Golf Tips for Beginners
After raising my girls, being a single mom and working full-time, I am sure you know the drill. I decided to take up golf about 10 years ago. It was a bit of a challenge, so I will talk to you about golf tips for beginners.
I had come to the point in my life where I wanted to spend more time out of my office than in it, working 24/7 gets old after a while. I wanted to meet new people and try new things. Since it seemed that just about everyone had taken up golf, I thought that would be the logical place to begin.
After all, it would get me outdoors to exercise (exercise is good, right?) the outfits were cute. How hard could it be to hit a little ball?
Talk to Someone Who Plays About Golf Tips for Beginners
So I coerced a good girlfriend of mine, who happens to be a very good golfer, to take me to her course and show me the finer points of how to play.
Supplies You Will Need
For my first excursion, I borrowed a set of clubs from another friend, put on a pair of Bermudas and a shirt, bought a golf glove, some balls and tees and borrowed a pair of golf shoes. I thought I was all set. At least, I looked at the part.
The weather was glorious, not too hot, the sky was an incredible shade of blue and a mild breeze was blowing. I was excited and I felt great.
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Knowing How to Swing
We started by hitting some balls on the driving range. I should say Susan hit some balls. I hit the ground, the air and just about everything but the ball. Finally, after taking about 25 swings, I hit the ball off the tee and a whopping 30 yards into the air. That was a milestone.
Not an auspicious beginning to this new sport I had chosen. It also ended our day “on the course,” since I knew it would probably take 10 to 12 hours to play a few holes at the rate I was going. I was not going to be daunted though. I decided to take a few steps backward and rethink how I was going to learn to play golf.
The Journey to My Epiphany
I then did what just about every new golfer does. I bought all kinds of useless golf “how-to” magazines and DVDs and I bet you can guess what happened. The DVDs went the way of most of the exercise DVDs I had bought in the past.
Not long after, and still not knowing how I was going to conquer this sport, I was out for dinner one night with a bunch of friends when I heard a woman at the next table talking about golf. My ears perked up. She and the people she was with had just finished playing a round of golf. From what I gathered, she had only started playing the year before.
I asked her who she had taken lessons from. She told me she had never had a lesson in her life, so I asked her how she learned to play. She told me she started watching The Golf Channel’s teaching shows and it just came to her. So, I started watching The Golf Channel’s teaching shows.
But it didn’t just come to me.
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Do Not Lose Heart
By this time I had bought a set of clubs and was trying to go to the practice range at least twice a week. I wanted to learn how to play well enough to go out on a course.
That helped, a little. I would look around me at all the other people on the range, getting their balls in the air. I would watch those balls sail yards off the range tee. Not mine. I had, however, graduated from the 30 yards I started with to hit the ball about 100 yards off the tee.
A short while later, I was in a golf shop buying some balls when I came across a book called Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons And Teachings From A Lifetime In Golf. I had heard about it, so I bought it and read it from cover to cover that night. That hit home for me. It was more about the importance of the psychology behind playing golf than the fundamentals.
What I got out of that little book was priceless and that was that. If I was going to play golf, I needed to approach it very differently. I needed to have fun playing and I needed to come to some realizations.
All About the Fun
I now know I will never be as good a golfer as my friend Susan, and probably not as good as the woman I met in the restaurant. I will never be a competitive golfer and I discovered I do not want to be. I had already had enough competition in my professional life.
I discovered I wanted to be a fun golfer. I wanted to have fun on the courses I play and with the people, I play with. I did not need to have the perfect swing. My swing is pretty atrocious looking, but it’s the perfect swing for me.
Now I go out and play and completely enjoy myself. when I play slow or have too many shots, I pick my ball up (so I will not hold up the people I am playing with) and move on to the next hole. A new beginning!
Play With a Group
I have found several groups to play with. You can go online to Meetup and search for golf groups in your area to do the same. I play with a singles golf group, which is a terrific way to meet single people who enjoy the game. I have also found several golf groups that travel to Europe and Hawaii to play golf.
The Golf Tips for Beginners
To sum it up, here are my tips for “later in life” new golfers:
- Do not take yourself too seriously
- Realize you are not going to be a pro
- Invest in a good set of clubs and pair of shoes
- Find people to play with who are not obnoxious about the rules of golf
- Google golf groups to meet new friends
- Most importantly, have fun
Hope to see you on the links soon.