Learn Golf the Right Way from the Beginning

So you’ve decided to learn golf. That’s great. Welcome to a wonderful world of fun and enjoyment for a lifetime. Also, welcome to a game of frustration, deep sighs, and pressure. Sounds like fun?

To get the most out of this game, you must learn to play the right way.

How NOT to Learn Golf

Don’t…

 Learn by Yourself

 Start with the Full Swing

 Go for Distance

First, whatever you do, when you start to pick up golf, don’t go at it alone. I know it’s tempting to go to the range and try to hit those golf balls as far as you can, but this is the worst thing you can do. Trying to learn golf all by yourself will only mess you up and ingrain bad habits that you may never be able to break.

Our first instinct when we get the golf bug is to go and try to pound that driver as far as we can, as fast as we can. I can always tell who the new golfers are by how much time they take between hitting balls and if they ever use different clubs.

Almost as bad as learning by yourself is learning from someone who doesn’t know how to play well. Your buddy may think they know what they are doing, but unless they are a real student of the game, they won’t be able to recognize good fundamentals and won’t be able to teach them to you. Copying their swing is also not a good idea unless they are close to a single handicap and they have a “classic” swing. If they look like a pretzel swinging the ball, you don’t want to learn golf from them.

Learn Golf the Right Way Part 1: Get Lessons

All the great golfers started learning golf from a golf pro or someone who was a very good golfer (i.e. near scratch). A good teacher will be able to show you how to set up, grip, and align yourself correctly. These parts of the swing are essential to hitting the ball consistently. Without this foundation, you have almost no chance of becoming a good golfer.

Learn Golf the Right Way Part 2: Stay on the Green

I wish I had done this when I first started. It would have helped me tremendously and stopped me from creating some really bad habits.

By starting with putting, you learn golf by learning some key fundamentals. First, you learn alignment. It’s easy not to know if you are misaligned on the full swing, but when the hole is only 5 feet from you, it’s easier to tell if your feet and arms are not parallel to your target line.

Second, you learn to control the length of your swing. One of the biggest problems I had in starting out was that my swing was way too

long because I used my arms too much. Putting eliminates the arms and hands. You just use the shoulders to “push” the ball. This is the same feeling you want with the full swing. The only thing you add is a wrist cock.

Lastly, learning to putt first helps you to relax. In putting, hitting hard means nothing. Hitting it clean and hitting it on target with the right speed is everything. Putting will force you to control your stroke, and that is the key to putting, chipping, pitching, and the full swing.

Once you feel comfortable putting it, move to chip. Then move to pitch. Only when you can consistently hit the green from 50 yards out should you move to full swing. From the pitch to the full swing, it’s just a matter of more shoulder turns.

What I want you to learn from the beginning is how to swing relaxed and accurately. The distance will come in time, but from proper technique, not through brute strength.

If I had learned golf this way, I would probably be a scratch golf by now!

Learn Golf the Right Way Part 3: Go for Halves

Everyone wants to hit it a mile. I see it all the time. Golfers on the range doing all kinds of weird body contortions trying to get that 300yard drive or hit their pitching wedges 150 yards. What usually happens is a messed-up swing.

One thing that Davis Love’s dad (a teaching pro) taught him to do was “go for fractions”. He would have him take a club, let’s say a driver, and try to hit it only 1/3 of the distance. Then he’d have him hit it 150 yards, 200 yards, 250 yards, then he’d let him try to hit it as far as he could.

In golf, you always want to swing under control and less than 100%. If you are letting it loose every swing, you are increasing the possibility of mishitting it because it’s hard to control an all-out swing. Phil

Michelson always used to swing his short irons and wedges about 100%. Although he won many times, his swing never seemed to hold up when he needed it most: coming down the stretch in the majors (US Open, British Open, Masters, PGA Championship). He began to work with Dave Pelz and learned to swing only 70-80% on his short irons. The result? Two major championships in two years (Masters and PGA).

The search for distance is a cruel journey. It seduces you by giving you that long bomb once in a while, so you think you can consistently repeat it. Meanwhile, you are learning all kinds of bad habits.

Practice hitting all your shots in different lengths: ½, ¾, etc. It will keep you relaxed and help you to learn to control your swing. That is the key to successful golf and that’s the correct way to learn golf.

Golf is the most wonderful game ever invented. It can be exhilarating and frustrating all within the same minute. Part of enjoying the game is getting off to the right start. Learn golf the right way by following these steps. You won’t regret it, I promise. For more information about Feierlocation Hamburg and city golf Hamburg Services, please visit