Golf Talk With Greg Holman – #63

I saw an interesting article in Golf Digest called The Seven Things a Beginning Golfer Should Know, so for my blog this week I wanted to go back to the basics and devote this manuscript to the beginning golfers as I elaborate on what Golf Digest has to say.

The first thing I was taught was the standard overlapping grip by my dad at the age of 9. It wasn’t comfortable. I could do better with a baseball grip. There have been some professional golfers that have had success with that approach but most teachers will agree that the vardon overlapping grip yields the best results in the long run because the two hands work as one unit. I’ve tried to teach it. Many beginners give up. My advice is to not give up.

Place your left hand on the club and overlap your right hand by inserting the little finger of your right hand into the slot between the second and middle finger of your left hand. The V’s formed between your thumb and forefinger should point to your right shoulder. The grip should not be tight. Legendary teacher Bob Toski says it should be as if you are holding a bird. Just firm enough so it doesn’t fly away, but not so firm that you choke the creature.

The second lesson deals with ball position. You will notice, unless you are Bryan Dechambeau that each club is a different length and weight. The smaller the number, the longer the shaft, the lighter the club, and the lower the trajectory. The wedges and 9-iron should be played from the middle of the stance, that is the ball should be positioned halfway between your left and right foot. As you progress through the bag the ball is positioned slightly more and more toward the front foot until you get to the driver which should played with the ball opposite your left heel.

In previous blogs we’ve talked about intentionally hitting the ball high and low, but we won’t get into that in this blog.

The third pointer for a beginning golfer is alignment. It’s one of the hardest things to do yourself. Ideally your feet, hips and shoulders should be aligned to your target creating a 90 degree angle. A friend can help you do this but start by addressing the ball at the correct distance then place a club on the line where your feet should be about shoulder width apart. Practice on the range until you can carry the feeling onto the course.

The #4 lesson is an oxymoron because we’ve been talking about various aspects of the swing and #4 is one thought per swing. The thought I like and still use today is pretending you are shaking hands with a person behind you. That will teach you the correct shoulder turn. If I want to hit a long drive I want to feel like my left shoulder touches my chin on the backswing. I usually have straighter results too. One swing though and the full correct shoulder turn is actually tips 4 and 5, so that takes us to lesson #6.

Before you try this you should pick a day where your local golf course is nearly vacant or check with the course pro or manager. Play nine holes from shorter distances. Tee off from only 25 yards from the green. When you can make four from there move back 25 yards each time until you reach the forward tee.

And finally we come to golf reminder #7. It’s a version of what my dad taught me. Take a hack at it and walk quickly. In other words, play at a fast pace. Save your analyzation for the range. And remember, the best playing partner is a fast playing partner. I still need to work on that. If you are a beginning golfer, don’t get discouraged. Golf is a difficult game and no one has ever had a perfect score, not even close. One day Ted Williams and Sam Snead were arguing over which sport was more difficult.

Ted said, “Baseball is more difficult because you have to hit a moving target that sometimes curves or dips.” Sam Snead said, “Golf was harder because you don’t have to go up in the stands and play your foul balls.”

Good luck and hit ’em straight!