Golf for Beginners

This is a hard one. Why can't you ask me something easy like how to build a house? Really, golf is one of those things that would seem like it's pretty easy - you just swing this thing at that little ball right? But in reality it requires a set of muscle memory skills that rivals any activity in sports. No, it doesn't require great strength or dexterity, but it does require consistency and precision on the very highest level.

Now, don't let me scare you off about golf. It's a heck of a lot of fun, even if you're not all that good at it. And really, anyone can learn to be fairly good at golf. Just keep in mind that there are some things that are easier than others when it comes to golf, and if you're serious about learning how to play golf you're going to have to learn it properly from the start. If you already started wrong, it's never to late to do it right.

The first thing most people do is the one thing you should never do. Don't go buy a new set of clubs, grab the driver and a bucket of balls and go flail around like a wild monkey attracting a mate. It's bad enough once you have some idea about what you're doing trying to learn to swing your driver, it's completely out of the question for the neophyte. Instead you need to buy a putter and go to the practice putting green for a while.

That's right, one club. We'll build the rest of the set later, and believe me, the driver will be last. Start with the smallest and easiest bit of the swing and work your way up to the big guns. It's a little like learning to fly in a glider first before hopping behind the seat of a jet. Besides, drive for show, putt for dough. Putting is where you will really take the biggest number of strokes off your game.

I once knew a guy that was just painful to watch from the tee box. And not just his driver, but all of his long and medium irons as well. He put his hands so far forward that everything he hit looked like a 2 iron and only went about 200 yards. That's pretty good for an 8 iron, but it shouldn't go that far, anyway, what I'm saying is that he was god-awful until he got within about 100 yards. From there on in, he was a freak. He always seemed to chip within a few feet, and I don't think I ever saw him three putt. As a result, he could play almost par golf even though it looked like he was driving with hoe or a shovel.

So when you are learning golf, just leave your driver at home for a few months. Take a putter to the practice range for a week, then add an iron and chip from the fringe and putt for another week. Then back up and chip from 10 yards, from the fringe and putt for the next week. Every week, move back another ten yards and get really good from short range first. The hole will begin to look about the size of a basketball hoop and you'll know that from then on all you have to do is get it relatively close and then it's over.