Guide for Beginning Golfers

For the past  few weeks my golf game has hit the skids. I have played my last few rounds like I never held a golf club before. Maybe not quite that bad but not too far off target either. In golf, as in other sports,  you can’t let it get you down. There are highs and lows in all stages of life and a persons golf game is not impervious to being subjected to this roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

In fact someone once said, “The consistency of golf is the inconsistency of golf” and truer words were never spoken. Golf can be a roller coaster ride of emotions, even during the same golf round. On one hole you may score a par, birdie or perhaps even an eagle if you are skilled enough but the next can be a bogie, double or even triple bogie if you lose concentration and make an error in your golf swing thoughts or mechanics.

When I go into a slump with golf, I find the best method for an expedient recovery is to lay off for a week or so and then schedule a session at the golf range to help regain the confidence in your swing. Hitting golf balls at the range will help, at least it works for me. Remember, don’t despair if you lose your golf swing temporarily for it will soon return. Happy Golfing to All!

This has been a very controversial topic in sports in years past. Many sports fans, less than a few decades ago, believed that golf  was not an athletic sport and it required no skills or strength to play the game well. In the past fifteen or twenty years that perception has slowly changed and the truth has been revealed as to the true athletic ability required for golf. It is a game that requires dedication, practice and athleticism if one is to master the sport and play it with any degree of expertise. Anyone can swing a golf club but striking the ball with the precision and timing it takes to attain the proper distance and accuracy is a horse of a different color, to quote a line from the “Wizard of Oz”. If you are a disbeliever in what I am stating, visit the nearest driving range and try hitting golf balls and see how well you do. You may be surprised  to see how difficult it may be to accomplish the golf swing without extensive reading, practice or taking golf lessons of any kind.

Golf is a game where it is just you against the golf course or another golfer with whom you may be competing with. There is no one to blame, no team mate to vent on if something goes wrong and the ball is mishit. You alone must take responsibility for your failures, but on the other hand it is you who will revel in victory when you hit a career shot to a tight pin placement, score an eagle, birdie, hole in one or any other milestone achievement which the game will provide you with an opportunity to accomplish. It is the one great shot during the golf round that will keep you coming back for more. If you are competitive, golf is a sport which will keep your interest piqued as you will always have chances to better your last score and you can set that goal in your sights. If you discourage easily if you don’t succeed initially at golf then it may not be the game for you. Many have tried and failed and given up before ever really giving themselves a chance to see if they could improve and play better. Most of the people who fall into this category are the first ones to say that golf is not an athletic sport and it is a silly game. I’ll be the first to admit it is not easy to hit golf balls consistently well time after time. I will never say it does not require skill, stamina and athletic ability to play well because all three components are very much required to play the game of golf with any degree of skill. I have been trying to improve my golf game for over thirty five years now and counting and will probably never quit attempting to shoot par on a regulation 18 hole golf course. This is on my bucket list as I have come close a number of times but I have some work to do if I am to accomplish this goal in the next few years. I am nearing sixty and the physical stamina and strength required for a good golf game fades a bit each year as a person reaches a certain age.

One of the greatest aspects of Golf is that it can be fun no matter what the skill level or age of the golfer may be. It is also human nature to enjoy something more if you are proficient at the techniques or skills necessary for the sport. The young man in the photo above is my nephew James Hopkins, who is in excellent physical condition and is now twenty years old and ready to take on the world. He won the Mr. Teen Long Island contest in his first attempt a few short years ago and will be competing again in August 2010 as an adult. I can attest first hand that he will give any competition a run for the money and I will be surprised if he does not take home the winners trophy in his class becuase he has the proper mindset required for a winner – He believes in himself. I am presently showing him some of the techniques and strategies required for golf and imparting some of the knowledge gained from my thirty plus years of experience playing this incredible sport. He has tremendous potential and the one component that will allow him to succeed is his desire to play well, his enjoyment of the game of golf and as stated previously, the belief in his ability to succeed. I knew of another young man, who entered the golf scene in 1997 and who believed in his abilities like no other since Jack Nicklaus, and that youngster was none other than Tiger Woods, if you did not already guess.  If you want to be successful in golf or in life itself, DO NOT GIVE UP and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Happy Golfing to All!

Practicing putting may be obvious advice but many players Do Not spend enough time on this important aspect of the game. Over half of the total golf score is made on the putting green so you can see it is critical to limit the strokes there if you want to improve your golf scores.

