What to work on as a beginner?

[Chumpalot83]

Hi all,

As some of you may know, I've just started playing golf :whoo: I have an unnoficial handicap of around 25 and what I'd call an OK swing. I'm not a complete duffer and have I think some natural ability (albeit a very small amount). I have a set of sticks that I think suit my ability perfectly and the willingness to put the time and effort in to get better, no matter how long it takes.

So, with that said, I'd like to maximise as much as possible my trips to the driving range and the local golf courses. I fully realise I'll be hitting duffers now and then, that's part of learning. What I want to ensure is that nothing creeps into my swing that could severley damage it in the long run. A bad habit that I may have now would be easier to iron out now, rather than a year down the line after I've invested time.

I know I need to post up a video of my swing. I'll get round to doing that at the weekend. I've been reading the feedback others get when posting their swings and I'm looking forward to the feedback.

Until then however, are there certain things I can practice and concentrate on rather than just buying 50 balls and smashing them all? I used to be in such a rush when I went to the range and rifled through each shot, it was just fun then, now things are different and I want to get something out of going.

Taking driving out of the occasion for the moment (that'll come later), what clubs are best to practice with? Is there a specific drill I can do when I'm next at the range to help me on the course? I have a few golf sticks which have come in quite handy so far for my shot alignment but I'm sure they can be used for other things too. Are there particular exercises I can do to help my swing movement/flexibility.

I hope that all makes sense? Hopefully you guys can offer some tips so I can improve my mental thinking as well as my swing.

Thanks in advance

David

 

[bobmac]

I would suggest you start with a 7 iron
2 of the biggest mistakes I see in golf are a poor swing path and a club face pointing the wrong way at impact.
If you can get those 2 things working together, you can worry about the other stuff later.
Sadly there's no substitute for practice so try and be patient.

 

[golfdub]

1st thing is to work hard on getting you posture and grip correct. you may think you have it sussed but even players of a mid handicap get it wrong because if this is wrong then its going to be a lot harder to get everything else correct as you started of wrong. iv been playing for a few years now and almost every shot i take i check my posture and grip.
then i would work on those shot around the green, i play with people every week who are only 30ft from the pin and then they chip it 20ft past the pin.
i have a close friend who has been playing for 2 years now nearly every weekend and still hits 30+ every round and he wont listen when people that tell him GET A VIDEO LESSON as you will learn 20x faster so get some lessons asap.
oh and enjoy

 

[garyinderry]

if you are able to, then sit around a green or practice green and use everything from 7 iron to your wedges just chipping from around 10 feet off the green. this is wheree you are likely to miss and learning how to get up and down from here is the key to getting your handicap down.

this may not seem as appealing as knocking 100 drives the range but it is 100 times more important. at any level really !

 

[Chumpalot83]

I would suggest you start with a 7 iron
2 of the biggest mistakes I see in golf are a poor swing path and a club face pointing the wrong way at impact.
If you can get those 2 things working together, you can worry about the other stuff later.
Sadly there's no substitute for practice so try and be patient.

Thanks. My pitching and irons down to 7 are pretty solid I'd say. Regardless of distance required or lie. It's where the least mistakes in my game are made. By mistakes I'm referring to sliced balls, toppers etc.. These are introduced when I'm using longer irons, especially 3 and 4 (though 4 has improved drastically in the last 2 weeks). My tee shots are quite frankly awful. I slice my driver shots hugely so I opt for a 3 or 4 iron...another story.

1st thing is to work hard on getting you posture and grip correct. you may think you have it sussed but even players of a mid handicap get it wrong because if this is wrong then its going to be a lot harder to get everything else correct as you started of wrong. iv been playing for a few years now and almost every shot i take i check my posture and grip.
then i would work on those shot around the green, i play with people every week who are only 30ft from the pin and then they chip it 20ft past the pin.
i have a close friend who has been playing for 2 years now nearly every weekend and still hits 30+ every round and he wont listen when people that tell him GET A VIDEO LESSON as you will learn 20x faster so get some lessons asap.
oh and enjoy

Thanks for the reply. I know for a fact my grip needs work. After 30 -40 balls my left hand seems to have gone into some sort of death grip, I have to stretch it out often. Definitely need to work on that. At the moment I'm interlocking, both thumbs on top.

