How difficult is it to learn how to play golf?
 

Wanna play golf in the summer but have never picked up a driver or any club before...

How hard is the sport?

I'm interested in this too!

to learn HOW to play.... not hard at all.

to be GOOD at it? The rest of your life. But the process is fun. :)

when i golfed for the first time i took 5 balls with me, every single ball i lost in the woods on the first hole first drive :( i quit right then!!! :mad:

I started playing again two years ago at a really small golf course with lots of little par 3's and moved to a full sized one last year playing maybe 3X a week and my game has improved alot.

dont expect tiger wood result within 5 years.

and as the motto goes

drive for show, putt for dough.

No more true words have ever been spoken. Well said, AYH...
<br>

Just hit the ball...



its a simple concept

It also really depends how good your "ball sense" (don't know the proper english word) is. Look at Tiger, he can juggle with the club and ball over one thousand. It helps alot.

Golf is extremely difficult to play well.

But playing horribly is still fun for some reason.

Hand/Eye Coordination :)

looks easy on PGA but its quite difficult to get the ball to go wher eyou want

Go spend a LOT of time at a driving range... if they have a pro at the range ( most do ) take some rudimentary lessons to get started.....

Until you you can HIT the ball with some degree of consistancy, stay at the driving range... ;-)

Go to the driving range for a while

Excellent advice...

Requires a lot of time and patience.

Take some lessons... IF you do not know how to swing... practicing a bad swing will just mess you up.

Lessons will teach you the right swing... and the game will be fun for you. Without them... basically you are just fucking yourself.

I play, a lot.. I play in the low 80's, when I was 16-19 I had no problem hitting par.

Best thing to do is get a nice set of clubs with a huge sweat spot, stiff shafts.

Then get a coach, 1 time a week and the driving range 1 time a week on a different day. 1 hour at the range going through each club, 30 minutes chipping, 30 minutes putting.

After one month of doing this, you should break 100 without a problem, unless you arn't very coordinated.

To get under 95ish, you need to learn your course play.. Just stick to the same learning ideas and then play 18 holes on sat or sun. After a few months you will really start to see your game improve.

If you want to play low 70's, you need to play 2-3 games a week and driving range 2-3 times a week and a coach. A few months of this and your set, start hitting some hard ass courses to bring your game back up in the 80's and give you something to work for. You can reach this in a year, if you play hardcore.

Losts of good comments and suggestions so far.

If you have never played a course before, or even if you have but suck at it, start with a few golf pro lessons. You will need to get the basics down before you can adapt them to your style of play. That means proper grip, address, and swing tempo/rythm. Once you know what is supposed to happen, you can adjust so that it happens for you.

You'll need to spend as much time as you can spare rehersing at the driving range what the pro taught you. Obviously, the more time the better. Golf is 90% mental, meaning you have to work at having some things until they become second nature. You will know when you are ready to try an executive course (9/18 par 3's) or public/private course by the way you are hitting the ball. Don't try to hit 400 yard drives or everything will be fubar. Start with a 7-iron, or whatever club the pro suggests for you. Pick a target close to you and practice chipping until you can consistently get the ball close.

One of the more common pitfalls players make is not letting the club do the work for them. Most people try to force either the swing, tempo, or rythm (or combination) resulting in disappointment. <- I'm being polite there. :) As soon as you hit the 'right' shot, you will know it. The trick is trying to reproduce it. And that only comes with many many hours of practice at the range and on the course.

Good luck with it, and don't let frustration make ya quit. Golf is a blast.

Don't encourage him.

That's what I would do....practice on the driving range first, then when you're good enough, you can try a real course

It is pretty tough to get proficient enough not to embarrass yourself. Once you obtain the skills necessary to consistently put good shots together (long, middle and short game), you've got to keep practicing or risk losing it. Even if you're playing well and often, you can develop a case of the yips and then suck for no reason.

As for the driving range, most go out and wail with the driver all day long. They get good at that, but the rest of their game sucks. You know what they say, "Drive for show and put for dough."

