Golf - Beginner

dragondog

Hi

I am brand new to golf, I have purchased a second hand set of clubs and I am ready to go.
I went to the driving range today, and it didnt matter what club I took, it was along the ground.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend any good books or dvd's that I could get my hands on?
I saw some sites online like the perfect swing but i question these sites.

My plan is to get a good grasp of the basics and then get a few lessons before I take on the golf course

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thank you
Dragondog

Keano

Why not go ahead and get the lessons now? Will prevent any bad habits from the very start

dragondog

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Why not go ahead and get the lessons now? Will prevent any bad habits from the very start

Hi Keano

I couldnt afford to go straight into lessons to be honest.If i had a small grasp of the basics and was comfortable hitting most clubs I would then consider 2 or 3 lessons

Cheers
Dragondog

nocal

I guarantee you that every €30 you spend on lessons now will save you €100 on lessons and range balls in the future.

Get one lesson to begin with and learn how to grip the club properly and the basics of the swing. Then put in a few practise sessions - if you got a lesson every 3 weeks and put in one practise session a week then you should see some payback.

You should easily be able to pick up a 30 minute lesson for €30 or less. Plenty of places will do deals also on a series of lessons (e.g. fifth lesson free).

It might also be worth saying what range you went to as someone might be able to point you in the direction of a good local pro or some deals local to you.

Hope you enjoy the challenge of learning to play and best of luck.

dragondog

nocal wrote: »

I guarantee you that every €30 you spend on lessons now will save you €100 on lessons and range balls in the future.

Get one lesson to begin with and learn how to grip the club properly and the basics of the swing. Then put in a few practise sessions - if you got a lesson every 3 weeks and put in one practise session a week then you should see some payback.

You should easily be able to pick up a 30 minute lesson for €30 or less. Plenty of places will do deals also on a series of lessons (e.g. fifth lesson free).

It might also be worth saying what range you went to as someone might be able to point you in the direction of a good local pro or some deals local to you.

Hope you enjoy the challenge of learning to play and best of luck.

Hi nocal

Thanks for the post, I see what you mean, it makes sense.
You wouldn't happen to know of any good books or dvds out there that would pass a while reading/watching?


Thanks
Dragondog

Nonoperational

When I started I got a book (can't remember the name) and just worked away on the range. I grabbed the bay with a mirror if I could and just worked on the basics like grip, posture and alignment. It will come (unless you're completely useless!).

Good luck!

micky radigan

forget about books for a while and get lessons from the start,it will speed up the learning curve and as the poster said above u will learn good basic like posture,stance grip

k.p.h

Rather than books why not try some video from the net. This guy is a good place to start he has got a whole series of videos on this site and they are pretty easy to understand.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-perform-the-perfect-golf-swing

While the lads are right about the return on lessons. I actually favor a few weeks hitting balls and reading or watching golf related material in the beginning. It will get you coordination going and get you used to the terms used by teaching pros.Their can be a good bit to get in the beginning so any heads up you can get before you go is a goof idea. That way you can make the most of the lesson and having something to refer back to is priceless.

But the lads are right about bad habits so as soon as you get going and a little more confident a few lessons the way to go.;)

TheRiddler

Okay you want to know the quickest way to become a good golfer? Work your way out from the flag. Start with putting, then chipping, the pitching, the wedges/irons, then woods. Sounds boring and everyone loves smashing it at the range with a driver but if you want to be a serious golfer do this.

Also it sounds like your scooping the ball (trying to help the ball in the air with the club). Sounds weird but the more you hit down (making divots after the ball) on the ball the higher it will go. Let the clubs do the work for you, that's what they are designed for.

Try everything you can think of and see what works for you everybody has a different things that work for them. But most important of all, golf is a game, enjoy it as much as you can because that's the whole point. Have fun!

conscious

You have to take it one step at a time! If your hitting every club along the ground, you have to take a steeper swing, bringing your club up higher at the start of your backswing!

Zak Flaps

good advice from everyone here...
if you're insisting on books/dvds before a lesson, the youtube vids are worth a look...it'll get you familiar with golf terms etc...tons of them on there...

this book is hugely regarded:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ben-Hogans-Five-Lessons-Fundamentals/dp/0743295285/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304904076&sr=8-1

Get some lessons though asap, it will be so worth it in the long run...

best of luck!

stockdam

I used the 5 Lessons by Hogan and some books by John Jacobs.

Also look for Sean Clements on Youtube.........I'm not sure if he does the basics though.

hades

Just echoing everyone else here, get lessons. I guess from your stand point you may be thinking "i want to be a nice level before going for lessons, so i don't waste my time on the basics" much in the same way that people learning to drive at least learn how to start the car and such, before going for a full blown driving lesson.

However, in my experience, getting the basics right in golf at the very start is very important, as correcting errors later on can be very difficult. Also, while looking at a lesson as a 30 minute entity might be the wrong way of looking at it, perhaps i've been very lucky with guy who i get lessons from, but my 30 minute lesson always ends up between 1 hour to 90 minutes long so there's great value for money.

VikingG

Your choice whether you get lessons or not... but you need to ensure the basics are correct.... grip, posture etc.

I spent the first 6 months of playing hacking away.. then had one lesson where I was videoed and the errors I was making in posture were highlighted.... now once I have fixed those I see some steady improvement.... If I had had that lesson on day one may have saved dome time...

alxmorgan

stockdam wrote: »

I used the 5 Lessons by Hogan and some books by John Jacobs.

