III – Information for Beginner Golfers
Please do not be overwhelmed by the amount of information in this book. You do not have to learn it all before you can play enjoyable golf. In fact, you do not have to learn it all before you can become a pretty good golfer. It has all been included so that you can take your game as far as you like. It has also all been included because a pointer that might not mean anything to you may be the very pointer that your golfing buddy needs to take his or her game to the next level.
As a word of caution, consider the following:
• You do not have to use all the pointers in this book; merely use the ones that resonate with you. There are a lot of different ways to get the same results. Try the suggested ways and then choose the ones that work best for you.
• When practicing, practice one thing at a time, such as putting, chipping, pitching, hitting driver, hitting fairway woods, hitting a fade, hitting a draw, etc. For thoughts and drills regarding practicing, see Section XXI, Practice Thoughts & Drills.
• When practicing, take this book or your “mini-book” with you. Once you feel somewhat comfortable with one club and/or shot, move on to the next club and/or shot.
• When doing this practicing, please remember it has been said that probably the biggest difference between great golfers and struggling golfers is that great golfers practice the things they are not so good at, while struggling golfers continue practicing the things they are good at. If you want to become a great golfer, or at least see great improvement in your game, practice the things that you are not so good at.
• While it is true that you do not want a whole lot of thoughts running through your head when you are attempting to make a shot during a round of golf, you do want some thoughts running through your head when you are out practicing. If you do not have any thoughts running through your head as to how to hit the shot, you are probably just hitting balls. Just hitting balls is not the answer. In fact, if you are just hitting balls, you may be doing more harm than good because practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.
First Things First: Study, Practice, Play
In golf, as in life, you should always do first things first. In golf, first things first means study, practice, and then play. If you do not do these three things in that order, you may forever hinder your game.
Study
Study before you practice. If you don’t study before you practice, how are you going to know what and how to practice? When it comes to studying, I am pretty much just talking about reading and taking notes. In my experience, you read to learn and you take notes to remember.
Practice
Practice before you play. If you practice the right things in the right way, playing will be a lot more enjoyable for everyone. When you practice, ensure that you are practicing the correct things in the correct manner for as I stated earlier, practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.
When you first start out practicing, if you can, have someone video your swing so that you can see what you are doing during your swing. A lot of times what we think we are doing and what we are actually doing are two entirely different things.
When it comes to practicing, all golf experts say that you should practice your short game first. Practicing your short game first has many advantages. Practicing your short game is the quickest way to take strokes off of your game. Practicing your short game helps you to build confidence and allows you to compete with anyone. Practicing your short game first helps you to see how important your clubface direction and swing path are to the success of your shot.
Practicing your short game helps you to read greens. Reading greens well not only helps you in your short game but also helps you immensely in understanding where to land your approach shots. To learn all about approach shots, see Approach Shot in Section XIV, Hitting Specialty Shots.
While the aforementioned reasons are important, probably the most important reason for practicing your short game first is that a full shot is just an extension of a chip shot. Learning to groove your swing on chip shots is a lot easier than trying to learn to groove your swing on full shots. To learn all about the short game (putting, chipping, pitching), see Section XVIII, The Short Game.
Play
Sometime before you play, mark/personalize your ball. Marking your ball allows you to quickly identify your ball during play. Hitting the wrong ball can lead to penalties (and enemies)!
When playing, don’t think about technique, just visualize the shot. Your mind and body will make it happen. When visualizing your shot, visualize the trajectory, the carry (distance in air), and the roll.
When you first start playing, play from the correct tees for your skill level, not your age. Once you have toned your game, you can move to the next tees back, and so on.