Teaching a n00b (girl) how to golf

CrystalMethodist

So I'm a decent golfer-- not great, but I can definitely play a course. I'm trying to teach my girlfriend how to play, but I learned so long ago that I'm having trouble getting her started.

She's topping every ball, which I remember was a huge problem when I was learning. As a consequence, it's not very fun because none of the balls are getting any real loft.

I'm working on keeping her head down and slowing the swing so that she nicks the top of the tee when there isn't a ball, and I tried having her take half-swings. Does anyone have any tips to make this easier? We're learning at a driving range, btw.

RUNN1NGMAN

There is a very old saying. If you want to keep a friend, do not try to teach him how to golf.

Vixx

wait are you trying to take every shot off the rubber tees at the driving range?

just put it on the green mat or grass, for one

put a seven or nine iron in her hands and, yes, slow her swing and have her keep her head down, but there are some things you should also focus on

her knees should remain bent and bending on the backswing
she should be rotating her body, not just shifting her hips back and forth
she should be leading the downswing, gently, with her left hand (if she is right handed), not pushing with her right hand
she should be closing the club's face on the follow-through
her eyes should not leave the ball at any time during the swing until after follow-through

also, check in slow motion what her stance looks like when is both at the height of her backswing and when she actually hits the ball... are both feet firmly planted or is she coming off one of her feet? what does her club face look like? where are her arms?

remember, her left arm should be staying straight through all parts of the swing

if she's still topping the ball on half-swings, it sounds like she is not rotating her hips and body, she is just "scooting" them back and forth on the back- and downswings... make sure she is rotating on the swing from her hips

everyone's swing is a bit different, so don't get put off by unusual advice... one golf pro I know fixed my sister's swing just by having her plant her right foot slightly behind her left, and it was magic after that

if you don't have that much experience on the course, you may not be able to see what is going on in her swing, so ask someone else to look at it for you

Gabriel_Pitt

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

There is a very old saying. If you want to keep a friend, do not try to teach him how to golf.

That is a retarded saying, attached to a useless post. For shame.

There are a lot of youtube videos that show you how to golf, also, just googling it will get you a lot of resources. Probably first off is making sure she's got her grip worked out right. I used to be really terrible about topping the ball, and once I realized just how poor of a grip I had and took steps to fix it, that problem got a lot better. I used this site to double check that I was gripping the club in a semi-proper manner.

Youtube will also help by letting you see a lot of different people swinging, letting you get a good idea of the motion the body has to go through. Also, I've found it's a lot easier to start with the high irons, and work your way down. Probably because once you're using a driver, the head of the club is so far out there that anyflaws in your swing are going to be greatly exacerbated. Also, if you're using the irons, don't hit off the tee. That's just another unneeded complication at this point.

A lot of driving ranges also have lessons, or get advice from a pro session, or something similar, and a little knowledgeable advice can go a long way.

(Not that this counts as any sort of qualification, but aside from a few golf lessons when I was ten, this is how I've taught myself how to golf - just this very day, in a one-swing-closest-to-the-hole-wins, I won a Taylormade Burner Driver- if the ball had gone 7 feet further, I would've won a Lexus sedan)

4U2NV

I would recommend not doing full strokes, but just quarter to half strokes. She probably topping the ball because she keeps looking up. Tell her not to look up at all and you will tell her where the ball goes.