Starting from Scratch

[ts103706]

Hello, I am new to golf. I did a couple searches, but I have been unable to find any good articles for beginning golfers. Most of what I found was just advertisements. I have two questions.

1. Should I take lessons?
-I have golfed several times throughout the last 4 years. I am to the point now where I can golf and not hold up people behind me, but I am still pretty bad. I very rarely meet par. I ask if I should take lessons because I do not know of any other options, and I do not know if these other options can even stand up to lessons.

2. How and when should I go about purchasing new equipment?
-Right now I switch between my dad's ancient bottom line Wilsons and my sister's new Calaway Big Bertha set, of which I do significantly better with the Calaways. I would really like to avoid buying cheap gear. I see purchasing new clubs as an investment, and if I buy cheap clubs now, I will just end up spending more money on better clubs later.

[goblue107501]

If you are serious about wanting to be better and can afford it, take some lessons. If you just want to go out and play once a month then it is probably not worth the time and money. If you take lessons now it will be much easier for the pro to get you in a correct swing. Once you start playing regularly it will be harder for you to change since you will have built up the muscle memory from your current swing. You can read books and magazine articles about how to do this and that, but it is much easier to learn when someone with a trained eye can immediately correct flaws. It will take more than a few, so be prepared to go 6-8 times or more until you start feeling comfortable.

Two different schools of thought on your second point. I have always thought it to be better for a beginner/casual player to get good used equipment cheap rather than getting new cheap equipment. e.g. You're better off getting the 5 year old set of used Ping irons than you are the new set of knockoffs from the discount store. Most any golf store/pro shop will have used clubs cheap. Once you have a better grasp on your game then you can get the newer stuff. Or if you don't want to buy twice, keep using what you are using until you get it figured out. Then get fitted and buy what you want after you have a consistent swing. My best guess would be that if you bought something new now, your swing may change if you take lessons and what you bought may not work for you anymore so you would have to start over again. If you take lessons your pro could help you with this more.

[Richie3Jack]

I would get a lesson (emphasis on it being a singular word). I generally find that those who are starting out and getting lessons on a consistent basis generally don't ever improve all that much. The lesson should just be on the very basic parts of the golf swing (grip, address position and taking out any gigantic flaws).

From there, I thing the beginner just has to play a lot and hit a lot of golf balls and more or less learn how to hit the ball and develop their own swing. Once they get the coordination of hitting the ball, then they can get more lessons to get the mechanics of the swing down.

In the meantime, http://perfectgolfswingreview.net is a pretty good resource for any golfer.

As far as equipment goes, just go and get some cheap beginner clubs out of the local sporting goods store. Hell, you may find out that after awhile you don't want to play the game anymore. Plus, it looks bush to see a golfer with great clubs who can't play a lick. I also believe that a golfer shouldn't go to balata golf balls like the Pro V1's until they have the ability to hit an iron shot from the fairway and spin the ball


3JACK

[mellojoe]

YES!

Emphatically, YES!

"Lesson 1" wherever you go is going to be a good thing. Obviously, you want to work with someone of a similar philosophy as to what your goals are, but building a solid foundation is going to be tremendously helpful.

Let's just say that after I took one short lesson (the owner at the local driving range offered to spend 20 minutes with me, free of charge. He was awesome, although his bad back prohibits him from getting competitive anymore) I went from dreading playing with others to having tons of fun and actually being comfortable with a club in my hand.

Go for it.

[swingsmooth]

Hello, I am new to golf. I did a couple searches, but I have been unable to find any good articles for beginning golfers. Most of what I found was just advertisements. I have two questions.

1. Absolutely, take lessons and get the fundamentals down. It'll save you a lot of frustration in the long run and keep you from having to unlearn bad habits later. (Read about golf, too. Golf Magazine and Golf Digest have a lot of information. Some of the info in golf magazines will, initially, be beyond your skill level but after awhile the info starts to sink in and you'll gain a better understanding about what causes what).

2. I think you should stay away from your dad's ancient Wilsons and get into something that you feel confident with. New clubs are definitely an investment. But, folks are selling and trading good gear all the time, looking for what works for them. Try to find a good used set of Callaways, if you feel confident playing them. You might want to have them regripped but that's not that expensive. 3. The most important thing ---- Have Fun!!!!

[ts103706]

Thanks for all the good advice so far.

As far as lessons right now, I am signed up for 3, and I will see if I want to take anymore from there.

As far as equipment, I am looking at some used Callaway x-14 pros. Someone is selling them for $200.00. DOes anyone have anything to say about these irons and price?

[swingsmooth]

Thanks for all the good advice so far.

First of all, 200 dollars seems reasonable to me. Second, the X 14 pro has less offset than the X 14. Both are perimeter weighted, cavity back designs, which I highly recommend someone new to the game. A lot of new players tend to slice the ball and, I believe, that more hosel offset aids the less experiences player in combating that tendancy. That said, I played the X14's for a year or two. I liked them but switched to a club with less offset after falling in love with Cleveland C10 wedges which don't have a lot of offset. Have I confused you enough, yet???

I think it's a pretty good deal. Can you get your hands on some to try out at the range?

[OldDog66]

I agree with the advice about lessons already given here but here is a website that has a lot of info on golf, even for beginners.

http://golf.about.com/od/beginners/G..._Beginners.htm