Latest Articles by Charlie G Wallace

Start Playing Golf – Your First Practice Routines

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:47:22 -0600

People often ask me what are the first things they should do to start playing golf and my response is always the same.

Beg, borrow or buy a cheap putter and a pitching wedge for around $10-$12 each. Get 20-25 golf balls from your friends, a local golf club or a cheap sports goods outlet.

That’s all you need – one putter, one club and a bag of balls.

Go to your local or municipal golf course where there should be a practice putting green. This will usually be free or very low cost. To begin with just learn to putt from all parts of the green - uphill shots and downhill ones; short ones and longer ones, straight ones and curved ones. Spend several hours learning to putt.

When you feel you have the hang of putting, learn to chip shots from between 5-12 feet from the green towards the flag. This is much more difficult than it seems, and it is where many shots are dropped in a round of golf.

The main problem inexperienced golfers have with the chip shot is how far back to take the club and accelerating through the ball. This requires practice and many, many chip shots.

The common mistakes that golfers make playing this shot are ‘grounding’ (hitting the ground first) the club before striking the ball or ‘topping’ the ball – striking it too high.

Chipping requires you to adopt a much more upright stance – that is with your feet almost together and no more than 2-3 inches apart. Your hands should be ‘ahead’ of the ball, meaning that they are at a slight angle in front of the ball as you strike it.

You only need to take the club back a short distance to strike the ball – probably no more than 12-24 inches depending on how far you want the ball to travel. Make sure that you make good, clean contact and ensure that you strike the ball in the centre of the club. This is crucial.

All you want to do is lift the ball a little up in the air to clear the fringe around the putting green and land the ball on the green to run towards the hole.

To help you develop your chipping technique, watch how the professionals do it and note their stance, how they address the ball, the extent of the backlift and accelerating through the ball as they strike it. Memorise these techniques and practice, practice and practice doing this yourself around the green.

Chipping is a much neglected part of the game for amateurs, and I can assure you, as a new golfer you will have to play a lot of chip shots. Even good golfers do, but they practice them often.

You have to keep your eye on the ball and make sure you strike it in the right place at the right speed to avoid these mistakes.

These two simple practice techniques will get you prepared for learning other parts of the game. You probably need to put in about 50-60 hours just learning to putt and a similar amount of time on chipping and, of course, the practice needs to be continued if you want to become a good golfer.

Remember Tiger Woods, Anikka Sorenstam, David Beckham and Roger Federer did not become the great sportsmen/women they are without first learning some basic techniques and you won’t enjoy your game so much without learning how to do it properly.

A Low Cost Solution To Starting To Play Golf

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:07:04 -0600

As someone interested in starting to play golf, my advice to you is – don’t buy a set of golf clubs straight away. There is plenty of time to do that and apart from anything else, you may decide you don’t enjoy playing golf and you’ll be saddled with a set of clubs that you might not be able to get rid of.
As a junior golfer or an adult beginner, keep your costs down and buy just what you need.
So, what do you need?
My advice is buy 2 clubs – a putter and a sand or pitching wedge. A 9 iron would be OK as an alternative. These 3 clubs have a high loft and should get the ball in the air if hit correctly. I say buy, but you might be able to borrow these from a friend. That would be the best option whilst you look around for some inexpensive to buy later. To be honest, it is nice to have your own clubs and you may want to buy them straight away.
I bought some cheap golf clubs from a low cost sports goods outlet for less than $15 each which were perfectly adequate for my needs at that time. Do not be tempted to buy a full set of golf clubs. You don’t need them when you first start and I would strongly recommend that you don’t commit yourself to buying them until you have had some instruction and some advice on what to buy from a golf professional. The professional will probably be able to hire you a set of clubs for a lesson. After a few lessons, when you feel you’re getting the hang of the game, ask the pro which clubs you should buy. Be sure to let him or her know that you have a budget, and you don’t have to buy an expensive brand name.
You will probably want to pay no more than $350 tops for your first set. Stick with these for a couple of years and when your game has developed, buy a more expensive set.
You will need some golf balls. I would ask some of your buddies if they can spare you a few balls. You can also buy second hand balls from a local golf club. These will be balls that have been lost by players on the course and in the lakes and ponds.
They will probably cost you about 75 cents each and you could do with 20-25. There are also some cheap ‘reconditioned’ balls on the market and these are relatively cheap too. You probably need to lay out between $12-$15 on balls. Some lower grade new balls are also relatively cheap – probably not much more expensive than the reconditioned balls. To be honest, at this early stage, the quality of the balls is not important. As long as they are not seriously damaged and they roll, they’ll be good enough for you to do some simple practice on the putting green.
So my crude calculation on your outlay for getting started playing golf is around $45 which is hardly going to break the bank. In fact I think you can get this equipment for less.
This should keep you going for a few weeks until you take the next step in the process which I think should be to have some lessons with a golf professional.

