New to golfing. Need basic practice tips.

[golfmoor]

Gonna pick up some golf clubs for the first time next week. I intend to play strictly for fun, but do wanna learn the game properly. Ive never picked up a club. I think im gonna start at a local golf range near me which has everything but a putting tee.  What are some basic practice tips that i could use? Again, im totally new.  I KNOW its a broad question, but just wanted some input on what people did when they first got started. Thanx.

[saevel25]

Best advice I could give is work on three things 

1. Grip 

2. Posture

3. Make a centered pivot

If someone was just starting, get them in a good position to make an athletic move then get them properly turning. Most amateurs do not turn properly or nearly enough. Turning correctly helps everything link up correctly from keeping a steady head to getting your weight forward at impact for solid contact. 

Besides that have fun. It's a great game to play. I hope you end up getting bit by the golfing bug. We need more converts ;) 

[golfmoor]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Best advice I could give is work on three things 

1. Grip 

2. Posture

3. Make a centered pivot

If someone was just starting, get them in a good position to make an athletic move then get them properly turning. Most amateurs do not turn properly or nearly enough. Turning correctly helps everything link up correctly from keeping a steady head to getting your weight forward at impact for solid contact. 

Besides that have fun. It's a great game to play. I hope you end up getting bit by the golfing bug. We need more converts ;) 

Thanx for the quick response. Gonna study what you just posted. :)  I already know im gonna tinker with a 10 fingergrip by the way. lol

[Rainmaker]

If you have a buddy that plays, try to go to the range with him a time or 2.  It's much easier if somebody can show you a proper grip and stance, etc.  Taking a lesson would be great - or if there is one of these in your area,that would be great, too, and cheaper.

http://www.pga.com/play-golf-america/get-golf-ready

You can also check your local school district's continuing education program for adults.  Ours actually offers a 6 week golf class.  I took it with my wife - it was cheap and awesome.  Each class started with a short lecture/demo and then we'd hit at the range and the pro would come by and work with each of us individually.  The last class we got to play 2 holes in foursomes (with the pro as the fourth), alternate shot.  Can't say enough good things about that experience.   

Failing all that - take a video of your swing and post it here in the Member Swings section - you'll get good advice. 

It sounds like you're on the right track - golf, for the vast majority of us is always going to be just for fun.  And fun it is - the most fascinating game, really. 

[70sSanO]

I will second the advice to take a group lessons to at least go some of the basics down.  You can get some basic information off the internet, but the school district/parks and recreation or even a local junior college suggestion above is great.

Also, too much advice is the kiss of death.  That said I will offer one piece of advice... keep you hip from moving backwards on your back swing.  It may mean putting weight on the inside of your back foot, but if you sway when you take the club back, you will never get back to where you started and will hit behind the ball.  And start off at par 3 courses.

John

Edited April 28, 2016 by 70sSanO

[golfmoor]

Thanx for the tips rainmaker and 70sSanO. Im gonna look for some people to practice with and go from there. Good tip about not taking too much advice.

[No Mulligans]

This is great on how to practice:

 

[bm85]

I just got in the habit of swinging a club all the time.

Every now and then I'll throw in a concept from someone a lot smarter than me, and then I just swing, swing, and swing until the cows come home.

[dufferifick]

Hogan's 5 Lesson.  Not the be all end all of golf instruction, but a durn good base.

READ it.  Don't skim over sections or you'll miss critical information.

There are some sections that just don't jive, but overall, it's pretty solid.

[Gator Hazard]

All the above and I would also include:. Get out on a course. Even a par 3 executive course. Don't just go to range, start there, get a lesson or two but then get out there.  I found I had a hell of a lot more fun trying to play than just whacking balls from same spot. It is what got me hooked and now I'm stuck in this lovely, miserable hell hole bipolar relationship called golf. Enjoy it (buahahahaha)

Edited April 30, 2016 by Gator Hazard

[golfmoor]

On 4/29/2016 at 10:50 PM, bm85 said:

I just got in the habit of swinging a club all the time.

Every now and then I'll throw in a concept from someone a lot smarter than me, and then I just swing, swing, and swing until the cows come home.

Ok. Went to the driving range for the first time today. I WAITED till nobody else was there and got my clubs out.......lmao  ( i knew this was gonna be a embarrassing day).   Like i said, my FIRST time ever even swinging a club. 

