You CAN Be a Successful #Golf Beginner. Here's How

After introducing several of my colleagues to the wonderful world of golf, they caught the bug. It was inevitable - the ball was airborne, the weather cooperated...all things necessary for a successful start.

What steps were taken to ensure success for these two golf beginners and what is needed by the newbie to establish advancement of their golf goals? Here are three tips to help beginners get in, and stay in, the game.

1. Set a plan into motion. Most beginners want to get right out there on the golf course but that is not the best course of action. Time on the driving range is essential and, although practice is good, targeted practice is even better.

You have to be able to move your playing piece before you take the next step, otherwise, playing "military" golf is no fun (left, right, left, right). Step one leads us directly to step two (see below).

2. Qualified instruction is key to success. Although I put my colleague in the correct positions so that she could get started (she was very eager to hit the ball), when the professional golf instructor arrived, he noticed things I did not, such as a weak grip which was causing her to slice the ball. Take lessons but make sure to understand and learn each one before moving to the next.

3. Get custom fit for golf clubs. (This tip goes for all golfers!)
Did you know, it costs the same amount of money to buy golf clubs "off the rack" as it does to get them fit to your exact specifications? Also, a custom club fitter makes sure that the lie and weight of the golf clubs suit your particular swing.

If you are reading this and you are the beginner, remember that only focused practice will allow you to improve. I know you are in a hurry to get out onto a golf course but you will have so much more fun if you learn the basics! Remember, this is a game that will last you a lifetime. Take your time and enjoy the process.

What is the mentality of any golfer who wishes to become a winner? With so many different skill sets needed, from mental to physical, Golf for Beginners took one section from an infographic from Onlinegolf.uk to show you what, in their opinion makes The Perfect Golfer.

1. Every shot counts, so remain focused on one shot at a time. If you hit a bad shot, it's automatically in the past and you must then focus solely on the shot you face next.

Play to your own strengths and try not to overthink shots. Keep it simple: aim to find the fairway and middle of the green every time.

Make your practice time a pressured environment. Imagine being in a scenario where that one shot counts. Apply your pre-shot routine and evaluate the success of each shot. This will help you when you play in your local weekend Stableford or medal competitions.

Are you a golf beginner who needs answers? Ask away, we're here to help.
Contact golfforbeginners@aol.com, leave a comment below or tweet us @Golf4Beginners.

Thanks for sharing Onlinegolf.uk!

3 Steps to Achieving YOUR #Golf Resolutions

Resolutions are made this time of year and, for golfers, the main theme is to work on areas which are weak and need improvement.

What is your most important new year golf goal?

PGA Tour players, in general, rely on the short game to get them into contention, so it seems like a just and proper resolution to work on wedge and putter development. Other golfers like Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, may be looking ahead to a certain major victory in 2018., and devising individual goals to get them there.

One thing is for sure - luck and/or wishing won't make it happen. "You are what you do, not what you say you'll do." - Carl Jung

In this Golf for Beginners blog, we hope that you set reasonable and achievable targets. Here is how to start this process:

1. Look at your game and decide where you are at your weakest or where you lose the most strokes. For me, it is in my approach shots and putting.

2. Put your goals down on paper - make a list and determine how you will achieve those goals. Break down each goal into smaller parts. As I have been told in the past...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! SET YOUR GOALS NOW!

As for my personal golf goals, I need to get to the range more and focus on shots that are 100 yards and in. I also need to bone up on chipping with clubs other than my sand wedge, such as my 8-iron.

SET GOALS THAT WILL MOTIVATE YOU!

A good tip I found on Mindtools.com is to write down why your goals are valuable and important to you. Make sure that your goals are: specific. measurable. achievable, relevant and you attach a due date to them. Just saying, "I want to improve my putting this year" or "I want to lower my handicap" isn't enough.

3. Get out there and make it happen!
Many a resolution has been broken because we are not determined enough to work our way through our sluggishness ...we also make excuses. After reading this blog, why not work on one of your resolutions?

Read: Golf Resolutions for a Happy New Year


Which golf resolution will you be working on this year? Write it down here, in the comments section of this golf blog, and tweet us at @Golf4Beginners, then make it happen!

Just the Facts - 150th World Almanac Features All-Time Golf Winners

Rankings play an important part in golf and every fan has an opinion.

