Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Keeping your head down is key. I'm a beginner too, and it's a hard thing to do.

I usually hit the ball like crap except for the one time I used my uncle's Nike clubs, all of which (except the 3 wood) I was hitting great. I don't know if that's just a coincidence or what, because I can't hit any other irons but those exact ones.

[Whitesox]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

What?

No one said drink a case and drive home. Just have a few beers out on the course and have some fun.

Take it easy.

I think he was joking, not sure though. If it was a joke, it was a very distasteful one about a very serious subject. Not something to joke about

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

I think he was joking, not sure though. If it was a joke, it was a very distasteful one about a very serious subject. Not something to joke about

Drinking and golf carting? This is something that needs to be addressed. It's not funny at all. I am 100% cereal.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

What I found out about the Driver is this...

This club, just step up, and swing hard and fast.

It finally clicked for me one day.
Itll click for you too.

But as for EVERY other club, take your time, swing nice and easy, and good things will happen

[wsu_gb23]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Yeah go ahead...And drive the cart. Kills millions a year. Countless times at the Oakway course...Drunks think it's cool to drive. Know what happens? They run right into the golfball washers and die.
Why dont you hand the guy a gun.

haha, you're not going to die driving a golf cart. I don't care how drunk you are!

[Heelfan71]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Take lessons before you get into bad habbits. Everything is important from the grip to the swing, how you stand. One thing is out of whack will ruin your shot.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Make sure you don't hold it like a baseball bat.

Interlock your pink fingers.

Do not use your right thumb(assuming you are right handing) to support the club. A lot of people want to align their thumb with the club so they are both in a straight line. It's MUCH better to have the thumb more on the left side of the club just resting there.

Some people like me like to interlock their pinkies, other have one resting on top of the other. It all depends on what feel more comfortable for you.


See how his thumb is off to the side.

[bgeno]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

I had a decent time. I was terrible, but I listened to what my buddy had to say out on the course and experimented with different things.

We were going to get this deal that the course has where you get 9 holes for 10 bucks after 6:30 p.m. When we got there--around 7--the Pro Shop was closed, so we went to where the golf carts are and the guy basically said that he couldn't give us a cart, but we we could go out and walk for free... so we did that.

There was no one behind us, so we were able to take our time and even hit 2 or 3 different balls on some holes, just for more practice.

We didn't keep score (but it would have been bad... lol), and we only got through 7 holes before we ran out of light. I was really slow at the beginning, then we started just hitting multiple balls on holes, so we COULD have gotten through 9, but I was happy just getting more practice and taking my time.


It was a gorgeous night, and I'd definitely go out again... especially for free...lol. I don't have the money for lessons or to golf too often. I don't even have my own set of clubs; I just used my friend's extra set.

Kind of a funny story...

We were hitting some balls at the driving range first. I was awful... I hate hitting from the platforms because I feel like there's no forgiveness if I want to hit an iron off the ground... no room to make a divot.

Well, I had the driver from the set of golf clubs and was hitting off the tee. I hit two balls... one was just a terrible worm-burner and the other sliced bad... haha. So I set up a third ball, one of the last in my bucket, and swung. Clean hit... made a ting and everything... didn't hit the ground at all. But the head flew off... hahaha... further than the ball in fact... lol. My friend said they found the driver in a sand trap a few years back, so it wasn't a big deal. And it really wasn't my fault. That driver hadn't touched the ground on a swing.

[mgoblue]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

What he said. Just Concentrate on hitting the ball straight and the distance will follow. Just dont try to crush the ball and hit it a mile, it will either go about 15 feet or it will go about 3 fairways over.

Quit spying on me while I'm golfing you stalker!

I inevitably overswing with my driver and it ends up slicing 3 fairways over. I'm much better at controlling my 3 wood.

I was getting more consistent with irons before I stopped playing (no one around here I know to golf with, and I picked up tennis as well).

Golf is fun though, practice definitely makes perfect.

