5 Simple Golf Tips For The Beginner
Hey guys, having once struggled through the basics myself I thought I would put something together for the beginner golfer. If you live in a colder climate like me then the season is just starting up! Here are 5 simple tips for the beginner golfer that will hopefully improve your game this summer.
Tip #1 - The Warm Up
Do you ever arrive at the course just in time for tee off? This is the first mistake almost all golfers make. Arriving even a half hour early leaves you time to check in, practice a few puts, stretch and even hit a few drives if possible. Here's a tip, try putting to a tee, or a penny instead of the cup itself, once you get to the course the cup will seem bigger compared to that penny you where nailing a half hour ago!
Tip #2 - Pre Shot Routine
Spend an afternoon watching the pros and sooner or later you'll notice that they all have a pre shot routine, trust me from Wood's to Daly, they all do it. I'll break the routine into 3 steps, Alignment, Grip and Stance, you're not worried about your swing yet.You want to stand behind your ball and look towards the target and then line yourself up. Holding the club face square you're stance should be inline with the target. Keep your body parallel and your eyes on the ball. With time your routine will become natural and you'll be on your way to consistency.
Tip #3 - Consistency
Now that you're warmed up and hopefully have a pre swing routine down you're ready to focus on that one thing golfers are forever challenged by, consistency. When starting out a steady controlled swing is key! Simply approaching the ball and slugging away won't do it, I've seen more then my fair share of hulks "crush" another one into the woods.A slower swing won't get you the farthest down the fairway but hopefully it will keep you in the fairway, once you can stay out of the rough stuff you can focus on a faster swing and more distance. There are courses online which claim to greatly improve your swing, if you're a visual learner this could be the answer for you.
Tip #4 - Hazards
My #1 tip for the beginner golfer is to stay away from the water, trees and sand. It took me a while to do this, but I eventually surrendered and in turn my game improved. At our level 10 out of ten times it's better to play it safe. There's nothing more frustrating then watching your ball wiz off into the trees or plop down in the pond... And don't get me started on the sand trap, hitting out of the sand can be brutal when starting out and requires proper technique to accomplish properly! Once you have better ball control and a pretty good judge of how far you can hit each club you can try to be the hero!!!
Tip #5 - Practice, Practice, Practice
Take lessons, ask questions, surf the net and read online. Practice what you learn and keep a little log, noticing improvement will be a huge confidence boost. When starting out a ratio of about 5 times at the range, to a round on the course will keep you on track.
I find that starting out playing 9 holes is a lot easier too. My game suffered on the last 5-6 holes because I would become tired, frustrated and that was no fun, once you can play a cool 9 move onto 18 and you will have a lot more fun.
I'd recommend checking out some of the golf lessons online too, such as The Simple Golf Swing by David Nevogt. This is a very good, step-by-step program for golfers of all skill levels who would like to dramatically improve their golf game.
Have fun on the course this summer and try to keep these five simple steps in mind.
By Bryan Peterson
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