There are zero posts in this community, so I figured I would start it off with the best advice that can be given to a beginner.

Get a lesson!

Don’t read articles. Don’t take swing advice from randos on the internet. And for the love of God don’t watch YouTube videos. They will ruin your swing if you don’t know what you’re doing (which you don’t because you’re a beginner).

I spent years working with a bad, inconsistent swing. One, 1 hour session with a local instructor for $125 fixed it so that I’m consistently flushing all of my clubs, and hitting with a slight draw. And I gained 10-15 yards on every club, despite that not being my goal at all. I genuinely would have paid double or triple the price if I knew how much better it would make me.

So why did it take me so long to get a lesson? I think there are a few errors in thought that cause people to avoid taking a lesson (or at least did with me):

  1. You just genuinely think you can work it out by yourself, and taking a lesson feels almost like cheating. Or maybe your ego is preventing you from taking a lesson. - Drop the ego, and realize that most people who are any good at golf have probably had a lesson at some point. Golf is hard, and without a professional it’s hard to know if what you’re changing in your swing is helping or hurting (more on this later).

  2. You think that for some reason your swing is the exception, and they won’t be able to fix it. - This is just categorically wrong. There is nothing special about your swing. Any instructor worth their salt can suss out your issues pretty quickly, and give you drills and advice to work through them. My instructor found four major problems with my swing within the first seven balls I hit.

  3. It’s too expensive/isn’t worth the money. - If $125 is too expensive, then you’re playing the wrong sport. Skip a few rounds and you’ll have enough money for a lesson. Trust me it’s worth it. One side of this is the thought that if you can fix it for free via YouTube/Articles, then its better than paying for it. This is something that’s true in theory, but almost impossible in practice. Without immediate feedback it’s incredibly difficult to apply advice you get from YouTube/Articles. Not to mention that everyone is different, and what works for someone else might not work for you. An instructor can give you immediate advice, tailored to your peculiarities. And you KNOW the advice is correct, and will work if you keep practicing it. What’s more, the instructor will give you specific drills to work on exactly where your issues lie. There’s huge peace of mind in knowing that what you’re doing is eventually going to help, rather than constantly second guessing any advice you’ve received from the internet. Trust the process.

Everyone who gets a lesson says the exact same thing, “I wish I had done this sooner.” Get the lesson sooner rather than later, and get those good habits ingrained early. Professionals are professionals for a reason.

Get a lesson!

    • Strae@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Honestly just my local driving range. I googled the instructor there, and he had a 5.0 rating from 247 reviews.

      I don’t know this for a fact, but I suspect any instructor at a reputable place, who also has good online reviews is probably worth the money.

      The issues I had were amazingly simple to fix, and I imagine most people fall into the same boat.

  • Mojeezy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I got my clubs yesterday and went straight to the driving range this morning.

    My plan is to get a 4-5 lesson package from the driving range within the next month or so.

    I got to the point where I can hit the ball consistently with my irons. More times than not I can get it up in the air and some decent distance for a newbie (from my expert opinion lol)

    Driver is a different story…

    My thought process is that I at least want to go into the lessons being able to hit the ball. I’d hate to waste 1 or 2 lessons. Just trying to get thy accomplished.

    Just sharing because I’m pumped and excited to go back to the range in two days. Maybe I will figure out how to hit the ball with the driver…