[gbx34]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

How much would club length make a difference? I want from a graphite to steel shafts and standard steel is slightly shorter the graphite i believe. Sometimes i feel my clubs are to short for me. Would it be a night and day difference? I think it would have some effect to why i cant hit the ball.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Pack lots of beer. It'll get more fun as it goes along that way instead of the other way around.

Heh, that's how my Dad and I always do it anyway.

[sb24]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Well im glad you had fun. Seemed like you didnt take it to seriously which is important. Im just mad you got to play for free. Thats a hell of a deal even if you had to walk around.

Anyone ever wreck a golf cart? I know there are some crazy drivers out there.

[IndianBird]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

no one has mentioned etiquette yet....

these are things i see from beginners that drive me insane:

not allowing faster players to play through

hitting multiple shots from the same spot

not repairing ball marks on greens

if you can do those three things, the others around you will appreciate it

[bgeno]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Well im glad you had fun. Seemed like you didnt take it to seriously which is important. Im just mad you got to play for free. Thats a hell of a deal even if you had to walk around.

Ya, I was really happy about the price... lol. I was worried about paying a lot for something I would be so terrible at, but when he said we could walk for free, I felt SO much more comfortable and was just able to have fun and not worry about the money I put down.

I definitely didn't take it too seriously. I felt like I was there to learn and to go through some trial and error and the conditions were perfect considering there was no one else around us.

no one has mentioned etiquette yet....

these are things i see from beginners that drive me insane:

Oh, I was very concerned with etiquette. I told my buddy to make sure he informed me on everything. I had read a little about it online, but it's always different when you're actually doing the activity as opposed to reading about it.

not allowing faster players to play through

We were the last ones on our particular course apparently, but we definitely talked about letting people play through if they came up behind us... especially since we didn't have a cart so our pace was a little slow.

hitting multiple shots from the same spot

Again, no one was behind us, so we basically used it as practice and didn't have to worry about holding people up. On one of the last holes I just set up three or four balls on the fairway about 4 feet off the green and practiced chipping to the hole... judging green speed and how hard to chip was much more difficult than I anticipated. On our last hole I teed off two balls, neither of which were very good. We found a couple balls in sand traps on one hole, so we decided to play those too... lol.

not repairing ball marks on greens

I was never able to land on the green from a far enough distance to make a ball mark, so it wasn't really a problem for me... lol. But my buddy did show me an example of our to repair the ball marks with one of those plastic, two-prongued doo-hickeys. I did replace my divots throughout the course though... well, when I was actually hitting from the fairway... hahaha, which wasn't often.



Toward the end I started choking up more on my irons, and I felt like I had MUCH more control over my clubs... I'm short as it is, so I don't need a long club. I still need to remember to keep my head down and front foot planted, and I need to work on ball placement... and I've got some baseball habits I need to shake (front foot lift on backswing, a lot of hip movement, wrist snap), but I can definitely see myself getting better and actually enjoying golf more.

I had a putt of about 12 feet for bogey on a Par-4 but missed it... lol... it was funny that I was so excited for a bogey opportunity though.

[Matt10]

Re: Golf tips for an absolute beginner?

Keeping your head down or still is the worst advice unless you are putting. For all other shots, keep your eyes focused on the front of the ball (not behind) and when you swing, allow your head to ROTATE. This allows your entire upper body to rotate through the shot - which in turn helps the momentum of the clubhead build up speed.

Once you go the driving range a couple of times, start figuring out what your "go-to" shot is. Do you hit right to left (draw) or a left to right (fade)? Figure that out for now - later on worry about distances. Remember, the higher the clubs (SW, PW, 9 iron...etc) have more forgivness - so you can put a little "umph!" into it. The lower clubs (6iron,5iron..driver...etc) swing nice and easy.

Always let the club hit your back at the end of your swing - let the ball get in the way.

Pause at the top -- swing up...(think pause)...then swing down. Will do wonders for your tempo. Ball will go about 75% of the distance - but accuracy will be through the roof.

Have fun!!!