Instruction
10 important tips for beginning golfers
As adults, we tend to shy away from learning new things because it’s difficult, and sometimes embarrassing. But I promise, learning the wonderful game of golf will be worth it. It’s just going to take some work.
As a resource for beginning golfers, I put together a list of my top-10 tips to getting started in golf. Follow these tips, and you’ll soon learn why golf is the greatest game ever played.
Sign up for weekly or monthly lessons for at least one year
For every Bubba Watson who figured out how to swing on his own, there are millions of golfers who struggle deeply. If you pick up golf by just hitting balls by yourself, you’ll most likely ingrain improper movements. Then when you decide you want to take lessons, it will be a long, tedious process to undo your bad habits.
That’s why I suggest golfers start taking lessons from a certified instructor (not just their buddy on the range) from day one. This way, they’ll develop the proper fundamentals that golf requires — long game, short game, putting, etc. — instantly giving their athletic ability a chance to prosper in the game.
Buy yourself a decent and fitted set of clubs from a golf professional
With ill-fit golf clubs, beginning golfers are going to struggle to enjoy the game as much as they could. So once you have made the decision to really give golf a go, buy clubs that are fit to some degree in length, lie, flex, and forgiveness.
Without decent clubs, golfers often develop bad habits that can take years to overcome. This does not mean they have to spend $5,000 to get started, but they should least give themselves a fighting chance with brand-name equipment that was fit to them in some way, shape or form.
Play golf balls that suit your ability level and golf course
Yes, I know golf balls are expensive, but if you’re going to play seriously, pick a ball type that matches what you want the ball to do and stick with it.
Playing a Tour-level golf ball on holes Nos. 1-13, and then a bargain ball for holes Nos. 14-18 gives you different feels and different reactions off each club. How can you be consistent with different types of equipment?
Don’t play the ball you found that has bounced off the path or has a gash in it, even on the water holes. You are only lowering your chance of success.
Block off your work schedule (in the a.m.) to practice at least once per week
Saying you are going to hit balls or practice golf after work is the same as saying you’ll go to the gym after work… there is always a reason why you just can’t make it. The best way I have found to combat this is to target one weekday to hit balls or practice before work. This is your time, and will help your golf life as well as your work life. Trying to practice while answering the phone or thinking about work is counterproductive. Go to the range before work and you will face a lower-stress environment that fosters improvement.
Your practice should include the ENTIRE game
At the beginning stage of practice, golfers should be learning the ENTIRE game, not just the long game. Beginning golfers often say, “Once I have the swing figured out, I’ll work on my short game.” The problem is, this method doesn’t teach them how to play the game of golf.
Beginning golfers often ignore wedges and lag putting in their practice sessions, but each can save them a ton of strokes. I’ve noticed that beginners struggle to hit the green from 30-80 yards, and consistently three-putt from beyond 20-25 feet. For that reason, I recommend golfers break up their practice time into four different areas:
- 25 percent long game
- 25 percent wedges (from 30-100 yards)
- 25 percent short game (chipping, pitching, bunkers, short putting)
- 25 percent lag putting.
Getting down in no more than three shots from inside 80 yards is a must in the early stages in order to manage scores and eliminate big numbers on the scorecard.
Commit yourself to playing the game at least 50 percent of the time
Hitting balls on a range only helps you work on your “golf swing.” But the world is full of beautiful swings that can’t score when it matters. If you don’t play, you’ll never learn how to manage rough, hilly lies, adversity, or even success. Remember you are supposed to PLAY golf, not just hit balls.
If you just enjoy hitting balls, then save yourself some money and only buy an 8 iron, 6 iron and a driver, because that’s all you’ll need to have fun at the range. Facilities like Top Golf have proven that the range can be fun, but remember that playing golf is a sport in itself.
Decide if you’re playing golf for fun or for score that day
If you are going out to the course, decide before you start the round whether you are going to play for “fun” or for “score,” as they require two completely different mindsets. Golfers who play for fun can’t get mad or concerned with what they shoot, since they are working on something specific or attempting shots that have more risk than reward. Consequently, if you’re playing for score, you will find golf to be nothing more than a chess game with a ball and a stick.
Manage your expectations based on your current abilities
Over time, you will be able to hit shots you were not able to hit the season before, or maybe even the month before. Remember to enjoy the ride, and don’t try to outplay your current ability level. If you don’t know how to curve the ball with any reliability, then just punch out. Why make a 10 when you could make a 6?
Golf is a compromise between three things: What your ego wants you to do, what your experience wants you to do, and what your talent will let you do.
Leave your bad attitude in the car
A golf ball does not care how much money you have, how many employees you command or what kind of car you drive, so remember to leave your Type-A personality in the car. And if you think you can override the learning curve just because you were a good athlete in high school, you’re in for a big surprise.
Maybe even more harmful to improving at golf is a bad attitude. Whining and complaining not only makes you miserable, but makes you a total drag to play with in general. It’s NOT all about you.
If it proves not to be fun, it’s OK to quit
After all, golf is just a game. So if you aren’t having any fun consistently, it’s ok to stop playing. Golf isn’t going anywhere, and no one wants you around you on the golf course if you are miserable, throwing clubs and complaining, including your best friends. And please, don’t take a bad day on the course home with you to your family.
