It is definitely easier to learn golf if you were younger of age. However, it’s not difficult to get hold of the golfing games even if you are an adult beginner. There are quite a few golfing tips for mid-aged persons who just started and trying to learn how to play golf.

I began my golfing games in my mid twenties. I started just playing nine holes occasionally; shooting in high 50s. I worked hard on my short game and slowly progressed to eighteen holes. After a couple of months, I hit the green before and after a round. I was finally able to break 100. I soon realized I had some inconsistencies in my swings when I was playing on the green, I then took on some golf lessons, which I will mention later in this article.

Let me give you a few golfing tips which you can take home and start practicing immediately.

Firstly, tweaking your grips will help you improve your swinging consistency which will lead to knock off a few strokes. I suggest you do this at the range. Secondly, consider hitting the range hard so you may strengthen your golf muscles and senses. That will increase flexibility. Do not just hit ball after ball after ball. Aim at targets and improve your focus. As a general rule, do not hit any club more than 3 times in a row. Thirdly, when you golf, slow down and do not look up. Focus on the ball, see the ground after you hit the ball and eventually look at the ball.

Club fitting will help as well. As for choosing appropriate golfing clubs, it depends on your build, it is not an one size fit all scenerios. If you think you want to play first before the lessons, look in the newspaper and you can find some fine but inexpensive (about $100) golf-clubs.

The most important thing before you go out and spend too much money for new clubs is to try and figure out if you will really like the game. The game is very complex and not very easy to learn. The only way even as and adult learning the game, you have to know how to start from the beginning. Get a professional golf instructor will get you off on the right foot. With strokes and clubs and learning the game right.

If you take a few lessons from a teaching professional. That person will teach you the correct grip, stance, swing and so forth. My suggestion is that you don’t learn golfing from your friends. Your friend may be an excellent golfer but he or she has his or her own faults in game. It is important that you start off with the right foot.

It is important that you learn properly in the early stage of the game, because once you form some bad golfing habit, it’s difficult to unlearn. You can find golf instructors that are very reasonable in your local community. Or, you may actually learn golf online easily , as supportive private forum is usually included with these online tutorials, which usually come with video training guide, which makes learning golf an enjoyable process. Most importantly, take on a lot of practice what you learn.

By: Roy Chan

About the Author:

Golf requires a great deal of skill, mental discipline and patience to be good at it. You need to have good hand-eye coordination, stability, athletic function and be a creative thinker. You can search for all the best golf tips and endure endless numbers of golf lessons but you still can’t seem to create any consistency.

There are a lot of people today who play golf just for recreation and have fun. But more and more serious players are attempting to gain a better swing and improve their game. The issue with golf is that it is a very difficult game to conquer and you most likely do not have much time to play or practice. The pros who play golf for a living and receive the top rated golf instruction still struggle and they work at it every day!

If you are like the majority of average golfers, you want to play better and not hack around. When a round of golf is played poorly, it is not much fun. What does this mean?

Does this describes YOU?

You play golf 3-5 times/month and have never broken 90 or 80

You don’t know how to shape the ball (fade, draw, general trajectory)

You have too many three putts per round

You hardly ever hit greens in regulation

You have trouble getting up and down when you miss a green

A birdie is a rare occurence

You hit and hope the ball will go where you wanted it to

Or maybe, you are a more experienced golfer and usually score in the low or mid 80′s often but that’s it

If you can relate with any of these conditions of a poor golfer, it’s about time you did something about it. Nobody should have to play poor or frustrating golf.

YOU shouldn’t settle for poor golf because:

Habits that cause poor golf only get worse if you don’t do something to change them and good habits will help.

You could be wasting money on rounds of golf because they turn out to be just an expensive practice round!

Golf really doesn’t need to be so confusing and frustrating. If you find an easy way to break 80 you would have fewer gray hairs, stress and frustration.

Golf can be so much more fun if you can shoot in the 70′s than it is in the 80′s, 90′s and 100′s.

