available through it. Once I signed on for lessons a little less than a year ago, I found that I could really start making good contact with the ball. Ever since then I have been improving. Now, I can enjoy hitting balls around, even with scratch golfers, without seriously holding anyone up in getting to the green.

Golf is fun and frustrating at the same time. Keep in mind that there is really good instruction on this site, if you take advantage of it earlier than I did and enjoy more rounds.

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

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Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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Note: This thread is 3436 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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