I got a bucket of 50 balls and hit about 25 each with the 7 iron and the 9 iron. I got about 10 balls off the ground with decent loft.  The rest were either fat ground divots, or some serious slices.........lol. Ground crew gonna be upset with me. 

  My FIRST adjustment i learned on my own was to place my back foot closer to the ball. I was more in the middle. This helped a lot. As i was leaving, the driving range operator/ owner stopped me and said he was observing my swing.  He gave me some free swing lessons on the spot. First, my posture. He said i was starting correct, but dipping down into the ball. MY swing. He worked on it from the ground up. lmao.  I was swinging too hard. My swing was too high on the backswing. My wrists were bending. My lead arm was bending. My torso was turning too much. My follow thru wasnt complete. He suggested i experiment with a interlocking grip. Im using a 10 finger. Lmao.

He admitted my head would be spinning from all the advice, but it helped greatly. I feel my next practice session will be better because now i have a starting point. I greatly appreciated what he did for me today. I now have a starting point.

 

[No Mulligans]

Golf is hard.

I think anyone starting should get lessons right from the get go.

[bm85]

7 hours ago, golfmoor said:

I greatly appreciated what he did for me today. I now have a starting point.

Good to hear man. You will meet some nice people golfing. Working on your swing is an endless source of achievement.

Don't be embarrassed! I was hitting enormous pull hooks on the range today, shanks, duffs, slices, and the odd good one. To my left could have been Tiger Woods, and to my right a guy who is the worst in his scrambles every week. How I compared to either of them is irrelevant to me, and it should be to you too. 

I was just testing out how my new shoulder turn felt over the ball; not seeing if I could hit the flag again.

Based on my shots, I might be the last person you would pick to be on your team. That would be foolish. For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is....

May the 4th be with you.

[chilepepper]

Lessons will be a good start. When practicing always hit at a target, don't just bash balls out there. You have a target for each shot on the course, have a target on the range. 

[danielS]

Golf is one of the best game.  It is such a challenging game, too.  And this is why we keep trying to improve and never give up. 

I just have one suggestion.  Try to adopt One Plane Golf Swing.  This will eliminate so many problems and issues in Swing of Golf. 

Good luck and I hope you will enjoy the game of Golf even more. 

Thanks.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

I heard, or read, this the other day. Wish I knew who said it, but I don't. Maybe someone else can clarify. It goes, something like, "If you watch it, it's a sport. If you play it, it's a game. If you work at it, it's golf!"

Maybe, unbeknownst to you, you have embarked on a life long adventure, since there is not a single soul in the history of mankind who has ever "conquered" golf! 

[alienator]

As a Fairly new golfer that's progressing nicely (played about 18 months went from shooting 120+ scores to average score 85 for the past month with low round of 80) here is some of my advice for brand new golfers. Ive been meaning to make a youtube video of this because frankly I think golfers that have been playing a while have kind of forgotten some of the struggles of a new golfer because I know I am not the only one to go through these.

1. Dont fall for the advertising hype. Ive bought and tried so many clubs with the thought it would make me better because this club is more "forgiving" than that club ect. Luckily for me Im lefty and gear can be had very cheap on ebay or I could have bought a house with all the crap I have tried. All clubs are so close in line anymore there really is not much of an improvement from one to the next withing reason. Now a 15 year old driver vs a brand new one there will be differences but a 5 year old vs a new one, you wont notice no matter what people tell you. Im not saying gear doesnt make any difference but just it doesnt make "that much" difference, so spend your money on lessons and green fees not new gear.

2. Dont wait too long to take a lesson. The longer you wait the more bad habits you will have to fix. Sure you can play and play to great standards without ever taking a lesson, but you can also improve your swing more in one hour long lesson that you can in an entire year of trying it on your own, TRUST ME on this one haha. Ive watched hundreds of hours of youtube videos trying to fix this and that and a good instructor made such a huge difference in just three lessons I seriously dropped nearly 20 strokes in less than a month. I only wish I had taken a lesson sooner because it made the game soo much easier.

3. Dont swing too hard. The golf swing is a nice fluid motion, when you really try to swing hard you tense up and actually swing slower, keep yourself nice and loose and free flowing.

