Are you considering playing golf?
If you are this article will provide you with some vital information.
And although as you begin to read it you may seemed shocked, surprised and even a little disappointed the benefits of beginning your journey in golf the way I explain in the article will be something you will carry with you for the entire duration.
As a golf coach I am always keen to ensure that my clients become proficient at learning to get the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible.
This may seem an obvious thing to say, but many newcomers to the game confuse the methods.
They head to the range with a mate, pick up a club and start lashing at the ball with little or no help from their accompanying friend.
Instead, when you start the game from scratch you should head to a local course, enlist the help of the club professional and begin from the hole.
Starting at the hole, requires you to learn on of the most basic fundamentals of a good golf game;
The ability to get the ball into the hole.
I am referring to learning to putt first.
This has multiple arms to it;
1 – you learn the aforementioned ability to get the ball in the hole.
2 – you learn to co-ordinate your hands and eyes
3 – you learn to feel the correct connection of the ball and a club
4 – you immediately have a sense of success when learning to putt because you start from literally next to the hole.
These small aspects are so much harder to achieve when you begin by swinging an iron. It takes more time and more technical knowledge to be able to get a sweet contact.
You become frustrated your friend becomes frustrated and you begin to lose confidence in something you already had no confidence with.
From the side of the hole you gradually move further away from the hole.
Once you reach the fringe (edge of the green) you want to start to learn how to chip the ball.
This requires an iron, and I would suggest starting with a 9-iron.
The technique required is different from putting and as such your professional should demonstrate and explain the correct technique.
Continuing the process from chipping, as you move further away again you will experience the pitch shot.
It is here where you will first experience the sensation of “swinging” the golf club.
Pitching is almost identical to the full swing, the set-up position is the same, alignment is the same, the swing is a reduced version of the full swing.
If you are taking lessons (and practising between) you should not be swinging the club (full swing) until at least your 4th lesson.
But your patience will bear fruit.
As with any new movement taking your time and progressing up the ladder is better than jumping head first into the deep end. Start from the hole and make your way back.
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