Get off to a good start in golf by starting on the first tee!  What I mean is, start in the right place when you want to learn golf and find a PGA Instructor to begin your golf education.  Choosing your first instructor and making sure you learn all areas of the game so that you have a solid foundation in the game will help you become a lifelong golfer.

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How can knowing the rules help you score better?  Have you ever seen a case where knowing the rules saved someone strokes off their scores?

Knowing the rules will not only keep the traditions of golf alive, but will help you play your best round of golf each time you go out to play.  Many times, not knowing a rule may lead to a player losing strokes or taking a higher score then necessary.

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After you have made the big decision to get started in golf, the first step you should take is to schedule lessons with a PGA or LPGA Certified Instructor and begin the journey of learning to play.  The starting point for your swing instruction will involve learning to hold the club, taking your stance to prepare for an athletic swing motion and learning how to aim towards a target.  Let’s review each of those steps.

The Grip

One of golf’s greats Ben Hogan said “Golf begins with a good grip.”  I agree!  Your hands are the only part of your body connected to the club so it seems to make sense that we should make sure that we know what to do with them!  For many beginners the grip feels unnatural at first, so repetitive gripping and re-gripping is important so that it becomes second nature to put your hands on a club.  A “formed” grip which has a mold of proper hand positions is an extremely helpful tool and the more a player swings a club with one, the faster the hands become comfortable. Grip pressure is as important as hand positions, and again, by using a grip trainer a player can relax the pressure as the position becomes more comfortable.  On scale of 1-10, grip pressure should be about 4-5, but for most, we are up around 9-10!    The grip pressure should be checked at varying points during a swing as well.  The “waggle” before a swing is a way of relaxing the hands.  Take some practice swings stopping at the peak of the backswing, then on the downswing as the club approaches impact, and then at the finish and notice your grip pressure along the way.  Relaxed hands allow the club to release and rotate through the swing, particularly during impact with the ball.  Lastly, both hands should work as a unit, as opposed to one hand being more dominant.  Continue reading →

After your first series of lessons, where you gained golf knowledge and technical swing skills from putting to chipping, pitching and full swing shots, it’s time to get out on the course and play the game!

It is equally important to know about golf rules and etiquette when you are going on the course.  As you join with others to play in foursomes, you must not only have physical swing skills, but you must know when to hit, where to stand when others are hitting, how to mark your ball, fix your divots, how to use a golf car, how to write down your scores and more. Continue reading →