In golf, you don’t have to break a course record or even break 100 to be an enjoyable playing partner. If you’re having fun, being polite and playing fast, there will always be a welcoming foursome for you!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Sarah Smith
May 11, 2016 at 3:09 pm
I’ve recently become interested in playing golf and was in need of some tips. I didn’t know that there were different types of golf balls. I also appreciate that you mention that golf is supposed to be fun and if you’re not having fun then it is okay to quit. Thanks for the tips, now I just have to find a golf course close by!
Bump Fuzz
Feb 19, 2016 at 2:17 pm
Just think of the golf swing as making a sandwich. That was a tip a got many moons ago that has stuck with me.
Woodlands Barbershop Dennie
Feb 19, 2016 at 12:50 pm
There is nothing wrong with beginners but there is an issue with slow players and poor manners that many experience at daily fee courses. Many of these muni or daily fee courses are 5 hour rounds. The main issue I have noticed at these tracks are poor tee time spacing allowing 5 somes and lack of on course marshals.
Troy
Feb 7, 2016 at 12:45 am
No question lack of golf lessons is the biggest problem. I play with so many golfers that never get lessons and yet seem confused why they don’t get any better.
If it’s good enough for guys like Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy to have golf coaches … so should we!
Pingback: 10 Essential Tips for New Golfers - Dan Hansen Golf Instruction
PimpDaddyWelfare
Feb 5, 2016 at 8:42 am
mhendon, those are things people learn as they play. And its up to us, who play often/regularly, to let them know in a friendly way that these are things to consider when golfing. They may also learn some of this through lessons. Too many times I see people freaking out over “etiquette” infractions and it makes for a really unfriendly environment for new golfers.
Scott, Lets all head out to the course to have a nice afternoon of golf…. But we have to do it as fast as we possibly can… To some degree I understand what you are saying, but lets be realistic, you DO NOT have to play quickly. No one is going to learn anything or get better at golf by playing quickly. Just be aware of others around you, respect the “pace of play” and let people play through if necessary.
Im not trying to start arguments here, but everyone was a beginner at some point. I was, just over 2 years ago, and its pretty fresh how the majority of people I ran into were really great and helpful as I was learning. As were those who treated the course as if it were theirs and no one else should be on it.
Scott
Feb 5, 2016 at 12:29 pm
I understand enjoying yourself but you need to be considerate of the world around you. Not everyone wants play a round of golf that takes around 5 hours. I have a friend that struggles to break 100. I have played numerous threesome rounds with him that were less that 3 hours; in a foursome around 3 1/2 hours. I have another friend that no one wants to play with because of how slow and deliberate he is – and we are still finishing within 4 1/2 hours. Playing quickly means nothing more than getting to your ball and being ready to hit when it is your turn.
If you have to go through a mental checklist of 20 plus “simple” swing thoughts along with 5 plus practice swings, you should probably just stay on the range or play when the course is empty.
pimpdaddywelfare
Feb 8, 2016 at 9:18 am
Ok, after the explanation I can agree with you there. Im only in the 90’s as of last year but it doesnt take me too long to play a round. In fact, I dont even like golfing with a particular person in our group who shoots in the 70-80’s because he takes way too long, and too many practice swings.
I read your comment wrong I suppose. I just don’t like the “beginners dont belong on the course till they shoot below 100” attitude of some people.
mhendon
Feb 4, 2016 at 7:34 pm
How about lesson in golf etiquette. 1 keep quiet when its another persons turn to hit. 2 don’t stand directly behind someone as they play. 3 fix ball marks and divots. 4 rake bunkers. 5 don’t walk on someones line on the green. 6 learn how to walk with out ruffing up the green. Take multiple clubs with you to your ball. 7 offer to let faster players through etc.
Scott
Feb 4, 2016 at 9:06 am
Play quickly, you are not on the PGA Tour with rent money on the line. That should be number 1. Either play well or play poorly, but always play quickly.
golfraven
Feb 3, 2016 at 4:48 pm
This list would apply to all golfer not just beginners – I would include even Pros here although they should know better.
Andre
Feb 3, 2016 at 1:50 pm
Great list, I agree with everything on it. I personally think #2 should have been number 1#. I see this all too often when playing. I have left in middle of round because of this. I do enjoying with new people, and especially those whom are just starting.
Shallowface
Feb 5, 2016 at 7:20 am
If I were to start someone new, I would start them with what amounts to a half swing, making solid contact a priority over distance. Then on the course (which wouldn’t happen until a degree of proficiency is achieved at the range), we start at the forward tees so there’s as little pressure as possible. We look at the scorecard and I explain that bogeys are fine and that on a Par 4, “three of these and two of those” will work just fine. Doubles and worse are the killer for beginners (and everyone else for that matter) and most of those come from poor tee shots that are a result of swinging too full and too hard. But two shots that get a person inside 50 yards on a Par 4 are perfectly adequate.
If a beginner makes 18 bogeys with this thought process, that’s a 90. Every par they eke out, and they will, takes them into the 80s. They are able to keep up and play with other folks instantly. As their knowledge and confidence improve, they can lengthen out their swing to add distance and the ability to play from farther back. But they stay with the game because early success is maximized and embarrassment is minimized.
Two other things. First, find a wedge that’s point and shoot, with a wide sole as near to a hybrid as possible. We’re looking for something that Phil would never use.
Second, when the ball is on the ground, focus on the front side of it at address. This tends to get the club to hit the ground in the right place, in front of the ball.
I believe and approach like this, where consistency is emphasized over distance at the beginning, would build more permanent golfers.