Anxious About Starting To Play Golf? Beginners' Golf Tips

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:52:40 -0600

If you have never played golf before the prospect of taking that initial step maybe daunting. Where do you go to get the information you need to learn to play golf? What golf equipment do you need? Who should you talk to? It can be very stressful understanding what to do.
Tip 1. Speak to people
Talk to you friends and any other people you come across who play golf about your interest in learning how to play. Be clear about what you want to know. For example, what golf equipment you need. How much to pay. What clubs to use. As a background to this discussion you might want to talk about why you want to play golf and what interests you about the game. Discuss your anxieties and fears about starting. You will probably find that you will obtain a lot of information and reassurance from talking about playing golf that overcome the problem of taking the first step. Everyone has had to start sometime and most of them will be willing to share it with you.
Tip 2. Green to tee
It is often said the best way to learn to play golf is from ‘green to tee’. You may have heard this expression. Basically it means that you should start by learning to putt, followed by chipping and pitching and finally by learning how to drive off the tee. This is sound advice. You will not look an obvious beginner with a putter in your hand. If you start swishing a driver around, you will. Get a bag of balls and take your putter onto a practice green and learn to putt. Spend an hour 2 days a week practicing long putts and short ones from all parts of the green – uphill and downhill. You’ll thank me for this advice.
Tip 3. Learn with a friend
Ask around amongst your friends and colleagues and see if anyone wants to learn with you. You will both feel more confident about learning together. Add some competition to your practice as you learn to putt. Place a dozen balls each around the putting green and award points for i) getting nearest the hole and ii) sinking the putts. This’ll add enjoyment to your practice.
Tip 4. Learn how to hit the ball
Do you play any other sport - tennis, baseball, pool, soccer? You will know that you had to learn either how to hit, kick it or catch the ball. You can’t start playing golf by banging sweet 250 yard straight drives off the tee immediately. Even Tiger Woods and Roger Federer had to learn to hit the ball. You will too. After lots of putting practice, get a 9 iron or sand wedge and practice hitting short shots to the flag from around the green. Place 12 balls at different points between 5 to 15 feet from the green and learn to control shots onto the green.
Tip 5. Start up golf equipment
Don’t buy a set of golf clubs – not yet anyway. See if can borrow a putter and 9 iron pitching wedge (or sand wedge) from a friend. If not buy– buy cheap golf clubs from a low cost sports goods store. You will probably get them for less than $15 each. You will need 15-20 golf balls too. You can get these second hand, usually from a golf club, or buy some ‘reconditioned’ balls, or beg or borrow them from your buddies. This is all the golf equipment you’ll need to start, so get out there, buy your clubs and start putting.
Tip 6. Golf instruction
And finally, if you are serious about learning the game, watch golf on TV. You will get a feel for playing shots by watching the pros play the game. Pay special attention to their putting and short shots around the green to begin with. This is the best form of golf instruction for you at this stage.