Golf Lessons-Practice Your Golf To Improve Your Game

Golf Practice-Play Better Golf By Practicing The Right Way.

"The more I practice, the luckier I seem to get". Wise words spoken by Jack Nicklaus. Everyone who plays any type of sport wants to play it well. It's in our nature to want to win whether we play golf, football or tiddly winks.

A reporter suggested to Jack that he had been lucky in his golfing career and he responded with the words above. Take a second to fully appreciate what he is saying, yes we all need Lady Fortune to smile upon us sometimes but, don't we all need to meet her at least part of the way?

This quote is actually on the wall of my office and I look at it every day.However, there is another quote underneath it which is a warning note to the first. "Practice doesn't make perfect, it can make permanent" This qualifier was made by Dave Pelz the putting guru. I personally can't take to Mr Pelz's teaching style but the knowledge and passion he has for the short game is second to none and his statement should be heeded.

If you want to play better golf you have to practice. Fact. If you want to play the best golf you can you have to practice a lot. But, and it's a big but, you have to practice the right things in the right way.

Anyone learning to play golf for the first time should, in my opinion first play a couple of rounds at a public course just to get a feel of what the game is about. Preferably playing with an experienced player who can point out the basics of etiquette, making a swing and what direction to hit the ball will allow the new golfer to learn a little of the basics.

Practicing anything at this stage is worthless.The new golfer does not know what to practice let alone the right way to practice. Remember practice can make permanent so a faulty practice regime can cause problems at a later stage and it is easy(ish) to learn something once but can be extremely hard to unlearn it.

After the initial toe dipping golf rounds it will then be time to find a golf pro. Most golf clubs will have a golf pro available for tuition. I would suggest looking for a basic 'Learn Golf' course, maybe a six hour course spread over as many weeks offered by many clubs. You will not get personal tuition but learn to play golf with a group who are all at the same standard.

Finding a pro that you are comfortably with and whom you can ask questions without suffering embarrassment is hugely important, it can affect your golf game for years so ask around and go on recommendations if you can.

The idea of the basic course is to give you a foundation on which to build, you are not going to learn the answers to play golf in six weeks but it will hopefully let you know what questions to ask, of yourself and others.

Just like anything worthwhile in life and I believe learning to play better golf is, my wife thinks otherwise, a determination to get better is at the very core. The majority of us however find the time and money required to practice as much as we should is a limiting factor . Playing golf is a time consuming sport and golf lessons are fairly expensive if you have them regularly. The way round this I have found is to use the golf pro lessons as a benchmark to the practice I put in at home. I think if I have a pro lesson every couple of months then any practice mistakes I make can't get to far down the line before Phil, my pro says whoa!

Having said that the practice I do at home has to be worth it. I use a DVD tuition course which gives me a framework on which to build my practice. I want to learn to play better golf not use precious time swinging a golf club around. I can go over and over any particular point and the DVD won't huff and puff and raise it's eyes to the ceiling.

Another advantage of the DVD's is that I can play them on the computer at any time, even when I'm supposed to be working (wink) and the wife doesn't have to know.


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