It really makes no difference whether you want to shoot par or break 100. The methods, approach and instruction in this learning center will allow you to achieve a lower handicap sooner rather than later. If you can find confidence in your game and swing and achieve consistency, it will be more than just another sport. It will be an achievement of a goal. Information from NGT Research states that, there are over 60,000,000 golfers in the today and more than 50% of them will never break 100 and only 33% will break 90. BUT listen to this- only 5 % will break 80. That’s 3 million golfers out of 60 million.

Do you want to be part of that 5% or the 33% shooting under 90, if you do then you need some help and this article is here to direct you to a place where you will find the help you need to play better golf.

By: Ricky Gee

About the Author:

Would you rather hear what you need to learn from someone who is already an accomplished golfer? Would a few hours with Jack Nicholas REALLY help your game? “Just do what I do, it’s easy!” Or would you rather learn from a beginner, who understands the struggles, the small improvements and remembers those early changes that lead to greater success?

It almost makes sense, doesn’t it? The best coaches are often mediocre players, and the worst coaches were stars, who had everything come easy to them. Natural ability is hard to teach to others! As a beginning golfer, I have noticed some dramatic improvements, though, and wanted to pass them along to other beginning golfers.

First, the drive. To many of us starting out, it seems to be all-important. I have had instructors tell me that if you can hit the ball 150 yards, that you can work your way down any length of hole in about 3 shots, chip on and putt in, and play bogie golf without ever hitting a John Daly type 300 yard plus drive. As beginners, all we see is the big drives, the pressure, people watching us tee off, and understandably we want to be able to pound the ball!

What I’ve learned is that you can cut back on the swing to almost a half swing, hockey slapshot type thing, and increase the accuracy, with a small reduction in distance, until you are more comfortable with the swing. Also, a friend helped me with the description of coming “inside-out” with the swing. While that sounds complicated, imagine holding your back hand (I’m a left handed golfer) tight to your body and swinging through the ball and outwards after contact – straightened out my ball flight and increased distance.

Lessons seemed to boil down to getting into the same position, and swinging smoothly and evenly making sure the club is flat at contact – try swinging at the driving range – not to hammer the ball, but try swinging with virtually NO effort, then 20% 40% 60% etc. Get comfortable with a straight line of whatever distance, and KNOW how far each club will take you. If you need 100 yards, say, it doesn’t matter if you get that with a pitching wedge or a 5-wood, as long as you can get it accurately there!

Pitching (from under 100 yards) and putting are the majority of the strokes, the easiest area to improve your game, and if you’ve ever played with a senior, they can be outdriven from the tee, but play so solidly from there onwards, with straight, accurate shots – you can’t beat them!

Makes you rethink the wisdom of working on that booming drive, huh? The majority of time should be spent practicing the 100 yard and shorter shots – which inadvertently improves the overall stroke and technique, and makes the drives better over time!

Practice shooting 10, 20, 30 etc yards, and have the short chip down pat. Then work on putting – NOT trying to sink the putt, just to get the ball to within a club length of the hole – from ANYWHERE on the green. When you have mastered the ability to get the ball close like that, then work on the short 2 footers – almost from the start you’ll find that you can get the majority in.

THAT’s the secret – the drive doesn’t matter, the next shot is OK, but the one that gets the ball TO the green is crucial! Then if you can putt to withing a very close area of the pin, and make THOSE easy putts – you’re a bogie golfer – TA DAAA!

Wait, there’s one more thing – the mental part of golf. If you have a certain ability, how come you see flashes fo greatness on some days, and flashes of needing to break your clubs on others? Same guy, same equipment, different results? THAT is the mental part of golf – and it becomes more and moe important as you master the basic strokes and techniques.

At the beginning stages of golf, you are thrown off by worrying about what others think – it feels like people are watching your drive, partners are evaluating your game, people are seeing if you can play golf well, etc. The answer to this is that everyone started off as a beginner, and VERY few people can play below 90s golf. Basically, we all suck! Take the pressure off of yourself for the first 20-50 games, and you will have the routine ingrained, the swing will be solid, all will work fairly well – under pressure or not.

