Playing golf should not be hard when you have the right tips on how to drive a golf ball for beginners. It does not have to be tips for beginners alone, but also those looking to straighten their game. For beginners, driving the golf ball at range might seem hard at first, however, all that can change when you get the right coaching. In this guide, we give you tips that should help with improving your game, making you a better golfer.
Get Yourself the Best Equipment
As part of becoming better at golfing, you need to get yourself the best equipment for a beginner. Let us look at some of the options you should keep in mind.
Get a driver with a proper loft
Loft is important to the performance of a golfer. For a beginner, you should opt for a driver with 9 to 10 degrees of loft. Leave those with 7 to 8-degree loft drivers for seasoned players. What is the importance of a higher lofted driver? Such a driver is important to use as it helps you stay more consistent with your shots.
The ball’s launch angle is also determined by the degree that club-face strikes the ball. The result is that it also affects the ball speed and the spin. These are two important factors that you should learn how to control them.
Picking the right club
As much as most of the time you would need to use a driver, sometimes there is the need to use iron also. It is why you need to get the right club too, as part of your arsenal. Depending on the holes, there are times you have to use a 3, 5, or 7 wood or some of your irons.
When choosing a club, you should consider the design of the hole you are playing and your personal game too. An example is that you can use an 8-iron to play the green after hitting the ball with the 3-wood. Whenever you are not sure where they apply, always talk to your coach to see how they can be interchanged.
Generally, irons will have a higher loft than woods. In the case of playing a par 3 hole, you will be aiming for the green directly, this means you need more carry and less roll. For green that is less than 200 yards away, then consider using an iron.
Know the type of ball required
To pick the right ball for your game can be a headache sometimes. You might not be sure which one is the best since you are a beginner. Some of the things you have to consider include the spin, harness, feel, and distance. Even with these factors in mind, getting a ball with all of them is not easy.
The best way to end up with the right ball is to seek an opinion of a professional. You can go to a golf shop and get help about the best golf balls for beginners. The type of golf ball that you pick should also have the best cover thickness and core density. Sometimes you might not know which one is the best until you try out a few balls. After a few hits, you can get comfortable with certain balls.
Well, professional rules prohibit you from switching to different ball types in the same round. If you are playing with friends, you can bring several ball types and experiment them to get the right one for your golfing style.
Picking the right tee
Another thing you have to keep in mind is picking the right tee. Right now, golf equipment offers multiple options to choose from whether you are a beginner or pro. This also includes the type of tee to use. Since there are multiple drivers available, you can expect the same for tees too. Now, you can find taller tees so that you can choose the best depending on your height and preference.
It is worth noting that the best tee allows you to take the best shots. So, you might also have to try out several models before making up your mind about which one is the best for you.
A Comprehensive List of Driving Range Tips for Beginners
If you are going to learn how to drive a golf ball for beginners, then you need to understand the two main types of practice. They include rote and situational practice.
Rote practice is important for establishing muscle memory in a golfer. Just like any other game, golf also needs the users to establish muscle memory to become better players. Muscle memory is only possible is you keep on practicing repeatedly until you master the skills.
As for situational practice, it involves game management. It is more fun than rote practice as you would be playing actual golf matches. The aim of situational practice is to introduce you to the games and see how you can execute the learned skills in rote practice.
For a beginner, it is best to first stick with rote practice before switching to situational once you learn all the important basics.
Below, we look at the top tips to get you through the various types of practices.
1.How to putt one-handed with the lower arm
In this drill, you take off the top hand from the putter and use the lower bottom hand to send the golf ball. It is advisable to start with shorter putts of 5 to 8 feet. Once you master them, you can move out further.
When you want to hit longer putts, you should concentrate more on distance control. Take note of how different techniques affect distance control.
When playing with one hand, keep the bottom hand where it would be just as when you were playing with two hands.
Below is a video of Tiger Woods demonstrating how you can do the drill.
This drill is aimed at establishing better distance control and proper aim for a beginner. Once you get used to it, then you will have an idea what the bottom hand is supposed to do.
