One of the first things that you need to do when starting golf is to make sure that you have a proper grip and stance. These are core fundamentals of golf, and should not be overlooked if you are serious about the game. You should grip the club mostly in the fingers and not the palms, and your stance should be shoulder width apart with a good spine angle.
After you have the proper setup position it is time to work on the backswing. The takeaway should be low and slow as this helps establish a good tempo in your golf swing. Tempo is key to success, and a solid takeaway will put you miles ahead of most people who are learning how to play golf.
What You Need to Know if You Want to Learn How to Golf Better
You will NOT learn how to golf better by buying the newest, most expensive golf clubs; buying dozens of golf swing aids; trying to copy a PGA Tour professional golf swing; constantly experimenting with different swing styles; changing from a blade putter to a belly putter, a long putter, a mallet putter, or a heavy putter.
The Best Golf Swing
To learn how to golf better, you need to understand that the best golf swing is your own golf swing. Sure, it is a good idea to learn the fundamental swing mechanics and techniques and to settle on one swing style, but do not get caught up seeking the perfect golf swing or trying to copy a Tour professional’ swing. The illusive perfect golf swing does not exist and is not important; what is important is making consistent and perfect impact with the ball. Just look at the many different swing styles on the PGA Tour – some are very unconventional looking but they get the job done, that is hitting the ball straight and long down the middle of the fairway.
As long as you get all the basic components right that are involved in the golf swing then you will have the foundation for achieving a good, consistent golf swing. Also, if you are a complete beginner or even a more seasoned golfer that is struggling with the traditional golf swing, I would highly recommend checking out The Simple Swing by David Nevogt; this is the same swing that I adopted several years ago that finally ended a couple of decades of frustration – the difference it made to my golf game was astonishing.
Golf Clubs, Golf Balls and Golf Aids
Golf Clubs: One of the mistakes that many golfers make is to buy the latest and greatest golf driver, hybrids, putters, and/or golf balls. They believe the marketing hype that these clubs or balls will make all the difference to their game. The golf clubs and golf balls manufacturers spend millions each year to convince golfers to part with their hard earned money to buy their latest offerings. Their reasoning is that because the technology is changing constantly, then they should upgrade to this year’s latest and improved golf equipment.
All I can say is that the golf clubs and balls that you choose have to be the right ones for your game. Make sure that the golf clubs are suitable for you; buy clubs with the correct shaft length, shaft material, flex, grip size, and head design for your game, physical attributes, and style of golf – you could try out some of the game improvement clubs that are available nowadays.
Golf Balls: The same goes for choosing the right golf ball for your game; you have to take into consideration the characteristics of each golf ball type; spin, feel, distance, and control. For, example, if your natural tendency is to fade the ball then you might want a ball with less spin because a higher spinning ball could result in a slice instead of just a fade.
Golf Aids: Although there are a few good golf aids available to help you with your golf swing, swing faults, putting, grip, etc., there are also hundreds of other golf aids that are a waste of money. If you have a persistent golf swing problem and you have tried all the conventional methods of trying to fix that fault, then there might be a golf swing aid that can help you overcome the problem. You should search online for as many unbiased reviews for the golf swing aid specific to your requirements to see what other golfers and professionals think about it before investing in one.
Playing golf can either be a rewarding experience or a very frustrating one, sometimes both together even on the same round of golf. That is what makes golf so fascinating as it can be a real challenge to pull all the components together all the time. If you are serious about becoming a good golfer or you want to learn how to golf better then you have to take into consideration all the areas involved in playing a good game of golf.
Apart from having the right golf clubs and balls for your game, and knowing the basic swing mechanics and techniques, there are other considerations as well. Golf is an all-round game so you need to learn and understand the metal game of golf; the importance of golf stretching, flexibility and fitness; and how to implement a proper golf practice routine.
Driving Range Practice
One of the major differences between a professional golfer and a recreational golfer is the amount of practice the pros put in. Even though you may not have that much time for practice, you should make the effort to get in some driving range practice at least.
Apart from driving range practice there are other ways to practice for golf. You can practice at home with a golf mat and golf net, with a golf training aid, and also you can practice while playing a round of golf if the course is not too busy.
Types of Driving Range
Hopefully, you have a driving range close to where you live or there may be one at your local golf course. Most driving ranges are just open grass areas with a row of hitting mats at one end. However, there are some that have the hitting mats under a protective roof that lets you practice golf even when it is raining. Others are floodlit, which lets you get in some practice time at night. All driving ranges should have yardage flags or markers set out every 25 or 50 yards which is useful for judging the distance of each club in your bag.
You will also be able to buy golf balls by the bucket; just remember though that these will be range balls or practice balls that have been well-used. They will probably not play like your regular golf ball but should be adequate for your driving range practice. There are different sized buckets, for example: medium bucket – 96 balls, large – 125 balls, jumbo – 205.
Driving Range Practice Tips
You can use a driving range for a number of types of golf practice; for trying to fix a swing problem, for gauging golf distances for each club, for improving your golf swing, for working on a specific type of shot like the draw, or for warming up before a round of golf.
Whatever type of practice you are doing, please bear in mind one thing. Do not do what the majority of recreational golfers do on a driving range: they buy a big bucket of balls, pull out their driver, and proceed to smash drives down the range with all their force. Even if you came to the range to fix a driver golf swing problem, this is not the way to start a practice session. This is why a driving range should be referred to as a practice range.
Instead, you should begin with a few stretching exercises without hitting a ball. Once you have warmed-up and stretched your muscles, you can then take a few practice swings but not a full driver swing. Use a medium iron and swing to only about 50 to 75% of your normal swing. You can swing the club back and forth in a steady rhythm to continue warming-up and stretching those golf muscles.
Now it is time to start a proper driving range practice routine. Begin with your wedges, then your short irons, mid irons, long irons or hybrids, woods, and finally finish with your driver. Even though you might start with a driver on the first tee, for driving range practice, you should gradually work your way up to using a driver.
There are a couple of reasons for this; first, with a driver you are using more force and putting your muscles and spine through more exertion than you are with a short iron. Second, in a round of golf you will be hitting more shots from within 100 yards than you will take with your driver. So, you should be putting more practice into your short game than you put into your driving.
Ideally, you will want to get a hitting mat that is in front of the yardage markers. This way, you can check how far you are hitting each club. This is necessary for good course management; you need to know how far each club can hit the ball. For example, with your wedges, you should use a full swing, three quarter swing a half swing. Aim towards the yardage markers and see where your ball is landing for each swing length.
Another important driving range practice tip is to treat each shot with the same respect as if you were on the course playing in a competition. Don’t just hit away, one shot after another until your bucket of balls is finished. You should go through your normal pre-shot routine, golf setup, and address position. Focus on each shot so that you make each shot count.
The final golf driving range tip is to not over exert yourself. With a medium sized bucket of balls holding about 96 golf balls, it is easy to go through them in an hour and a half. That would imply that you are hitting one ball every minute non-stop. This is not a good idea, even if you warmed up and stretched prior to your golf driving range session. You should take a break every so often and before starting again, do a few more stretches.
Driving Range Practice Summary
It is true that practice makes perfect but you have to know the best way to practice for golf. Hopefully, the next time you get some driving range practice time in that it will be quality practice time – don’t forget to practice your putting as well!