Relaxation, and realizing that golf is a game against YOURSELF, are the keys. You can’t play a real tournament against another golfer until you shoot in the 70s – so don’t let that enter your head – try playing alone – you can – very early or very late – or with total strangers as a walk on.

Over time, you WILL get better – visibly, noticeably. Try playing a few days in a row, or a series of days either playing golf or practicing. Practice makes perfect – especially the short game that is ignored by the majority pounding shots into the darkness at driving ranges – work on the touch, the feel, the magic ability to get 25%, 50% or 75% shots, to control the distance.

Most of all, relax and enjoy the walk, the scenery, remember the things that went WELL – and move on from the ones that were duffed, hooked into the trees, or when you putted back and forth across the green like a madman – they all happen – to ALL of us – even Tiger Woods (every now and then). The trick is to concentrate on making the NEXT shot, the NEXT hole, the NEXT practice or game – be your very best. There’s no going back and reshooting that shot that went into the water! Forget about it and calmly, confidently move on.

Your best games, your best shots will occur when you have a calm, confident feeling, feeling that you are just repeating what you’ve practiced, and easily accomplished in the past. Look at the grin on Tiger’s face as he sinks a putt and pumps his fist – this game can be FUN!!

By: Andrew Larder

About the Author:

When you’ve given as many golf lessons as I have, it doesn’t take much thought to figure out that slicing is golf’s most common swing error. In fact, many weekend players who attend my golf instructions sessions for the first time slice, with both men and women slicing about the same amount. And they all want to know one thing when they first come to me: How do I cure my slice?

Curing your slice isn’t easy, especially if you’ve had it for a long time. You’ve ingrained the swing fault in your muscle memory and making changes to it will feel uncomfortable and strange. But the benefits of slicing less far outweigh the costs. Hitting straighter shots more consistently not only keeps you on the fairway, it also cuts strokes from your golf handicap because it produces better approach shots.

Causes Of A Slice The causes for a slice are well documented in magazines and often discussed in golf lessons. Four things trigger a slice:

1. Upper body turns too soon

2. Hands are too high at impact

3. Upper body outraces the club on the downswing

4. Grip end gets too far in front of the clubhead at impact.

These errors leave the clubface open at impact-a major swing error. How major? Recent research by one club manufacturer indicates that a club with an S flex shaft with 9.3 degrees of loft and the face open at impact about 2 degrees results in a shot that finishes 16 degrees off the target line. Obviously, you must get the clubface square at impact to hit the ball straight.

Slices and Cures Let’s look at the four most common types of slice and consider four drills you can practice to help cure your slice. Your divots will tell you what kind of slice you have.

1. Opening Up Too Soon (The Pull Slice) This is perhaps the second most common slice type. Its generated by your right shoulder moving out and over on the downswing, causing the clubface to come into the ball on an outside-in swing path. Your hands sensing that the club is coming from the outside hold the clubface open to the path, resulting in a pull slice. With iron shots your divot points left of target.

Drill: Hit practice balls with your back foot moved back a few inches from the target line and your heel down. Swing the club back making a full shoulder turn. The idea is to feel as if you’re swinging the club primarily with your arms and shoulders through impact. Let your body respond to the swinging of the arms and the releasing of the clubhead.

2. Handle Too High At Impact If your hands are too high at impact just before and through the ball, you’ll cause the clubhead to get stuck behind you. Often this happens because the golfer tries to clear the hips too fast or doesn’t trust the loft of the club to get the ball airborne. Whatever the cause, you end up with a slice. There’s little or not divot with irons.

Drill: Take your normal address position. Have a friend hold a club so the grip hovers just above your hands. As you swing back and through your friend should keep his club’s grip end steady. Concentrate on letting your hand pass just under his club.

3. Body Outraces Club (The Push Slice) With the push slice your ball starts to the right of your target, then goes even farther right. Usually this means that your body outraces the clubhead. Some people call this a lunge. To compensate some people try flipping the club through the ball with their hands in an effort to square the clubface to the ball.

