New to Golf? We’ve Got Tips to Help You on the Course

Helpful Golf Tips to Help Improve Your Game

Even top professional golfers are always looking for ways to perform better, so whether you're a casual or a competitive player, you stand to gain a lot from golf instruction. If you're just getting started with golf, though, there are some basic golf tips and techniques you should learn about even before you invest in a golf teacher or school. These include proper golf posture, how to grip a golf club and how to swing a golf club.

When it goes to golf posture, experts advise beginners to imagine that they're holding a basketball between their knees. This prevents your knees from turning too far to the right or left (depending on which side you golf from) during your backswing, which in turn drops your shoulders and makes you overturn your hips. This also helps you maintain a slight bend in your back knee while keeping your weight on your back foot as you follow through on your swing.

How to Grip a Golf Club

Golf instruction professionals will tell you that a proper grip doesn't necessarily feel comfortable or right at first, but will feel natural once you've gotten used to it. If you're wondering how to grip a golf club, the answer is in the palm of your hands… or, more accurately, your gloves.

Golf gloves are marked with dots that descend along the fingers, and they guide you to a proper club grip. These dots indicate the positions your fingers should take as you're gripping the club. Remember to use your fingers more than your palm to grip the club, and close off your grip with your thumb by forming a V-shape.

Golf Tips: Swinging and Putting

Once you've got your posture and grip down, it's time to learn to swing a golf club. While this is one area in which beginners can really benefit from professional golf instruction, there are some basic pointers to keep in mind:

• Make sure your setup is the same for every shot type. Varying your stance and setup is the number one reason new golfers see inconsistencies in their results.
• Understand the difference between downswing and backswing. Your downswing is the point at which you're generating momentum before striking the ball, and the backswing is your follow-through. The downswing determines how hard you hit the ball; the backswing determines where you hit it.
• Practice your backswing by repeating this mantra: "low, long and slow." Keep the club head down as you ease into your backswing, then use a long, slow follow-through to master proper form.

When it comes to golf putting tips, here are some basics:

• Keep your toes parallel to your end target.
• Place the ball more towards your front heel than your back heel.
• Aim to come slightly inside on your putt's backstroke. This will lead to more consistency in your results.
• Use the 80/20 rule for grip pressure. Your dominant hand should account for 80 percent of the grip pressure, and your off hand should account for 20 percent.