Golf Tips for Beginners
If you’re thinking about getting into golf, first let me extend a heartfelt congratulations. This is one of the most engrossing and addictive sports out there, and it also happens to be one wherein the more effort you put in, the more results you see, with almost no cap or upper limit. It’s a sport that truly rewards perseverance and patience, and for that reason, it’s survived more than a hundred years and is thriving more than ever. You’re getting involved with one of the best things you’ll ever do.
That said, there are a few basic tips that every beginner should know. If you just head out to the green knowing nothing at all, then it’s likely that your first trip might be somewhat less than enjoyable and turn you off golfing altogether. To be sure that you get the most out of it, follow these suggestions.
Balance
By far, the most important thing you can do for yourself as a beginner is to make sure that you have proper balance when you’re at the tee. As you take your swing, be sure to approach the tee with a squared off body, and to leave the lead foot on the ground. This will help to make sure that you’re getting the proper rotation at the hips that is so vitally necessary to a good long drive. In fact, many beginning golfers will put a quarter on top of their lead foot to make sure that it’s staying as stationary as possible!
Height
One of the mistakes that most beginners seem all too eager to make is putting too much height on the ball. This is really easy to do with beginner level clubs as well, which have a sharply angled face on the club head to generate more loft than their more advanced counterparts. Certainly, it can be impressive to see a ball that you’ve just struck fly high into the air. However, this is a bad habit that you’ll want to address. You should focus more on putting distance behind the ball than height. After all, the higher the ball travels, the more susceptible it is to hooking or slicing. The goal to be had, instead, is a long, low flight that goes straight along the path that you send it rather than deviating.
Posture
One last thing to keep in mind when you approach the ball at the tee is to mind your posture. Many people look at the postures used in golf and think that they look somewhat awkward, but the fact is that a head-down posture is necessary in order to keep your eye on the ball as you raise the club up and behind your head. It’s really not very complex, however. The main points to keep in mind when developing your golfing posture are to keep your head still and your eyes focused on the ball, to keep the club head moving in a straight line so that the broad plane of the head hits the ball at a right angle, and to relax your muscles. Tensing up too much before the swing is an invitation to sure disaster.