Drill: Use your driver or fairway wood. Tee the ball up. Take your address as you normally would but with your left leg positioned slightly inside the ball. Now stand only on your front foot. Swing the club back and through and try hitting the ball. Alternate hitting five balls on one leg, then with your normal swing. 4. Handle Too Far Ahead Of Ball Getting the handle too far ahead of the clubhead is probably the most common cause of a slice. The primary problem is back of forearms rotation. If you make a strong strike of the ball and it starts straight down the target line before curving to the right. With your irons the divot would be square to the target line.

Starting with knockdown pitches, rotate your left forearm (right-handers) during the swing so your left hand knuckles face the ground just after impact, with the clubface turning down. Let your right hand come off the club. Once you get the hang of this, use other clubs. This drill increases clubhead speed and squares the clubface for a straighter shot.

Keep in mind as you practice these drills that you may not want to turn your slice into a draw. Hitting a fade has its advantages, too. The key, regardless of the type of shot you develop, is hitting a dependable, more consistent shot that keeps you out of trouble and gives you control of the where the ball lands. The type of shot will cut strokes from both your scores and your golf handicap.

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author:

Golf lessons for beginners – are they really necessary? One of my ex-bosses would argue that all you need is an Internet connection and you can find out how to play golf online for free. On the other hand, it has to be said that he is quite a talented natural sportsman. Most of us just cannot learn a sport just by reading how to do it. We need someone to show us how.

Unlike many sports, there are actually professional trainers who give golf lessons for beginners. Some of these instructors are private trainers while others work for special golf schools. Obviously, a school offering group lessons will be cheaper than a private trainer. Yet getting your own personal trainer can give you a lot of personalized instruction and more flexibility.

Increasingly, we can find more and more online courses with very high quality video showing how to play golf. Are they useful? To some people, yes. These online video lessons offer the flexibility of personalized instruction and the price of group lessons. The main problem is that they lack interaction with the instructor. If you have a question or problem, how do you get it solved by a video? Of course, you cannot.

Many of us take up golf for fun, while others play golf for business. Regardless of your reason, the most important thing is to enjoy the game. On the other hand, if you keep on getting stomped into the ground by your golf buddies, you may want to take some remedial action. The fastest and easiest way to fix your problem is to find a golf professional and pay him to discover your biggest mistakes and fix it. This is not the same thing as getting personalized golf lessons as a beginner. You golf pro will play a few rounds with you to find out your worst mistakes, then set up some lessons to teach you how to correct your mistakes.

If you cannot find a good instructor to help you do this, then you will have to resort to the internet. For a start, you will need to know what your main problem is. Then you can look it up online. Hopefully, you will be able to find the solution for free. If your problem is more complex, you will probably have to buy an online course which targets your specific problem.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you cannot discover the cause or solution of your poor performance on the golf course. In this case, the problem could be more fundamental. Perhaps your basic golfing techniques are wrong. You may need to go through another round of golf lessons for beginners. In this case, an video course is probably your best option. You can look for a highly-rated course on Amazon, or just search the internet for an e-course. Amazon will offer you the better deal. The downside is that you cannot communicate with the person who is demonstrating the techniques in the video. An online course, on the other hand, will normally have some way for you to ask the instructor questions – normally be email.

By: Godfrey Swain

About the Author:

I usually talk about lightning in golf lessons and golf tips because it’s important. Lightning claims more lives every year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined, according to some reports. That’s a lot of people. And golfers with their hand held lightning rods, as I mention in my golf instruction sessions, are as likely to be killed as anyone, unless they’re careful.

How deadly is lightning? If you’re hit by lightning, you probably won’t get another chance to lower your golf handicap. A typical shock from lightning sends several thousand amps through your body in an instant. Unfortunately, it takes only two amps to stop your heart. So your chances of surviving after being struck by lightning aren’t good. That’s why you should know exactly what to do when you’re on the course and lightning strikes.

Here’s a short golf instruction session on what to do.

Get off the course immediately

If you see lightning or hear thunder, even in the distance, get off the course immediately. Squalls and thunderstorms bearing lightning move quickly sometimes. Before you know it, they’re right on top of you, catching you unprepared. If you see trouble, get off the course instantly. Don’t worry about your clubs or the cart. Just get to shelter.