I'll work on posting a video, front and side this weekend.

Thanks again for the replies.

David

 

[Chumpalot83]

if you are able to, then sit around a green or practice green and use everything from 7 iron to your wedges just chipping from around 10 feet off the green. this is wheree you are likely to miss and learning how to get up and down from here is the key to getting your handicap down.

this may not seem as appealing as knocking 100 drives the range but it is 100 times more important. at any level really !

Great advice, thank you. That's something I've actually been practicing on recently. I watched a few videos online on the chip and run. I've now learnt to use other clubs even right down to my 3 iron to get onto the green from those sorts of distances. Using the loft of the club to generate more/less ball roll on the green. I'm now using the same swing action I'd use for my putting, just trusting in the club more. Elimiating room for error in the process.

Before with the PW I was actually guilty of slowing my swing down on the downswing which would result in all manner of shots. I'd often shoot through the green or not hit it hard enough.

 

[garyinderry]

i would get rid of the 3 iron for the minute. i watched quite a lot of "in the bag" videos of the pros this week. a hell of alot of them dont carry 3 iron anymore. find a nice hybrid instead. it was even quite refreshing to hear the likes of padraig harrington saying that he has whats described as a game improver 4 iron to help him hit that club.

he wasnt the only one! plenty of them have this kind of set up. they only put the 3 iron in when its really windy or playing links golf.

 

[Chumpalot83]

garyinderry - I've been looking at hybrids to replace the longer irons but for the moment I need to concentrate on hitting the ball straight and pure in a consistent manner. It's definitely something I'd progress to in the near future. Are you able to recommend a good hybrid at all? I know you don't have much information on my golfing ability to make the most informed choice but a pointer in the right direction would nice

At the moment my 4-iron is my club of choice off the tee (unless it's a Par 3 of course). It's my straightest club and at the moment I'd take that any day over my driver shots, even if it means ending up 75 yards shorter.

 

[garyinderry]

i dont think you will go too far wrong with any hybrid from any decent make. MD make some nice clubs that wont break the bank.

as you can see i dont carry any woods myself. i find them too long (lenght wise) and find the hybrids much easier to hit and control.

heres one for under 30 pounds. if you dont get on with it then you can always flog it again and recoup some money. you will find them so much easier to hit than long irons. they are made to get the ball into the air without much effort.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-MD-Go...Leisure_Golf_GolfClubs_JN&hash=item5ae5fc1939

this should go a little further than your 4 iron.

after that you could try a 19 degree. you can pick up the jpx800 i have for around £40 on ebay. i paid 90 for my one. this is my brothers go to club. he seems to hit it for every second shot. so so easy to hit.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Get your fundamentals correct (grip, posture, allignment) and don't forget to have fun!

 

[pendodave]

A good pro can often save a lot of re-engineering at a later date. But of course, they don't tend to come cheap. A lot of ranges and clubs have group lessons which are much cheaper than individual ones and normally throw in a bucket of balls. General checks on fundamentals are mostly what gets covered, but that would probably suit you just fine. Can learn a lot by watching and listening to all the other victims too...

Getting it off the tee and having a short game are the key to fast improvement early on. Failures at each end of the hole are the ones which hit the morale and scorecard the hardest !

 

[Chumpalot83]

i dont think you will go too far wrong with any hybrid from any decent make. MD make some nice clubs that wont break the bank.

as you can see i dont carry any woods myself. i find them too long (lenght wise) and find the hybrids much easier to hit and control.

heres one for under 30 pounds. if you dont get on with it then you can always flog it again and recoup some money. you will find them so much easier to hit than long irons. they are made to get the ball into the air without much effort.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-MD-Go...Leisure_Golf_GolfClubs_JN&hash=item5ae5fc1939

this should go a little further than your 4 iron.

after that you could try a 19 degree. you can pick up the jpx800 i have for around £40 on ebay. i paid 90 for my one. this is my brothers go to club. he seems to hit it for every second shot. so so easy to hit.

Thank you for recommending a hybrid. At that price I'd be tempted to just for straight to the Mizuno and practice with that. I'll let you know how I get on.

Get your fundamentals correct (grip, posture, allignment) and don't forget to have fun!

