Best Way For Beginners To Learn How To Play

[bigwilly319]

I would still consider myself a beginner but I've been told by a bunch of other seasoned golfers that my swing and my play is pretty good for only playing about 5 months.

I took a golf class at a local community college. The class was considered a P.E class and we met only once a week for the length of the semester. The class had all types of people in it, college kids, young adults and older adults. The majority of the students were all beginners but there were a few that already knew how to play but wanted to take the class to brush up on their fundamentals.

I learned soooo much in such a short period of time. I think i did it right because I started out with the basic fundamentals, rather than teach myselft on the range with just a driver in my hand trying to kill the ball. Coach took his time to teach us the importance of all iron shots versus driving the ball. The majority of the game is with irons, wedges and putters anyway. I was taught that its better to drive the ball a shorter distance and get up the green with solid chips and 2 putt your way to victory versus driving the ball close to the pin and putting your way towards double or triple bogey.

Luckily for me, i've always picked up sports very fast but a lot of that also has to do with focus, patience and determination. I reccommend all beginners to consider taking a golf class. Community colleges are a lot cheaper than taking other classes.

[bwinger79]

I couldnt agree more. You need to be grounded in your fundamentals in order to progress in this game, although driver is a huge part of todays game. Many kids are learning to hit it as far as they can first, and straighten it out second, which will work for some, but not for the masses, even though driving the ball 320 usually leaves a pretty short second shot, even if that drive is a little off line. If you want to drop your scores, practice as much short game as you can. This is where you will really start to shave strokes off your game.

[Dent]

Yep Definatly, another thing i noticed with a friend is he just started, and he has started golf on a really tough course, ya its tough and he doesnt shoot well, but i think he will improve alot faster than some people do on a little par-3 course.

[Big Lex]

Great question. I'm not a great golfer, so you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt. But I do have some definite ideas I think you should consider.

For an adult, I suggest getting a set of clubs with a decent driver, wedges, and putter, (the quality of the remaining clubs isn't as important) and spending about 3 or 4 months working on the game entirely on your own. I would avoid reading books and magazines if possible, and just do what seems natural. If you are aching for some guidance, watch how the pros grip, stand, and swing, and then just go out and figure a natural way for you to do it. Try to avoid specific teaching. Spend a considerable amount of time at a driving range before you try going to a golf course, and make sure to practice alot with the wedges and irons, not just the driver, although the driver is of course very important.

I recommend this initial period on your own because I believe the things that stick with you the longest are things you figure out yourself, and you should learn the game from the beginning with the idea that you try to work things out on your own as much as possible. Trust yourself.

After this initial period, I suggest booking a series of about 6 lessons with the best teaching pro you can find and afford in your area. Now that you've spent a few months and developed some sort of natural swing, your pro will have something to work with, and you will get feedback on all of the ideas you've had in shaping your swing from that point. You will throw out the bad, reinforce the good, and get a roadmap for how to improve.

After you get the lessons, play as often as possible, always playing over practicing when you have the choice. Always revert to basics when your game goes sour, and try the things the teacher taught you before resorting to instruction books, etc. A pro once told me to swing a club every day, even if you can't play or hit balls every day. A few swings, just to keep your swing fresh in your mind.

For kids, I don't really know what to say...probably the thing to do is do whatever is possible to get them to love the game, and they'll figure out the way they want to learn it and ask you for help, whether it's from you, a pro, whatever. The best thing you can do for a kid is make the game fun for them.

[Shindig]

I would still consider myself a beginner but I've been told by a bunch of other seasoned golfers that my swing and my play is pretty good for only playing about 5 months.

Sounds like you had a great class. Which CC offers this? I may have to send my "I refuse to get lessons" friends to it.

[bwinger79]

I recommend this initial period on your own because I believe the things that stick with you the longest are things you figure out yourself, and you should learn the game from the beginning with the idea that you try to work things out on your own as much as possible. Trust yourself.

What if in this "self exploration period" someone were to ingrain poor technique into muscle memory? Wouldnt that just be a waste of time? Go see a pro and get grounded in the fundamentals of the golf swing. Once you have your fundamentals down, you might be able to figure it out from there.