2. Developing a solid repeatable takeaway
Taking the best swing at a golf ball is not always easy for a beginner. The takeaway of the golf club has an impact on how a person takes a good golf swing. A golf club is likely to use the same path to get back to how it was taken. If you aimed outside the intended pathway, that is how the club will return to its original position.
The bench drill and mop drill are what you need to master the taking the right swing.
A bench drill does not involve hitting the balls, but rather help you feel what a proper takeaway should feel and look like. Talk to a professional at a driving range to help you with this drill. In most cases, you should find benches on every tee box, which are great for practicing.
To achieve the best results, try using a five or six iron when doing a bench drill. It is always easier to achieve the right orientation of the club toe when using a mid-iron.
Here is a video on how to do a bench drill effectively
As for the mop drill, this one you do not have to do it at the range. You will need to use your home mop to do the practice. Swing the mop as you would do with a golf club. The idea is that the weight of your mop head will lead to a low and slow takeaway. Doing the exercise more often will help you get the feeling of what a low and slow takeaway should always feel.
These two drills will have the following benefits;
- Learn how to keep the swing on the right track
- Slowing down your swing
- Understanding the various checkpoints along the takeaway
3. Changing your target occasionally
If you want to become better, you cannot keep doing the same thing. Try to challenge yourself. This means that you can change your target from time to time to see how you would perform.
To achieve this, you will have to consider doing the 21 and done drill. First, pick a reasonable target to hit. The target should be reasonable in terms of distance and the direction too. Go ahead and take your swing.
Look at the results of your swing. If the drive happens to be more than 10 yards away from the target flag on either side, then deduct one point. If it is within the acceptable 10 yards of convergence, then add a point.
Take at least 5 shots with different clubs in your bags and see how long it would take you to get to 21. You can even shrink the target to 5 yards as you near your wedge to challenge yourself. Once you become proficient with your shots, it should be possible to consistently get to 21 in a few shots.
People who opt for this drill are looking to bring fun to the range, develop an eye for longer distances and terrain change, pushing themselves to success, and start thinking about course management.
4. Releasing the lag
Releasing the lag is now a common term that golf instructor use right now. So, what is releasing the lag? When taking a backswing, there is a point, especially when the club gets to the waist height that you cock your wrists. The wrists remain cocked during the entire swing until before the impact. This is what we call the lag. The lagged position keeps the hand behind the ball rather than when the wrists are unlagged to help launch it better with the right speed.
As much as maintaining the lag is important, you have to know when to release it. Whenever you release the lag at the right time, the club head will square up and give you better control of the ball direction. Also, this increases the club head speed, which in turn translates to having an increased ball speed thus covering more distance.
The video below gives you more tips on how to release the lag perfectly. You have to understand that you will only get better with practice.
5. Hitting where you aim
It might seem that this is common sense, but you might be surprised by how much people miss their aim. For a beginner, this is something expected as you do not know much about the various techniques you should be using.
Before you can get it right, some of the things you should know is the aim, the intended path, and the result of your swing.
To get better at hitting your aim, you need to drill on how to control your arm. Start by standing behind the ball and looking down the target line. Pick a target not more than 10 feet along the target line. When taking this shot, keep your target line and body line parallel to each other. Take your swing and watch how the ball approaches the target. Depending on the swing, you can adjust to ensure that the ball goes in a straight line towards your target.
When you practice this drill, here are some of the things you should achieve;
- Improving the shot directions
- Visualizing the shot and instill confidence
- Gain better posture
- Improving your ball flight
Here is a video to help you with aiming correctly towards your target
Conclusion
We might not be able to cover everything that a beginner needs to drive a golf properly, but the above tips should get you started. If you are still looking to learn more about how to drive a golf ball for beginners, it is best to invest in lessons. With the lessons, you should get a hands-on approach where you can learn and practice all these tips on a golf course. It might take longer for some people, but you will eventually get better at golfing.