Also look for Sean Clements on Youtube.........I'm not sure if he does the basics though.

He does indeed

http://www.shawnclementgolf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=72

New beginner DVD out for 10 dollars. A lot of boardies recommend him including myself. For less than a tenner I reckon you can't go wrong.
And once you are past the basics his youtubes go further and further down the rabbit hole

foxyboxer

I'd add my recommendation to the Ben Hogan book. Simply everything you need for a full swing. Also it's just a classic book for anyone's library.

There is an illustration in it with Hogan at address sticking his head through a pane of glass which is resting on his shoulders. It's been described as the Mona Lisa of golf instruction.

Another recommendation would be to get yourself down to Killarney for the Irish Open and watch how it's done

dragondog

foxyboxer wrote: »

I'd add my recommendation to the Ben Hogan book. Simply everything you need for a full swing. Also it's just a classic book for anyone's library.

There is an illustration in it with Hogan at address sticking his head through a pane of glass which is resting on his shoulders. It's been described as the Mona Lisa of golf instruction.

Another recommendation would be to get yourself down to Killarney for the Irish Open and watch how it's done

good think foxyboxer - a few pints in Killarney too would be nice.
I have the Ben Hogan book, i read it before I had clubs so I must read it again, it may make more sense

dragondog

alxmorgan wrote: »

He does indeed

http://www.shawnclementgolf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=72

New beginner DVD out for 10 dollars. A lot of boardies recommend him including myself. For less than a tenner I reckon you can't go wrong.
And once you are past the basics his youtubes go further and further down the rabbit hole

Cool thanks for this.

Thanks to everyone that posted here also.
The few things im taking from this post are
get a few early lessons and short game first

A few of my friends are taking up golf too so I will direct them to this thread - alot of good info here

Cheers guys

dragondog

nocal wrote: »

I guarantee you that every €30 you spend on lessons now will save you €100 on lessons and range balls in the future.

Get one lesson to begin with and learn how to grip the club properly and the basics of the swing. Then put in a few practise sessions - if you got a lesson every 3 weeks and put in one practise session a week then you should see some payback.

You should easily be able to pick up a 30 minute lesson for €30 or less. Plenty of places will do deals also on a series of lessons (e.g. fifth lesson free).

It might also be worth saying what range you went to as someone might be able to point you in the direction of a good local pro or some deals local to you.

Hope you enjoy the challenge of learning to play and best of luck.

Hi nocal

I just looked up my local golf club at home and I see they do a 30 minute lesson for €25. Based on the feedback on the site, i think that is pretty good.

Pikeman

Alright lads-I'll just highjack this thread rather than start a new one.

"Played" golf a few times when I was younger, par 3, pitch n putt but nothing much really.

Would love to give the game a good go now though so was wondering what the usual price for lessons would be and maybe the best place to go. I am based in south Dublin and have a "hurling swing"!!!

Also, what would be the ideal clubs to get for a beginner?

Trigger76

Hi Pikeman,

How have you found adopting from your hurley swing? Im a beginner aswell , have to say I find it difficult to change.

I can hit a drive pretty straight 200+ yards consistently hurling style but Im all over the place with a proper golf grip/swing.

Ive been told the second hand market is the way to go for a good set of clubs and have read here that starter sets are to be avoided, I was looking here http://www.golfstoreeurope.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=22 as this site was recommended in another thread.

T

MyKeyG

dragondog wrote: »

Cool thanks for this.

Thanks to everyone that posted here also.
The few things im taking from this post are
get a few early lessons and short game first

A few of my friends are taking up golf too so I will direct them to this thread - alot of good info here

Cheers guys

Can I just mention as a newbie myself, although admittedly I did receive a 5 lesson gift card so I don't have your concerns financially regarding lessons, but the thing with books and DVD's is you get no personnel feedback. A book isn't going to tell you where you're going wrong and your only feedback is your own limited knowledge of the game. I noticed that I picked up more habits that had to be undone at my first lesson because I thought I was doing what the book told me.

On my first lesson (it turned out to be with an old school mate) he got me to hit a few balls and he noticed that I had picked up decent upper body technique but my lower body was as dead as disco.

He actually physically positioned my legs, back etc during slo-mo swing drills and gave me some great drills that I can practice without even holding a club. If you could manage even only one practical lesson it would set you up well for your own progression.

Pikeman

Trigger76 wrote: »

Hi Pikeman,

How have you found adopting from your hurley swing? Im a beginner aswell , have to say I find it difficult to change.

I can hit a drive pretty straight 200+ yards consistently hurling style but Im all over the place with a proper golf grip/swing.

Ive been told the second hand market is the way to go for a good set of clubs and have read here that starter sets are to be avoided, I was looking here http://www.golfstoreeurope.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=22 as this site was recommended in another thread.

T

Haven't adopted from my hurling swing yet-have lessons booked so hopefully I can fix all that.

Went out to Stepaside at the weekend and did well enough-got about 7 GIR, 4 pars and 1 birdie so was delighted with that considering I haven't played in years. (still had a few 7s and 8s on some holes!!) That's all with the hurling style grip though. Went out to the range after and tried hotting a few with the proper grip but that was a disaster.

Hopefully the lessons will help me and I can give the game a good lash from then on