[fusioncal]

What if in this "self exploration period" someone were to ingrain poor technique into muscle memory? Wouldnt that just be a waste of time? Go see a pro and get grounded in the fundamentals of the golf swing. Once you have your fundamentals down, you might be able to figure it out from there.

I think a couple months of practicing alone won't ingrain poor technique permanently. I'm sure he meant that at least beginners should be able to familiarize themselves with golf swing first. I've seen a lot of beginners with no history of playing golf take lesson immediately with the pros at the range I always play at. Even after their lesson package is done I don't see any significant improvement. Why? Because they can't do anything the pro tells them to. Heck, they can't even hold the club at the top of the backswing. All lesson time is spent only to build the strength to make a golf swing. That's why beginners first needs to practice only their swing, don't mind the ball. So 3-4 months later when they are taking lesson, the teaching pro doesn't need to start from zero, otherwise it would be time consuming and of course their money too.

It does make sense, but I'd suggest while finding the "natural swing" one should at least aware of the proper golf fundamental, so that one doesn't just swing but "swing."

[gr8hntr]

i say lessons
im a newbie and have never played
and the pro that is teaching me said thats its nice
to teach someone that doesn't have any bad habits.
bad habits are expensive to fix because it takes more lessons
to try to correct poor technique than learnig the correct way the first time.

just my .02

[allin]

I read somewhere a teachers opinion (probably Harvey Penick) that the best way to learn is from the green back. This makes sense to me and when I make a swing change now I start with partial shots and wedges until I have hit at least a couple of buckets. It is easier to feel what you are trying to do this way.

[jaqattack02]

My local community college offers a golf class too. I think I'm going to take it sometime soon. The class is held at a course just up the road from my office, and is taught by the course pro.

[gr8hntr]

I read somewhere a teachers opinion (probably Harvey Penick) that the best way to learn is from the green back. This makes sense to me and when I make a swing change now I start with partial shots and wedges until I have hit at least a couple of buckets. It is easier to feel what you are trying to do this way.

that is how my pro is teaching me

putting first then chippin...ect. hitting the driver is the last of the 6 class series he told me yesterday (chipping class) that is the start of the full swing w/ a little hip rotation and next week's class (pitchin) is alittle more hip turn that will help get the basics down of the irons and driver swing

[kafka01]

I started playing golf for the first months on a very open course - you hit it off target - nothing happend if you found your ball - since it was a desert area, not a big problem.

So naturally i tried to hit it as long as possible with my driver and practiced this shots a lot. What i didnt realize then was that i had faults in my swing which could explain that whenever i tried to approach a green from bigger distance i hit nothing.
After 4 months or so i was able to bogey that course - which was quite good IMO.

I then switched to a different course - parkland style, lots of OOB - mishits mostly punished with lost balls, i could double bogey it (and my swing really fell apart a couple of times during that time) - it took me 3 months to fix my biggest swing faults, get a finer feel for rythm and tempo, not trying to hit every shot 100% and realize that a 3iron actually is something which plays fine from the tee too on a Par4 or Par5.

The funny thing is, that during the time i switched to the new club i barely couldnt improve my Hcp - it just dropped below my Hcp from a couple of months ago this week, what i failed to realize was, that my game improved quite a bit indeed (and that it needed to improve to play that course with the same results than the other course like i played before), which caused a lot of frustration since i´m pretty results oriented.

For every beginner i really just would recommed to take it easy with the big guns and practice your irons, getting feel for tempo and rythm and getting the basics done alright (beside your swing, your shortgame, approaches, putting). And then when you feel safe with the above go and start with the bigger guns and you will have a much more easier time.

Another thing i noticed is when i play with a really good player and players who could be categorized as beginners that they try to do often the same as the good players like trying to get distance out of fairway bunkers, hitting fairway woods from the fairway or shaping the ball around or over objects - meanless to say it mostly ends in disaster. They just cant stay with the game they are capable to play and often get very easily influenced by what they shouldnt attempt. Dont get fancy - play what you practiced.

[GITrDONE]

How you all doin?

I'm still a beginner but since I'm young and still a very good athlete I hope to get decent at this game as soon as possible

I've hit and putted off and on since I was a kid but have never played a real 9 or 18 hole course. I will soon though and until then have been hitting almost every day on the range as well as chipping and putting on the practice green