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New to Golf HELP!

Saturday I played Golf for the first time, it went well, except for almost hitting some guy with my hooked ball and it rained the whole time, and losing my new balls I JUST got in the water!

But it was fun.

so any advice for a newbie

Here is my gear

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I was told this would be a good starter set, the only thing that wasn't so good, was the driver


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I played on a course that isn't very nice, I figure that anyone thats good wouldn't be there, that way I'm not getting in anyones way.

I watched some youtube vids to get advice on how swing-hit.......Play!

what do you think! and again any advice?
 
I'm not sure if it's the driver. Much like shaving, it's all in the technique.

I have an old Taylor Made Burner driver that was given to me from someone who used it for about 8 years, and I can still produce 270ish yard drives with it pretty consistently. So it's unlikely that your new driver "isn't good".

I'm not sure where you're located, but try to find a golf store or training center with a Swing Analyzer. The golf store near me has one that's very interactive and both the emulator (and staff) are very critical and helpful. You'd be amazed how much better your swing is after a single session.
 
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I play with clubs that are about 10 years old, they need new grips and the face is about worn out on the irons. I only have one driver and I bought that at Wally World about 5 years ago. It is not the equipment. Like Chiss said, it is like shaving.

Here are a few good pointers that are basic golfing skills. This is my golfing mantra. It is a little longer than the shaving mantra so bare with me.

#1: Keep your head down, make "eye contact" with the ball.

#2: Make the back swing painfully slow.

#3: Keep your leading arm straight. It is all in the wrists.

#4: Keep you head down. I know I have said this already, but you can't hit what you can't see.

#5: Give it a good follow through and don't try to kill the ball. All you want to do with that ball is hit it. Let the club do the work.

#6: Relax, drink plenty of beer, and have fun!

JoshD
 
Japheth, Take a lesson. I'm not kidding, Golf is an incredibly difficult game to master, take a lesson and begin learning the right way instead of ingraining bad habits. You'll thank me later.
 
For the reason that I rarely make it over a pond or water hazard on the first shot, I keep some yard sale/driving range-quality balls in my bag to get out for shots over water. I've lost as many as 5 trying to make it over before. :laugh:

No reason to send my good balls to a certain death...plus I'm not a swimmer so they're staying in there.
 
Teaching yourself is the kiss of death. Find a good pro in your area and take a few lessons. Once you ingrain bad habits they are incredibly hard to break.

That being said, if you want to take a look at a huge range of videos on You Tube from a great teacher, point your browser at http://web.mac.com/shawnclement/Site/Welcome.html and click on the "You Tube Shawn" link. Shawn is a fantastic teacher (even if he is Canadian), and you can learn a lot from his videos.
 
You can play well with $10 clubs, or hack up the course with a $1000 set. Despite what the ads try to tell you, the equipment you play with makes very little difference to the average golfer. You're years away from knowing the difference between a 10-year club and a brand new one.

Basically, you need 3 things right now -
Get lessons. Practice. Ignore all advise given by anyone you're not paying to teach you.
 
Thanks for the link. He does a really good job explaining things.

Teaching yourself is the kiss of death. Find a good pro in your area and take a few lessons. Once you ingrain bad habits they are incredibly hard to break.

That being said, if you want to take a look at a huge range of videos on You Tube from a great teacher, point your browser at http://web.mac.com/shawnclement/Site/Welcome.html and click on the "You Tube Shawn" link. Shawn is a fantastic teacher (even if he is Canadian), and you can learn a lot from his videos.
 
People have already mentioned lessons. The other very important thing is to only listen to the pro that is helping you. When you play a lot of the other people in your group may try to "help" you with your swing. All that will do is give you their bad swing thoughts and habits.
 
Getting lessons is great advice. You can learn how to swing a club correctly in a matter of hours. But to consistently do every time, that can take a lifetime. It is just like shaving you need to learn good technique and then with practice you will find what works best for you.
 
Japheth, Take a lesson. I'm not kidding, Golf is an incredibly difficult game to master, take a lesson and begin learning the right way instead of ingraining bad habits. You'll thank me later.

Teaching yourself is the kiss of death. Find a good pro in your area and take a few lessons. Once you ingrain bad habits they are incredibly hard to break.

That being said, if you want to take a look at a huge range of videos on You Tube from a great teacher, point your browser at http://web.mac.com/shawnclement/Site/Welcome.html and click on the "You Tube Shawn" link. Shawn is a fantastic teacher (even if he is Canadian), and you can learn a lot from his videos.

+ a bazillion

You will be better off in the long run if you spend more money now on lessons than on equipment.

And once you have taken your lessons, PRACTICE!!

And then practice some more. :thumbup1:

If Chicago is relatively close, I recommend lessons at GolfTEC.
 
1. Take a lesson

2. Take another lesson

3. Take some more lessons

4.Get a membership to a driving range , so you can groove your swing.

5.Spend more money than ever could on shaving gear and wonder why the ball goes straight at the range and all over the place when you play.

6.Break 80 then hit one great shot get hooked forever.

How do I know? It happened to me.

I don't play as much as I used to but it's still a great time and once in a while I hit a good shot.
 
So, what I'm getting is a might want to get some lessons :lol:

That being said, how much does that cost?

I live near a town called Fort Wayne IN, it's about 20min drive.

Thats the biggest town nearby, do any golf courses give lessons, or is that a bad way to go?

O' and thanks for all the advice "which I can't take because I'm not paying you"
 
The only thing worse than lack of practice is lots of bad practice. Don't train yourself a bad swing. See a professional. It will likely cost you roughly the same as a round of golf. If you can find a beginner's group lesson, that would be ideal. They will teach you what you need to get started. I would imagine there's a lot of places to learn in the greater fort wayne area. I would start with a local course and talk with their club pro.
 
From the looks of the floor, the corner of the furniture, the paint, etc... your home looks beautiful. I mean from what little I see.
 
Definitely take lessons. It is something I havent done yet (been playing for a few years) and wish I would have. I started playing in 04, and am down to an 11.6 handicap. I think that if I had taken lessons before I ingrained my own not so great swing, I could be a lot better. It is a very addicting game, so be prepared to spend a lot of money. I started out playing 1 or 2 times a month, and now I play probably 4 or 5 times a week.

If you want more information regarding golf than you could ever hope to process, check outGolfWRX.com. It's like the B&B of golf, on crack. The site has been mentioned in many golf magazines, reps from all the major (and some of the smaller niche brands) OEM's are regular members there. The owners of Scratch golf (makers of some of the nicest irons you will find) are regular members, as well as players from several of the many tours. I do know that Ryan Moore is a member there, though he does not post a lot. There are a few other PGA tour members who have done well to remain anonymous, and many mini tour players regularly post. There is a lot of great information on equipment as well as a section dedicated to helping people (several teaching pros also post regularly, and give great advice).
 
1. Go to see a golf pro (there is no point in teaching yourself bad habits)
2. Practice as much as you can (concentrating on what the pro has said to you)
3. Put your driver in the attic until next year
4. The short game (ie from 100 yards in) is the most important part of golf.
 
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