A few tips I can offer are as follows: 1) Spend at least ten to fifteen minutes on the practice green before your golf round to get a feel for your putting tempo and the speed of the greens that day 2) Keep your head down until the golf balls drop in the cup or at least until well after the ball is struck and on its way 3) View the putt from at least two directions to get a TRUER feel of how the green slopes 4) Line up the lettering on the golf ball with the intended line of the putt 5) Always try to go past the hole to allow yourself a chance for making each putt.

I think we covered most of the important tactics to help improve your putting. Practice them and I’m sure your scores will drop accordingly too. Happy Golfing to All!

We have now covered six of the seven steps in My Seven Step Swing Check List, The Grip, The Set Up , The Waggle, The Backswing , Tempo, The Downswing and now the last step, but especially not the least in importance, is the Follow Thru or Finish. All the steps are important but if the follow thru is not done correctly it can negate the proper execution of the other steps of the swing. As the downswing is approaching impact with the golf ball make sure the acceleration of the club remains constant. This will be accomplished with acquiring a good tempo with your golf swing. Also on the downswing, as discussed in the last writing, continue the path of the club through the ball on a slight inside to out path and aim at the one o’clock spot as suggested. As you continue thru the hitting zone after impact keep the club as low as possible on this line and head should remain behind the ball. The hips should continue opening to the target ,( about 3/4 or more at this point ) and the weight should continue to shift onto your left side. If the follow thru is executed correctly the club and your arms will form a line pointing at or slightly right of the target line and both will be near parallel to the ground as your right shoulder starts to pass under your chin. The hands should pronate (turn over) to the left just after the club passes thru the impact zone. If you turn the hands over too quickly you may hook or draw the ball too for left and not achieve the result you were looking for. This is the part of the swing that takes practice and experience to master. Once you get the timing down you will almost always be successful if you execute the rest of the steps correctly. TIP : If you are consistently slicing the ball to the right side you may want to consciously turn your hands over to the left as you reach impact, which should help correct this problem. Another cause of slicing the ball to the right is not finishing the swing by staying on your right side and not letting the right foot come up onto the toe ( See info noted below regarding swing finish ). Note: This post is directed to the right handed golfer and should be reversed for the left handed player

As your swing continues and your right shoulder is passing under your chin the head can start to come up but the spine angle should remain intact as long as possible as you finish the swing. Your hips should now be almost fully open and perpindicular to and facing your intended target. NOTE : Another key move at this part of the swing, that is lacking in most beginners and even some seasoned players, is that they stay on their right foot and never finish the golf swing. This means that the weight shift was never completed and the hips never rotated properly, thus causing lack of both distance and accuracy.

The proper execution of the follow thru would include the right foot pivoting up onto the toe ( which would mean that the weight transfer from right to left was complete ) , the torso would be facing the target and the entire body would form some resemblance to a reverse C if you viewed it from a side perspective. The club would be wrapped around your neck and shoulders and this pose should be maintained until the ball lands in the fairway or on the green. Holding this position will help promote the proper swing finish by making it part of your muscle memory which will translate to a more accurate and repetitive finish to your golf swing. 

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Now that you’ve mastered The Grip, Set Up, Waggle, Backswing and Tempo the next move should be a piece of cake. In fact, you can let gravity and tempo do most of the work for this part of the swing. Your club is back, left shoulder under your chin, head upright, weight shift to right side, wrists are hinged back with club pointing down the target line and your back is facing the target – you’re ready to pull the trigger. Before you start the Downswing, let’s touch on one last item, “Relax”.

My trigger method for starting the downswing is twofold. I start to throw my left hip toward the target while pulling down on the club in a very relaxed manner allowing gravity and the acceleration of your tempo to do the work. The club and back end of the grip will be pointing at the golf ball. As you swing down the hips will shift laterally left and open to 45 o or more through impact. The key is to keep your head behind the ball so the coil of your shoulder and upper body combined with the hinging of your wrists can be timed for releasing the club at the proper time thru the impact area. This will allow maximum power and accuracy. This is the part of the Downswing that overlaps the last step of the golf swing, “The Follow Thru”.

As your club is released and approaches the impact area, the wrists should be unhinging  and the weight should continue to shift from the right to the left side to prepare for the Swing Finish or Follow Thru as I like to call it. The left side should remain firm just before and thru the impact of the club head with the golf ball while the head remains behind the ball. As I am looking down at the ball when the club head is approaching impact I look at the inside corner of the ball and try to keep a slight inside to out swing path by concentrating on hitting that inside part of the ball and aiming at one o’clock. I find that this will allow the club to drop into the power slot more readily and ultimately result in more distance and accuracy.    Note: The information noted above is based on the assumption that the golfer is right handed. Please reverse for left handed golfers ( Right hip will be moving toward target ).

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