The Essential Guide to Golf for Beginners

Improve Your Golf Game
/ By WeJustGolf

Golf is a beautiful sport that gets you up and moving but doesn’t leave you feeling exhausted or overworked. It’s the perfect combination of relaxation and activity, plus you can get a group of friends together and enjoy an afternoon out on the course.

If you’ve never played before, that’s not a problem. It’s easy to learn enough to enjoy yourself, although it takes a lot of practice to become highly skilled. This article is not meant for pros. We will be talking about golf for beginners, complete with golf tips for beginners.

Two Mens Teaching Golf

That means you get to know the essential beginner golf tips, the basics of the sport, and some tips for buying good beginner golf clubs.

Golf Basics

If you are getting ready for your first round of golf and you don’t have the first clue what to expect, here’s a quick overview of the key things you need to know about golf.

A full round of golf is 18 holes. The goal is to get the ball into the hole in as few strokes (hits) as possible. That means the lower your score, the better you did. There are different clubs designed to handle different strokes. We will talk more about those later.

The most essential aspect of your golf game is your swing. Learning the rules and the differences between clubs is easy. Mastering your golf swing is not. It will take a lot of practice.

So before you get out there, rehearse your golf swing at home—a lot. Here are some golf swing tips for beginners to give you a basic idea of the fundamentals:

Posture

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and pointed slightly outward. Bend your knees very slightly (just enough to know they aren’t locked). Bend forward toward the ball at your hips without curving your spine. Your neck and spine should perfectly straight. Your eyes should be on the ball.

Proper Golf Posture

Grip

Start by gripping the top of the iron with your left hand. Reach your right hand to grip the iron below your left hand. Your palms are facing each other. If you’re a lefty, reverse these instructions (reverse all left-right instructions in this article). The clubhead (the part that will hit the ball) should be resting just behind the ball.

Upswing

Lead the upswing with the clubhead. It should be slightly ahead of your hands as you first bend your wrists, bend your right elbow, bend your hips, and bring the club up until it is point up at the sky. Do not swing it so far back that it points down behind you. Use slow, controlled movement.

Downswing

On the downswing, your hands should be leading the clubhead. That is, the clubhead should always be just behind your hands as you pull it back down and toward the ball. Reverse the movements you have made on the upswing: rotate hips back, draw the left arm, unbend the right elbow as you pull the club down. Focus on fluid, quick movement here. Don’t slow down to overthink it.

Follow through

Don’t forget the follow through. Continue leading with your hands (clubhead just behind your hands). Continue your swing after contact, drawing the club up to point at your target (the hole) and then continue swing back behind you until it is parallel with the ground. At the same time, your hips are rotating, your back is moving up and your weight is shifting onto your left foot.

Man Teaching Woman How to Swing Ball

We recommend taking a few beginner golf lessons at least until you have a strong enough understanding to practice on your own.

How to Choose Beginner Golf Clubs

Shopping for golf clubs and figuring out what does what can be difficult. When looking for quality clubs that suit you pay attention to the grip, the shaft, the loft, and the clubhead.

Some grips are thicker than others. A “rule of thumb” is to get a grip where your thumb and ring finger just barely touch when you hold it. If they don’t touch at all, it’s too thick. If they overlap, it’s too thin.
If you’re tall, you need a longer shaft. If you’re short, a shorter one. Choose one that feels comfortable when you are in proper swing position.
The club should have a loft measure on it. Higher loft means it will kick the ball into the air easily. This is good when you want the ball to go far but not when you are trying to put it into the hole.
The best irons for beginners have cavity backs that are more forgiving. Also look into sand wedges if you want more loft. This is needed if you find yourself in the bunker (sand trap) often.
A bigger clubhead is good for a beginner as it makes it easier to hit the ball. But different sizes are better for different tasks.

For the power drive (the shot that hurls the ball as close to the hole as you can get it), you need a driver. The best golf driver for beginners has high loft and a large clubhead.

Putting is one of the most difficult parts of golf at all skill levels but it’s especially hard for beginners. The best putter for beginners is a mallet putter with lines drawn on it to help you line up your shot.

Man Teaching Golf Ball Swing

This article provides you with a few golfing tips to help you get started but the more you play, the more you will want to get into more advanced techniques and strategies for lowering your score and becoming a better player.