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Five Essential Golf Tips for Beginners

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Five Essential Golf Tips for BeginnersGolf is such a popular game for a variety of reasons, but one of the most significant is the simple fact that you can play it for practically your entire life. Given reasonable physical health, there is no reason why you can’t play golf well into your retirement years, all the while enjoying the fresh air, camaraderie, and physical exercise that is has to offer. In fact, many younger people get into the game of golf with the intention of playing more and more as they age.

If you are fortunate enough to have started from a young age, you will be well ahead of the curve, readily acquiring the basic skills that you need as you progress forward. Even if you aren’t a great golfer, learning as a kid helps you to understand the basics, and hold your own on the course.

But what if you didn’t start when you are young? What if you are already an adult and just now looking to take up the game? Not to worry – with a few tips and a little practice time, you can be up and running with the rest of the players on the course in no time at all. Follow these five essential golf tips for beginners to jumpstart your progress learning the game.

Beginner Golf Tip #1 – Find a Home Course

Getting comfortable on the golf course is one of the biggest challenges that new players face. It can be intimidating to play on a full-size course when you aren’t yet sure of your skills, and even more so if the course is crowded on a busy weekend morning.

This makes it all the more important to find a home course where you can play the majority of your early rounds. Why does this help? Two reasons – first, it will allow you to learn the ins and outs of the course, playing it better with each passing round. You will be amazed at how much better you can perform on a course just through experience, even without improving your overall game. Second, you will have the opportunity to meet some people and make some ‘golf friends’ who you can play with and learn from. The game is much less intimidating when you know the people around you on the course, and you will be more likely to relax and have fun. Most important, don’t feel intimidated playing with others who are better than you. Instead try to seek out opportunities to play with better golfers. Playing with experienced golfers will help you pick up the game faster as you watch and learn from their playing styles.

Beginner Golf Tip #2 – Get a Set of Custom Clubs

Clubs that are modified specifically for your body size and your swing will go a long way in helping you improve. When you try to learn the game with ill-fitting clubs, you are making it even harder than it needs to be. Golf is a challenging game under the best of circumstances, don’t add to the degree of difficulty by playing with clubs that don’t work for you.

NOTE: This doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune on your next (or possibly even your first) set. If you are just starting out, you probably don’t want to invest a large sum of money until you are sure you are going to stick with it for the long-term. You can find a more affordable set of clubs, or a used set, and have them customized at a golf shop to fit your needs. Additionally, more and more major golf equipment manufactures are providing free fitting services through many local retailers. It’s not unheard of to pick up a fitted set of irons for $500 or less. The key is to do your homework and shop around a bit.

Beginner Golf Tip #3 – Take a Few Lessons with a Pro

Just about every golf course in your local area likely has a teaching pro on staff, and you would be wise to work with them for at least a couple initial lessons. Golf lessons aren’t terribly expensive, and they can do you a world of good when it comes to getting started on the right foot with your golf game. Things like the stance and grip are fundamental elements that you don’t want to get wrong when you are starting out. By taking a lesson with a pro early on, you can be confident that you are performing the fundamentals correctly and will have solid foundation in place to build the rest of your game. Most importantly, investing in a few early lessons will help you prevent developing bad habits that are much harder to correct later on.

Many pros offer lesson series that are specifically designed with beginners in mind, so ask about that possibility. These series are sometimes taught in groups, which can be great for not only learning to play, but also meeting some other newcomers to the sport.

Check out our recent article and podcast episode on what to expect from your first golf lesson for more on this.

Beginner Golf Tip #4 – Do Drills at Home

While you would probably love to dedicate a significant portion of your schedule to learning this great game, that isn’t possible for most people. Real-life gets in the way a lot of the time, so you have to be creative in order to keep improving when you are away from the course.

One way to do just that is to work on some drills at home that will help you learn the basics of the swing. Both of the drills below can be done quickly, and you don’t even need space to swing a club.

  • Posture in Front of the Mirror: Now that you have taken a couple lessons and understand what good posture looks like, work on it in front of the mirror at home for a few minutes each day. All you need to do is pretend that you are holding a club, get into your stance, and hold it for a few seconds. While you hold it, check your positions in the mirror and make sure everything looks good. You want to make your stance feel as natural and comfortable as possible, so the more repetitions you can do, the faster you will reach that goal.  By the way, believe it or not, Phil Mickelson swings lefty because he learned his swing “mirroring” other golfers. That, if anything should tell you the power of this simple drill.

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  • Towel Under Your Left Arm (Reverse for Lefties): Keeping your arms ‘connected’ to your body during the swing is important, and this drill emphasizes that. Get a small kitchen towel and place it under your left armpit (for a right-handed golfer). With the towel pinned under your arm, take some imaginary swings by holding your hands together, simulating a grip on a club. Try to complete the swings without letting the towel drop to the floor. If you can do that successfully, you will know that your arm path and swing plane are in good position for the next time you head out to the course.

Beginner Golf Tip #5 – Have Fun

Okay – so this one is a bit of a cliché and may even sound a little lame, but it’s true. All too often, beginning golfers get caught up in the details of learning the game and forget that it is recreation. The chances of you becoming a professional golfer are very, very slim – probably zero. So relax. Enjoy yourself, laugh at your mistakes, and celebrate when you hit a good shot. Most people have enough stress in their lives already, don’t add golf to the list of things you are worried about. Breathe in the fresh air, enjoy the beautiful green grass, and have fun playing one of the greatest games in the world!


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Nethan Paul
Nethan Paul
5 years ago

This is best result of my search. I am a golf player, obviously a beginner. I am looking for some simple tips for golf beginner.. I want to learn perfectly from the very beginning. So I am little conscious about primary learning. I agree with you. To increase my skill, I play with experienced golf player. I always take suggestion from professional players and observe their swing styles.

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