Find a dense wooded area

Don’t seek refuge under a lone tree. That’s extremely dangerous. Thickets of short trees, On the other hand, are relatively safe. Also, avoid isolated shacks, unless they are grounded with lightning rods. Many are not, so be careful. Don’t enter one unless you know for sure that it’s been grounded. One golfer who took a golf lesson from me was surprised to find out after a storm that the shack she took shelter in wasn’t grounded.

Fall to your knees

When caught in the open, fall to your knees. Lightning strikes the highest point in the immediate vicinity. So if you’re caught in the open and you think you’re going to be struck by lightning, go down to your knees. Get as low as possible, but don’t lie down. You want as little of the ground touching your body as possible. Lightning often travels through the ground

Take off you spiked shoes

Not many golfers who take golf instruction sessions from me wear metal spikes these days. But some do. If you happen to be one and you get caught on the course when lightning strikes, take your shoes off. The metal attracts electricity. You’re better off getting your socks wet than being hit by lightning.

Get rid of your umbrella

Most golf umbrellas are made of fiberglass, making them less likely to attract lightning. However, lightning will strike an umbrella occasionally, because lightning tends to strike the highest point in the immediate vicinity. Never carry an umbrella except during a light drizzling rain.

Stand away from your clubs

Stand as far away from your clubs as possible and never get caught holding one. Golf clubs are natural lightning rods, and nothing attracts lightning faster than a golf club. When Lee Trevino was hit by lightning at the Western Open in 1975, the same bolt hit Arnold Palmer’s golf club 40 yards down the fairway.

Stay away from water

Get as far away from ponds and lakes as you can. Water is a great conductor of electricity. If lightning strikes a lake or a pool, it can move through the ground and hit you where you stand. Remember few people are struck directly by lightning. It almost always strikes something near by and conducts through the ground.

Golf carts are not safe

Forget what you’ve heard about golf carts being safe during a storm. Rubber tires do not ground electricity. That’s a myth. It’s not unusual for lightning to bounce off a tree and go right through a car’s roof, killing the car’s occupants. Golf carts are even less safe. Lightning strikes the highest point on the ground and that might just be the top of your golf cart.

Avoid the green

This is one time on a golf course where it’s better to be in a greenside bunker than on the green. Greens are often a bit higher than the surrounding terrain, making them more likely to be struck by lightning. In addition, the flagstick is especially likely to be struck by lightning. So the last place you want to be is on the green. Forget what you’ve been told in golf tips about how bad it is being in a bunker. This time it’s good. Move to a greenside bunker and kneel down.

Newspapers publish stories about golfers being killed by lightning about 150 times a year. But lightning is much more dangerous than that. Follow the advice given above when lightning strikes and it’s a good bet your name won’t appear in one of those stories. We want everyone around to be able to take more golf lessons, read about golf, and continue lowering their golf handicaps. Be safe.

Copyright (c) 2007 Jack Moorehouse

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author:

Are you wondering whether a golf lesson or two would improve your golf? Maybe you hit the ball off the fairway too often, or you are just inconsistent, getting a par on one hole and a double bogey on the next. These are good reasons for having a golf lesson.

You might even be playing pretty well, able get round in 82-86, but just unable to break through into the 70s. Or you might be a complete beginner. Whatever the state of your game, having golf lessons may have entered your head.

Some people say: ‘I only play golf for fun, I don’t need golf lessons.’ Others might ask: ‘Are these pros any good at giving someone like me golf lessons? I mean they are all athletes, naturally good at sports, and they probably do things automatically without knowing why.’

Beginners: Go to the local pro

Let’s start at the beginning. If you are just taking up golf, or have been playing for less than a year you will benefit enormously from lessons. Almost any golf pro will be able to give you lessons to help you:

1.Grip the club correctly – this is the basis of all good shots

2.Stand in the right position when you address the ball – also vital

3.Show you how to swing the club up and down

Meanwhile, if you go to a driving range every so often with a 5, 6 or 7 iron – nothing longer, no woods – you can start to learn to hit the ball. But do not make a full swing! To start with, just stand with your feet together, and swing the club back with the arms only, then hit the ball.

