Considered as one of the most expensive sports, golf is played all over the world. Strangely, the origin of golf is somewhat uncertain. While some people say that it was in Scotland where the sport first appeared, others have said that golf came about in England.

The sport itself has always been played in fields with ample space, causing an individual to master the terrain and learning how to place a ball into a small hole in the fewest shots possible. Sounds simple, right? For those of you who are beginners, a round of golf typically consists of 18 holes and, if you are planning on winning, you need extreme precision and accuracy. To make the game interesting and challenging, on the course you will find sand, water, and tall trees in the path of the ball.

Here are some tips help you avoid those trees and sand and make your ball more likely to fall into the hole as a beginner.

5 Best Golf Tips for Beginners

1. Swing

This is the name given to the movement where the golfer moves the club to connect with the ball. Each golfer has their own type of swing, but, of course, there are some tips to make your performance better and achieve better contact with the ball.

Some tips for better performance of your swing are:

• Always keep your eyes on the ball.
• Make sure your body’s rotation happens around the shoulder, in preparation for the beginning movement of the swing when you lift your club until it is parallel to the ground.
• The right arm will be flexed, but the left arm must be fully stretched.
• The left leg needs to be flexed to give more power to your stroke.
• When the club is parallel to the ground, this starts the backswing movement to the club hit the ball, your hip should go toward the ball before the rest of your body.
• During the backswing, the left arm needs to be always stretched, and your left leg firm. This is so you do not lose your balance during the swing.
• At the time of impact, the weight of the body will be transferred to the ball, and this may unbalance you. It is important that, even if you lose your balance a little bit, you need to keep your eyes on the ball.
• Analyze your swing to identify your flaws

Since you are a beginner, it is necessary that, when you are starting your swing, you will need moderate speed. Reason being, this will help so you will not lose your concentration or miss the ball altogether.  Trust me, for beginners, you may miss the ball a few times. While it may be embarrassing, it’s normal! Moreover, your stroke must be firm and have continuous speed. The end of the stroke occurs once the ball has been hit. You must continue this movement until your club is positioned behind your head and your body is totally turned in the direction that the ball has traveled. At the end of your swing movement, the flexion of the legs should be reversed, the left should be stretched and the right leg flexed, while both of your arms are flexed. The important thing is not the strength but the way you hit the club on the ball. If you are ever wanting to master your swing, watch how professionals swing, and you will notice this precise movement.

2. Beginner Clubs

There are some golf clubs that are easier to use than others. For beginners, there is a wide variety of clubs and equipment that are made to help you. Some of the beginner’s golf clubs have a larger clubface, which makes it a lot easier to have contact with the ball and help you avoid mishits. In my opinion, consistency is what you need when you are a beginner golfer. Shafts for beginner clubs are also a little bit shorter, which makes it easier to have better contact with the ball, which also means the ball will go further.

3. The Grip

When you think about the golf swing in your mind, you should imagine a golfer’s body working together to create a force great enough to make a ball fly hundreds of yards. While all this force is being generated, only one part of the body is actually contacting the club, and this part is the hands. How your hands hold the club is called the grip and, as you can tell from above, this is of utmost importance.

Some important tips on how to hold the club are:

• Hold the club gently, but firm enough to maintain control over it.
• Maintain the same force during the whole movement.
• Do not over-tighten the grip when you are hitting the ball.
• Point the palms of your hands inward toward each other.
• Hold the club with your left hand, as if you were shaking hands with it.
• Hold the club with your right hand under placed your left.
• Move your little finger from your right hand over your left hand, between your index finger and your middle finger. After all these steps holding your club, make sure there is no space between your hands.

Even with all these tips, if you are not achieving a solid impact with the ball, you may need to reinforce your grip. You will need to rotate the club about 30-degrees as you make the move down, and then firmly hold the club as you normally would. This will force you to rotate your hands and arms into a stronger position at the moment of impact.

4. Play a Par 3 Course

One of the best tips I could ever hope to give, to any new golfer is to start off by only playing par 3 courses. Typically, a golf course is comprised of varying par hole.  The standard golf course has four par 3 holes, four par 5 holes, and ten par 4 holes. This means that a beginner will be using the toughest club, the driver, approximately fourteen times! Since this club is the toughest to use, most beginners will find themselves off the fairway and hitting their next shot from troublesome areas at best, and losing a ton of balls at worst.

This will make for a frustrating round of golf and cause the beginner to think that the sport is for the birds (as opposed to birdies). Par 3 courses, on the other hand, are made up of 18 short par three holes, typically varying in length from 100 to 210 yards. At this distance, a driver is not necessary and it is possible for golfers of every skill level to be on the green in one shot and, even if an errant first shot is made, the player will have a shorter second shot to return to the green. These facts alone will make any round of golf much more enjoyable for a beginner.

Additionally, par three golf courses have many other benefits. The first is that since the course is smaller, it will take players a shorter amount of time to play. Typically, to play a full course of 18 holes, it will take close to four hours; however, a par 3 course will only take about 1.5 hours. Second, par 3 courses are at least half the price of full golf courses. It always is an added bonus when you can keep your wallet heavy. Third, par 3 courses are much smaller, so there is no need to rent a golf cart, which also saves money and adds some good ol’  physical exercise into your day, thanks to walking. Last, but certainly not least, par 3 courses are often much less crowded and don’t enforce etiquette rules as much as a typical course. With all those reasons, why not find your local par 3 course and try a round out today?

5. Keep Your Head Down

We have heard it from grade school PE coaches, all the way up to the major league baseball coaches, “Keep your eye on the ball”.

Well, the same, age-old rule applies to golf;  however, in this sport, the saying typically goes keep your head down. In golf, it is very important to keep your head down during your downswing because if you begin to lift your head, your entire body will follow. This causes the shoulders to raise and your entire body plane to be heightened by a few inches. When your body is heightened versus what it was at, your golf club will raise. This, in essence, means that you will line up to hit the ball in the center of the club face, but by raising your head, you will hit the top of the ball, which is a big no-no.

There are a few drills that you can use in order to practice maintaining proper head position. The first one is called the shadow drill. This one is quite simple to complete but will work wonders with your biofeedback. Simply line up your shot with your back to the sun and maneuver yourself until your head lines up perfectly with the tee. Practice your swing over and over, making sure your head neither goes above or below the plane of the tee. The second drill is called the tee drill. and this one can get a little dirty if you aren’t careful. To begin, find a very clean tee and place it in-between your teeth. Second, start swinging and watch the tee, if the tee points at the ball the entire time then your head is correct. If the tee waivers from the ball then your head is moving. Practice these few drills and you will soon be ahead Jedi! Don’t forget that one of other useful things for practicing is definitely an indoor putting green.

Becoming the Jedi of Golf

Give all these tips a try and you will soon find yourself closer to conquering the game of golf. Always remember that the main idea of any sport is to have fun so, even if these tips don’t work immediately, enjoy the learning process. In order to become the Jedi of golf, it will take practice, persistence, and patience.

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