Simple Golf Tips for Beginners

Golf Tips for Beginners

If you are just starting out in golf, you need to start with basic, sound, simple golf tips for beginners. The biggest mistake I see is a beginner being taught advanced concepts before they even learn how to properly hold the golf club! This leads to frustration and quitting. If you want to achieve any level of enjoyment in golf, you must first:

Exercise Patience.

In his Little Red Book, the great Harvey Penick so beautifully describes how he taught players of all levels. One thing I got from every excerpt in the book is how patient and calm he was as a teacher. This energy or point of view was contagious! When you are in a calm, patient frame of mind, you become a better student and you allow your body to adjust and adapt to the unnatural movement that is the golf swing. So relax........

Set Up

The setup, or position before the swing begins, is very important. Jack Nicklaus, the greatest champion in the history of golf said, “80% of the swing happens before it starts”. And everyone, regardless of skill level, can set up perfectly! The set up includes the grip, posture, stance, aim and ball position. If you can master these components, you can play good golf! When you book a lesson with a PGA golf professional, ask, “What are we going, to begin with?” If he/she doesn’t emphasize the components of the setup, RUN!

Play Time Is Play Time.

There is nothing more unpleasant than playing golf with someone who is angry and rude! Golf should be enjoyed so enjoy! If you keep the attitude that you are there to have fun, your learning curve will accelerate and you will shoot better scores than you ever would while throwing clubs and playing the blame game. Remember, even Tiger Woods makes double bogeys and hits it into the trees. That kind of stuff ALWAYS happens! How you react to it will define you as a player. So play golf, love golf and enjoy golf! So, before you go out and learn the fundamentals of the game, make a decision that golf is fun. It is a game that requires patience and practice but ultimately, it is a game that is to be played and enjoyed.