Why do this? Because with this exercise you will start to train your muscles to find the ball and connect with the clubhead square.

So with some golf lessons and exercises in hitting, you will be on the way. The big question is whether having lessons will help you improve your game beyond basics.

Again, if you are a beginner I recommend a series of 10-12 lessons, spaced a week or two apart, depending how much time you get for practice – oh, yes, you need to practice when you are learning.

Not many top pros are good at teaching ordinary folk –

Beyond that, my experience with golf lessons has been mixed. You see, some pros are good teachers and some are not. Of course, if you had stacks of money, you could fly to see one of the world’s top teachers every week for lessons.

For most of us that is impossible, so we need a better way of getting golf lessons – and in most cases, th at is not your local pro. Quite frankly, some are good, some are not so good, and some play the game on automatic so they don’t really know how to put you right.

- But here’s a system that will work for you

Instead, I recommend some golf lessons that are designed around the ordinary golfer, who needs to have it explained in simple language and with simple demonstrations. I have been playing golf a long time – with a long lay-off in between – and can tell you that with these lessons make golf simple for any golfer.

You see what you want is someone to explain how to hit the ball 10 yards, or 20 yards form a bunker – not to tell you that you just have to judge it. Little tricks of the trade like this will form part of these golf lessons and will turn you into a much better golfer.

By: John Hartley

About the Author:

Like many of golf’s great players, Sam Snead relied on swing keys to help him achieve consistency. As his membership in golf’s hall of fame attests, these swing keys served him well during his career. What’s interesting is that many of them are still used by today’s pros to do the same thing.

Below are several time-tested swing keys that can help you achieve consistency and knock that golf handicap down a few notches.

1. Relax Your Hands

Your hands are one of the keys to your swing. If your hands are tight and tense, your body will be tight and tense, and you won’t be able to swing freely. If your hands are loose, you’ll not only hit the ball farther but you’ll even swing smoother as well.

Snead used to think of gripping the club with the same amount of pressure you’d use to hold a bird just firm enough to let it fly away but not firm enough to hurt it. Others think of holding a tube of toothpaste in their hands, just firm enough to squeeze a little toothpaste out of the tube but not hard enough to push out too much.

2. First Move Down

Different golfers key on different things to begin their swings. Some focus on pulling downward with the left arm (for right-handers). Others concentrate on turning the front hip in slightly. Still others key on lowering the left heel slightly. For Snead, it was all these things. Since you can think of all them at once while you swing, choose whichever move reminds you to make your first move down.

3. Hit The Dimple

A lot of my students ask during golf lessons what to look at when putting the ball. Apparently, a lot of people also asked Sam the same question when he was playing on the tour. He had a simple answer. Pick out a dimple on the ball and try to hit it.

The idea is to make the club strike the farthest back part of the ball every time. Zero in on that particular dimple, then putt away. If you hit that dimple squarely your putter is probably moving and facing in the right direction. You’ll get solid contact unless you’re chopping at the ball or swing up to it. Aiming for the dimple will improve consistency.

4. Cure The Slice

The slice is probably the biggest swing fault among recreational golfers. To cure a slice, check to see that:

The club starts back inside the line

Your left side is completing the turn

The left arm/hand dominate the backswing/downswing

The stance is not the same for the intentional slice, hindering a complete pivot.

For a quick cure, try hitting the ball to the right of the fairway. This approach aids in bringing the club into the ball more from the inside than the outside.

5. Lobbing to the Green

Snead always relished a challenge. And trying to hit a lob shot over a hazard to the green is a challenge. Snead’s advice when pitching over a hazard with little green between him and the hole was simple: You want the shot to fly high and land soft-one that will settle in its tracks. To execute this shot, you first need to address the ball with the clubface laid back more than usual, increasing the loft.

Once you’ve done that, take the club straight back and break your wrists early in the swing. Strike down through the ball with the hands leading through the clubhead, and with the wrists snapping into the ball. This produces a high lob that lands softly. The whole swing should be leisurely and rhythmical.