Everyone and anyone will give you tips on how to improve your golf -

Only one person to listen to - A golf pro.
Don't even try to hit a ball till you have had a lesson with him - Because once you start doing things wrong, you will find it difficult to correct later-
Most courses have an induction course - Take one - It's well worth it.

Golf is the best ... lazy summer morning just strolling around .. an idyllic day ..

Golf is how hard you wanna make it, I spent years realising that i don't have to put any power into the shot to hit it far. The trick is to just think of your arms and club as a pendulum, the swing is everything, the further back you take the club, the more moving parts there are to go wrong if you are not starting out correctly.

Coyote is right in saying let the club do the work and start slow but practice the swing to feel comfortable with it then things will start to gel, slowly at first until you can hit a ball wihout even thinking, just empty your mind completely and swing .. it becomes second nature.

Just hit the ball!!!

golf is definately a love / hate relationship... Im trying to find a place to buy balls in bulk since I suck so bad...

It's pretty tough but I'm still learning

http://www.naughtyallie.com/guestare...lliegolf01.jpg

:winkwink:

Make sure to take classes to learn the proper swing.

I would teach golf to that girl anytime :winkwink:

what he said.......i was the captain of my golf team(i know...how gay), but now i really suck......can't even afford to pay for the courses around me

haha naughty allie rules. i bet that guy was poppin a chub the whole time.

I just got in from my first day on the course this year. UGH. Wasn't pretty.

Anyway... depends on what you want to accomplish. If you just want to be able to play socially, its no big deal. The most important thing is that you know the rules. Just about anyone can play as long as you don't bother the other players. The most important thing to remember when starting out is not to hold up the play of your group & especially the group behind you. If you're falling behind, pick up your ball & catch up. More rules & stuff here:
http://www.golf-golfing.com/golf_rules.html


Of course you should spend some time at a driving range where you can also work on your chipping & putting. Take a few lessons so you can at least hit the ball in the general direction you want it to go most of the time & learn the proper etiquitte. That's really all you need to get out there and start playing.

If you want to be GOOD thats another matter entirely. Personally, I don't enjoy it enough to practice enough to be good at it. Practice is the only thing that will help you get better.

gold is great fun. i havent played for at least half a year.

:thumbsup

hes absolutely spot on

Playing golf is so hard for me
I never actually learn to play it!:1orglaugh

Not hard at all .. almost the only sport fat bastards can be good at..

The sport takes a lot of focus and concentration. Some people are naturals and others like myself will be a mid handicap for many years.

The good thing is that a handicap makes a group of different skill levels equal so all can have fun.

I find a round of golf with a couple beers on a nice day, totally relaxing.

It is extremely difficult.

Forget it. Try something else.

There are not enough tee times as it is.

We don't need *you*

GFY!

:1orglaugh

You forgot bowling :1orglaugh

It is easy to get the hang of! but hard to get to an advanced level! I just started about 1 year ago and recommend a few lessons right from the start! this way you don't develop bad habbits early!!

I'd love to learn. I think I'll take it up this summer.

good about golf is that you get what you pay for

invest a lot of time and you will be a good player soon
invest nothing and you will get nothing

When I tried retiring in my 30's I took up Golf and was playing it about 5 times a week. Let me tell you, it is very very hard to master this game like the Pro's you see on TV.

It's not a hard sport to learn, but it gets very frustrating because just when you think you're getting there you play a round with guys who are way better and you feel like you really haven't gotten that good yet.

I got obsessed with it. Went out and bought Pings and all the high end clubs thinking they would help my game. But in reality its not the equipment so much as its just practicing and practicing and practicing and it becomes very time consuming in that mode.

After a while it got boring and my arms were killing me from playing so much so I cut way back and then pretty much gave it up altogether.

It was great for networking. I enjoy watching it on TV much more now and have a real appreciation for the talent some of these guys have.

The golf carts are fun too. :1orglaugh

you just have to get out and do it

I love golfing, especially when the cute girl on the beer cart rolls up.

Bro you hit the nail on the head:thumbsup I've been chasing these damm little white balls for 25 years now, and the only thing I've got down perfect is how to properly say "Shi^^T, Fuc%^K, Dammit"......LOLOL:1orglaugh

It is to hard,stop trying it:1orglaugh