Absolutely. Basics first

A good pro can often save a lot of re-engineering at a later date. But of course, they don't tend to come cheap. A lot of ranges and clubs have group lessons which are much cheaper than individual ones and normally throw in a bucket of balls. General checks on fundamentals are mostly what gets covered, but that would probably suit you just fine. Can learn a lot by watching and listening to all the other victims too...

Getting it off the tee and having a short game are the key to fast improvement early on. Failures at each end of the hole are the ones which hit the morale and scorecard the hardest !

Good tips, thanks very much for your help. I'm hoping to get to the range tonight to hit a few. I'll ask the chaps there for a lesson or two just to cover the basics.

 

[golfdub]

Taylormade burner hybrids are so so so forgiving I brought one of here and it's great. Mines probably about 3-4 years old and I wouldn't swap it for anything. You can pick them up for about £30-35 of eBay. I actually had a Taylormade 16 degree hybrid last year and it was so hard to use and then I found out its a better players clubs and I swapped it for the burner.

 

[Chumpalot83]

Taylormade burner hybrids are so so so forgiving I brought one of here and it's great. Mines probably about 3-4 years old and I wouldn't swap it for anything. You can pick them up for about £30-35 of eBay. I actually had a Taylormade 16 degree hybrid last year and it was so hard to use and then I found out its a better players clubs and I swapped it for the burner.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look at this club also. Good ol' eBay

 

[Chumpalot83]

Where the TM Burners are concerned, should I be looking at #3 or #4? I realise they're different in lofts. I guess the 3 if I plan on using it off a tee? Just until I get good enough with the driver?

 

[MashieNiblick]

I see so many higher h/cappers whose alignment is off. Makes it hard to get the swing on line if you aren't lined up correctly and you'll start compensating when you swing to try to get the club on line. Put a couple of clubs (or sticks) down to help you line up when hitting on the range.

Also, always hit to a target. Golf is a target sport. It is good to get your mind tuned in to that so it becomes second nature. I like Harvey Pennick's idea of taking "dead aim".

 

[Chumpalot83]

I see so many higher h/cappers whose alignment is off. Makes it hard to get the swing on line if you aren't lined up correctly and you'll start compensating when you swing to try to get the club on line. Put a couple of clubs (or sticks) down to help you line up when hitting on the range.

Also, always hit to a target. Golf is a target sport. It is good to get your mind tuned in to that so it becomes second nature. I like Harvey Pennick's idea of taking "dead aim".

Good tip, thanks. So often I just concentrate on getting the ball out there. It could land within a range of 40 feet across and I'd be happy.

I bought some alignment sticks, how far roughly would I need to stand when the stick is placed between me and the ball? Say if I was using a 5-i? I'm 5'11"

 

[MashieNiblick]

Good tip, thanks. So often I just concentrate on getting the ball out there. It could land within a range of 40 feet across and I'd be happy.

I bought some alignment sticks, how far roughly would I need to stand when the stick is placed between me and the ball? Say if I was using a 5-i? I'm 5'11"

I usually put the clubs/sticks down so one is about 6 inches inside the ball (or outside if you prefer) and the other is a couple of inches in front of my toes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I would be looking at a course of lessons (some pros offer discounts on 5+ lessons) and get the basics right. The pro will give you drills to work on between lessons and this is where your hard work and committment to practice (which is admirable) will reap dividends. Get the basics right and you have the building blocks for many years to come although we all need to keep a check on the fundamentals

 

[Chumpalot83]

I would be looking at a course of lessons (some pros offer discounts on 5+ lessons) and get the basics right. The pro will give you drills to work on between lessons and this is where your hard work and committment to practice (which is admirable) will reap dividends. Get the basics right and you have the building blocks for many years to come although we all need to keep a check on the fundamentals

I think lessons are the next step for me. I could muddle through it and I maybe even improve a bit but a pro will show me where I'm going wrong. Something I guess I can't do myself. Another reason why I'm looking forward to showing you guys my swing.

I usually put the clubs/sticks down so one is about 6 inches inside the ball (or outside if you prefer) and the other is a couple of inches in front of my toes.

I only have the one stick to play with (I gave the other to my old man). I'm trying to gauge what distance I should be from the ball with the different clubs. So say if the stick is 6" in front of my toes, how much further from that would the ball be?