6. Swing in “Waltz” Time

Everyone has his or her own pace. Some golfers play at a fast pace. Others play at a more leisurely pace. If you had seen Sam play, you would have noticed that he always swung the club slowly and smoothly. He called it swinging in waltz time and that was his swing key for keeping his swing under control.

Sam liked to tell the story of the time he gave a lesson to player who played like he was going to a fire. He couldn’t get at the ball quick enough in an effort to try and hit the ball 400 yards. The divots were flying father than the balls. Afraid the guy might hurt himself, Sam stepped in and told the guy to slow his swing down. Next time Sam saw the man, he was amazed. The man had slowed his swing down to waltz time.

Sam Snead was one of the games best players and teachers. Like many golfers he used specific keys to trigger his golf swing and achieve consistency. The six we explained above were just a sample. By incorporating them into your swing, you’ll be well on your way to reaching that single-digit golf handicap you’ve always wanted.

Copyright (c) 2006 Jack Moorehouse

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author:

There is little doubt that golf lessons from a PGA professional or an experienced and qualified Instructor will improve the swing of almost any golfer. Such lessons will also reduce the amount of time that it will take for any golfer to improve their swing. To ensure such improvement however, the golfer should be serious about the game and not approach it as a onetime effort. It could be assumed, that if the golfer is willing to spend anywhere from $30 to $100 per lesson or more, that the golfer is serious. Such however is not always the case.

Tip #1
Before taking the lesson, the beginner should ask a very basic question: Why am I taking this lesson? Honest answers can range from:
1. My Mom wants me to take lessons and she is paying for them.
2. My Dad wants me to become a golf pro.
3. I want to lose some weight and golf looks like a good way to do so.
4. I need to get some exercise and golf is an option.
5. I want to meet new people and I don’t want to look like I know nothing about the game.
6. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.
7. Many other possible answers, too diverse and too numerous to list.

Armed with an honest answer, the beginner should tell the Pro/Instructor up front, why s/he wants to take this lesson. And the beginner should volunteer this information, even if the Pro/Instructor does not ask. The reason is that when the Pro/Instructor has an idea of the golfer’s goal for the lesson or for golf, the Pro/Instructor will tailor the lesson accordingly.

As an example, if your goal is simply to look like you know a little about the game, the Pro/Instructor will walk you through the entire swing from grip to follow through so that you have some basic knowledge of the game. If, on the other hand, you want eventually to become a golf Pro, the Pro/Instructor will spend considerable time on the grip and the address, the stance and posture, knowing that you will be back for your next lesson and for reinforcement of the basic but very important aspects of the swing. Whatever your reason, you will get the most from this first lesson by telling your Pro/instructor the motivation behind your lesson.

Tip #2
Regardless of why you are taking your first golf lesson, you will do yourself much good if you will spend $10 and buy the paperback version of Ben Hogan’s, Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. If you can, read the book cover to cover, prior to your first lesson. It will take less time to read this masterpiece then it would take time to drive to and from the lesson center and spend your first hour with the instructor. You can be assured that the Pro/Instructor is well aware of Hogan’s book and there is an excellent chance that the Pro/Instructor uses it as a basis for her/his lessons. The book is that highly regarded and utilized throughout the golfing world.

This tip will save you the cost and time for at least two lessons. If you are new to the game, the Pro/Instructor will start with your grip and posture, just as Mr. Hogan does. So now that you already know how to grip a club and address the ball, the Pro/Instructor will simply be reinforcing that which you already know. The reinforcement will help cement the learning points and you have saved yourself the time and money it would have cost for you to learn these basics.

Tip #3
Unless you have a “steel trap mind” it would benefit you greatly if you were to take notes on the key points offered by the Pro/Instructor. It might even be beneficial for you to bring with you, your copy of Hogan’s book. You can jot your notes in the book and you can earmark those pages or highlight the key points within the book that the Pro/Instructor emphasizes. Do not hesitate to ask the Pro/Instructor exactly where or what in the book, is being emphasized.