This is particularly true when golfers discuss topics like, "who is the best player never to win a major" or the flip side, "who is the worst golfer to win a major".

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." ―  John Adams

The 150th Anniversary edition of The World Almanac and Book of Facts for 2018 is a repository for golf facts as well as lists of notable personalities, science and technology innovations, maps and U.S. History.

With a week off for some R&R, I had the chance to peruse this reference book and it is an eye-opener for anyone interested in learning more about the world in which we live.

If you are a fact lover and are interested in who won the Olympic Gold Medal in golf (do you remember...seems like a really long time ago) or the Women's All-Time Leading LPGA Tournament Winners, this book may be just what you're looking for!

"The World Almanac is considered America's top-selling reference book of all time, with more than 82 million copies sold. Since 1868, this compendium of information has been the authoritative source for all your entertainment, reference, and learning needs."

Many internet aficionados may say, "you can simply search these facts on the internet" but there is something "novel" about thumbing through a physical book that makes this World Almanac a special resource. True, you may consider the 1,000 or so pages a bit of a paperweight but, when I received it in the mail, my husband grabbed it, commenting that he can't wait to read through it. And yes, there is a Kindle edition of The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2018 so, for all of you who prefer to go paperless, there is an option for you.

Are you a fact lover? Which is the most unique golf fact that you have come across? Tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners or let us know in the comments section of this golf blog.

Picking Your Wedge With Confidence - guest #golf post

This guest post is courtesy of golf aficionado Brian Adams, whose bio is below. Thanks for giving Stacy Solomon this week off for some R-and-R (and golf, of course), for which she is grateful!

These golf tips are on the short game, from one-hundred yards and in...probably some of the most important tips you will read this year. Learning about your golf clubs is the first step to mastering them.

(Editors notes) Before "digging into" this article, let's address a few terms, specifically BOUNCE, which is, plainly put, where the bottom of the club, or sole, touches the ground and LOFT, the number of degrees that the face of your golf club is angled upward.

Bounce is a measurement of degrees; the higher the number, the more the leading edge of your golf club will be off the ground at address. Thoughtco.com discusses bounce as, "The more bounce a wedge has - the higher its bounce angle - the better it will resist digging. Another way of saying it: Higher bounce equals smaller, shallower divots."

Picking Your Wedge With Confidence

Not all wedges are created equal. Some fly high, some get you distance, and some are left in your golf bag for the rest of eternity, never again to see the light of day. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Let’s get you the basics on when to best utilize each wedge to your full advantage.

The Pitching Wedge

This is the old standby. Of the standard selection of wedges, the pitching wedge will get you the most distance but offers the least loft.

Recreational golfers are likely to be most familiar with their pitching wedge distance, using it for any and all occasions that call for a wedge. To that, I ask: would you use a fork to eat soup? And you might answer “Only if all the spoons are dirty and it’s not my turn to unload the dishwasher.” To which I would reply “I think we’ve lost the idea behind this analogy.” The point is that the pitching wedge is not your only option. There’s also...

The Gap Wedge

The Gap is not only the place where your little sister worked part-time during high school; it’s also a wedge that can help you form a more complete short game.

It’s called a gap wedge because it covers the yardage gap between your (longer) pitching wedge and (shorter) sand wedge. Not every beginner will necessarily have a gap wedge in their bag, as it’s not always included in a set of irons. As you begin to dial in your distances more accurately, a gap wedge may be worth adding to your bag to make sure any yardages are covered.

The Sand Wedge

For many beginners, the sand wedge doesn’t offer much distance for the average player, but it can provide some extra loft from the 40-70 yard range.

You’ve likely become acquainted with the sand wedge during some trying times in the greenside bunker.

Although the sand wedge is designed to hit out of the sand, it’s not the only time you can use it. The sand wedge can be just as effective for short distances from the rough or the fairway as well.

The Lob Wedge

You may have seen one of Phil Mickelson’s famous “flop” shots around the green, where he takes a full swing to get maximum height with within a short distance. This type of shot is typically executed with a lob wedge.

The lob wedge is perhaps the least common wedge for a beginner to carry and is arguably the most difficult of the wedges to hit as intended. To achieve the desired height, you’ve got to swing hard.

The main issue with the lob wedge is that, if you take a full swing and fail to get under the ball properly, your fellow golfers may be calling you Captain Sully Sullenberger. (As a reminder, golf balls don’t float on the Hudson River.) Overall, the lob wedge is a high risk/high reward club that you may want in your arsenal some day. Whether or not today is that day...I’ll leave up to you.