4. This goes along with number 3 and this was my AHA moment, I seriously went from hitting 10-15% greens in reg to 40-50% overnight by just doing this. Hold the club nice and loose through the entire swing. I like to feel like its going to fall out of my hand almost on my backswing because you will grip it tighter on the downswing anyways but that way its still a loose maneuverable swing. Loose hands allow the clubface to close and work properly and help gain a lot of swing speed and momentum.

5. Take half back swings. Take the club halfway back and really concentrate on contact and finishing on the toe of your trail heel. A lot of coaches think that one of the biggest things amateurs mess up is taking too long of a backswing and I believe its true. You can be in perfect position and the take the club back just a bit too far and knock everything out of position.

6. Dont get caught up in distance it will come, I hit every club I had about 100 yards when I started 9iron through driver, they gradually started to spread out in distance over the next couple of months.

7. Everything is opposite. It seemed like to me every time I thought something was happening for this reason I would find out it was completely opposite of what I though, this will sound funny until you have been playing a bit and fix a few things and you will know exactly what I mean and it will make learning things from there on out a lot faster.

8. The most important one of all! Dont think of anything above or anything else for that matter when you are hitting the ball. Your brain cannot think about all kinds of swing thoughts in the short time you are taking a swing. You cannot be consistent while thinking about anything, the only way to have a consistent swing is to think about nothing. When you practice swing you can think about anything you want but when its time to hit the ball just clear your mind of all thoughts, relax and swing and let your subconscious do the work. If you find this difficult to do then simply pick one thing to work on and only think about that one thing, if you dont you will over think it and never get anywhere. Once you fix that one issue move on and try the next.

A good trick to keep a free mind and a relaxed body is to take a tee and put it between your front bottom and top teeth. Concentrate on not biting down on the tee through your entire swing. That will free your mind to swing and will keep your body from tensing up as well.

 

 

Thats all I can think of at the moment, I dont think any of that advice is too advanced for a beginner and if any of it doesnt make sense it will at some point real soon. If you turn out to enjoy the game 1/2 as much as I have you better prapare for other areas of your life to suffer haha. 

[golfmoor]

On 6/30/2016 at 7:10 PM, alienator said:

As a Fairly new golfer that's progressing nicely (played about 18 months went from shooting 120+ scores to average score 85 for the past month with low round of 80) here is some of my advice for brand new golfers. Ive been meaning to make a youtube video of this because frankly I think golfers that have been playing a while have kind of forgotten some of the struggles of a new golfer because I know I am not the only one to go through these.

 

Im finally back..lol. I had Quit. Seriously, i had raged quit on this game shortly after making my last post. Left a bucket of balls on the driving range and headed for home...lol.   

Ok, i started back last week.  My main problem is i couldn't get any lift at all. Not with the driver, hybrid or irons. I was hitting consistent 1 foot off the ground line drives.  I couldn't figure it out.  What i did was found some golf tips about lift and found out what i've been doing wrong.  

1.First, my ball lie wasn't proper at all according to the type of club i was using. I learned where to place the ball relative to my stance and the type of club i'm using.

2. Second, i learned that my club alignment wasn't proper. My heel was meeting the ball before the toe.

3. Third, the angle of my club when addressing the ball wasn't proper. I was meeting it too flat and not taking in consideration the angle that was engineered into the club.

4. Fourth, i found a tip where i learned to finish my swing with my chin rear of my club on follow thru. In other words, i learned to properly start and finish behind the ball. I actually bend my torso a little to line up behind the ball.

5. Like you said above, i learned to relax and not be too tight. I can actually tell beforehand if my swing is gonna be bad because of how i feel settling into everything. 

I'm also a lefty. I'm using a 10 finger baseball grip. I don't believe my grip is a issue. Today i hit 75 balls. About 15 of them had proper lift and direction toward the flag. About 5 had the proper lift but were sliced. I don't care about the slicing just yet.  The rest where the usual, horrible, thin shots.  Had a couple of fat shots, but hitting it thin is my main problem.  Once other major thing that i forgot to check on today was the angle of my club shaft itself on my swing. I don't know if my hands are getting too far forward or not. I lucked up and found a guy who wants to give me some lessons. He has been playing since he was a child.  I'm gonna take what i learned on my own, let him look at it, and go from there.

Edited September 7, 2016 by golfmoor