First visit to the range ever

[12iron]

Guys at church are finally talking me into trying golf. I walked around the local 9 hole course with them today, and I stopped by to speak to the assistant pro at another nearby course . I'm going to sign up for lessons with him next week, but in the meantime he gave me a Ping Rapture v2 7 iron to take home with me to practice the grip (and to get me hooked and remind me to book my lesson, of course).

I'm going to be up in Lexington on Tuesday and I have some time. Is there any reason why I couldn't take my new 7 iron to a driving range and give it a whirl? Is there anything I need to know first?

-12i

[gjsuicide]

Go for it.  Hit the ball first, then the ground.

[lefty.drew]

I would watch some youtube tutorials on a basic golf swing then hit the range and let er rip.

[12iron]

So I went yesterday to the range at the university just south of me. It turns out that the boyfriend of someone in my church works there, so I *may* have gotten hooked up with a free bucket of balls. I hit a lot of really hilarious shots, and some that were embarrassing.

But then there were those few that whirrrrred off the club face and soared out 100, 105 yards. Man, that was awesome.

So I'm going again tomorrow, down in Knoxville. Still just hitting the 7 iron.

-12i

[tanktwo2]

awesome! golf can be very frustrating at times, but stick with it

[zgoldsmith23]

That's great. Don't give up and try to get some of the basic mechanics down. Don't forget your lessons!! ;)

[nevets88]

Range mats are different from real grass.

If I were starting again, I'd start with wedges and half swings which help in learning to hit the ball first. 1/2 swings just past parallel is ok with a 7 iron, but when you first start out, you want to knock it in the air but in the long run, the discipline in starting with chips and small swings will more likely hone a proper swing.