Watch Phil Mickelson's amazing golf flop shot at Deutsche Bank Championship: http://bit.ly/2B37E4c



READ: Improve Your Short Game in 2 Easy Steps


Brian Adams Bio:
Brian is a left-handed golfer who lives in the Greater Boston area with his wife and their adorable baby girl. He is a regular contributor to the comedy website RECYCULUS and, when not on the golf course, occasionally directs music videos and performs stand-up comedy. For more info, visit https://brianadamsmedia.wordpress.com/page/.


Add your comments to this Golf for Beginners golf blog below and @tag us with your thoughts on Twitter Golf4Beginners!

Golf Club loft chart: Golfalot.com
Golf Ball in bunker: PXHere.com

Can Luck Be the Answer to a Winning #Golf Mindset?

Skill vs. luck - which one ultimately wins a tournament? Jordan Spieth believes there is an element of luck to his game.

"If you believe that you put yourself in the right positions—like, obviously, making a 50-footer for eagle, for that to go in, there’s certainly luck involved."

Spieth continues, "I put myself in position by executing to get it close, but if you have that extra element of belief that it’s going to go in, then you’re not surprised and you believe that it was you. Then you create a trend of your mental approach with it. And, obviously, it can go the other way really quickly. You can believe you are not going to get a break. And then you probably won’t. It’s amazing how it works."

Tiger Woods once said, "There's no sense in going to a tournament if you don't believe that you can win it. And that is the belief I have always had. And that is not going to change." To believe is a good thing but, what happens when you don't win?

After the third round of the Hero World Challenge, Woods seemed to change his tune and was just happy to be back in the game; he was enjoying the competition of the tournament, not considering the final outcome. "It’s nice to be part of the fight again,” Woods said. “Get out there and fighting against the golf course; fighting against the guys. That’s fun."

Can having fun and not worrying about the outcome increase your luck on the golf course?

Research has determined that "the idea that exceptional performers are the most skilled is flawed."
Winning is overrated and exceptional performance often occurs in exceptional circumstances. Luck also has a lot to do with winning.

Scientists have looked into the science of luck and believe that there is a measurable aspect to luck which "has more to do with psychology than probability." A positive mental attitude combined with not compensating when facing fear can better your chances of winning.

So, can you be "lucky" at golf and improve your chances? Is there a scientific aspect to luck and, if so, how can you apply it to your next round of golf?

Read: Improve your short game in 2 easy steps

An article in Popular Science magazine says that it is possible to trick your mind into believing you are lucky...with "lucky charms". In fact, research has shown that superstitions of any kind can help you perform better on the golf course. "Researchers hypothesized that the people with their lucky charms by their side persisted at problems longer because they felt more effective like they had the assistance of some other power." So now you know it's okay to pull out that rabbit's foot, throw grass over your shoulder and mark your ball that certain way...

Gary Player contradicts research by saying, "The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Of which mindset are you...and what lucky charms do you carry in your golf bag? Let us know in the comments section of our Golf for Beginners golf blog and tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Improve Your Short Game in 2 Easy Steps

Did you know that PGA Tour golfers get "up-and-down" only about sixty percent of the time? According to Dave Pelz, that number drops greatly for the average golfer.

Driving the ball moves you down the fairway (maybe), but getting on the green, and finishing in the least number of strokes, is really what the game is all about!

The short game, whether it's chipping, sand saves or putting, should be worked on only at the practice facility - you don't want to start working on your game during a round as that could prove to be disastrous.

Golf for Beginners has compiled a few video tips and drills to help you score better down the stretch.

1. CHIPPING: I just came upon this simple golf video tip from PGA instructor Meredith Kirk yesterday - getting into a good chipping stance.




Read: Tips to Improve Consistency in your golf game


2. PUTTING: According to Dave Pelz, good putts start with tempo. Think "pendulum". Vary the length of your backswing to control the speed of your putts. Watch this Youtube.com video to see how the Master does it:




REMEMBER: Final putting tip for today: the only golf club in the bag specifically made to hit the ball into the cup is the putter – master it first, master it best!

What golf short game tips can you share with our readers? Post in the comments section below and on Twitter, tagging @Golf4Beginners.

Photo: Wikimedia