Tip #4
Armed with what you remember from the lesson, your notes and Hogan’s book, it will add greatly to your first lesson if you now practice that which was offered. Short periods of practice, like ten minutes per day will prove to be more beneficial than one day of 60 minutes of practice. The consistent golf swing is one of muscle memory. Muscle memory takes many repetitions of the desired aspect of the swing to become memorized and ultimately performed from the unconscious.

Golf is not an easy game. And most professionals will say that there is no such thing as a natural swing. In fact, many aspects of the swing require unnatural bodily movements. Thus, any practice of the key points offered in your first lesson will pay large dividends in the long run. Enjoy your lesson, go back for more, do not expect perfection, and enjoy every round you are able to play. As good as Tiger Woods is, he also says: his swing is “a constant work in progress.”

By: Bob Doyle

About the Author:

When it comes to the swing, my golf instruction hinges on a simple idea: The swing is a chain reaction. What occurs at the start of the swing influences what happens at the end. If you execute the takeaway and backswing properly, youll hit the ball with accuracy and power. If you dont, youll hit the ball off-line and with little power.

A proper takeaway is critical to a good swing. Like the catalyst in a chain reaction, the takeaway starts everything in motion, as I stress in my golf tips. It introduces width and coordination in the swing, and determines the quality and shape of the shot. In fact, many experts consider the first 30 inches of the takeaway the most crucial point in the swing.

A one-piece movement starts the takeaway. To achieve this, sweep the club back low and slow as your left knee, hip, and shoulder turn to the right. Shift your weight slightly onto the right foot (for right-handers), creating the feeling as if the move was all arms. And hold your chin up as you take the club away to allow for a full left shoulder turn.

Here, some golf instruction differs on the position of the left heel. No hard and fast rules state that it should remain planted during takeaway. Youre free to lift it if you have to. I recommend in my golf lessons that you keep it planted as long as you can, creating resistance in the swing. However, if your heel must come up to complete the body-turn, then by all means lift it. It all depends on how flexible you are.

Also, keep your wrists passive until the club reaches the height of your right hip. Cock your writs at this point as you complete the body turn, forming a right angle between the shaft and the left forearm.

This is a good checkpoint. If your wrists form a 90-degree angle and the club is on plane, your takeaway has been sound.

Continue turning your arms and body until youre at the top of the swing, or in the slot. Your weight is on your right foot and your club is as close to horizontal as possible. Both thumbs are under the shaft.

Next comes a key transition point, one that I really focus on in my golf lessons. It needs to be smooth and unhurried, so dont rush it. If you do, your swing will be come too narrow.

Many tour players and players with low golf handicaps employee Harvey Penicks Magic Move at this point. Its ideal for beginning the downswing. And its simple.

At the start of the downswing, shift your weight gradually to the left side while, at the same time, bringing your right arm closer to your body. Thats it. Its a subtle but highly effective move.

The Magic Move flattens out the swing plane slightly, putting it on the ideal position from which to swing the club on the optimum path and deliver the clubhead squared to the ball with power.

The rest of the downswing is basically a reaction to what has come before. Retain the 90- degree angle between the left forearm and club as long as you can. Keep the flex in your knees and the gap between them as the club comes down. And settle your weight gradually on the left side of your body. Finally, make sure you keep your body behind the ball at impact.

At this point, if youve executed the takeaway and downswing properly, youll return to the same position you assumed at the start of your swing. The rest of the swing should follow naturally.

A good exercise to practice when you cant get to a driving range is the tire drill. Its one I sometimes use in my golf lessons.

Take an old tire and line it up where the ball should be in your swing. Then take a club, assume your normal set-up. Execute the takeaway and downswing, hitting the tire instead of the ball. Substitute a golf bag for the tire, if you want. Practice this drill as often as you can. It helps perfect the takeaway and backswing.

Your swing, as I said at the beginning of this golf tip, is like a chain reaction. What happens at the start affects what happens at the end. Practice the sequence detailed here, including Harvey Penicks Magic Move, and youre well on your way to developing a consistent, error-free swingand to a lower golf handicap.

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author: