Dude. Seriously... do you REALLY need someone to teach you how to hit a small ball to make it go far and ultimately into a small hole that's what she said? Why not go out there to one of them... what do you dudes call them... shooting ranges? Just... see how it works without a coach... THEN if it doesn't work, get one... no?
If you are serious about playing and will not quit, I would go to callawaypreowned.com and buy a used set of irons (the X series are good beginner irons). For those of you looking to buy new drivers/woods, I would highly suggest Ebay
I took some lessons back in college and have a few friends that play golf. I am pretty much a beginner myself, but what I decided was to build my own club instead of buying a starter set for a couple reasons. 1) While the beginner clubs are "more forgiving" I feel like I could benefit more by hitting a little higher up clubs so I can actually know what I am doing wrong and fix it. I have the luxury of having friends watching my swing (they are all pretty decent golfers, shooting in the 80s and took lessons). 2) I wanted to grow into the club. I didn't want to spend $200 on a starter set (which is about average) and then have to buy everything from scratch a year or two later. I might as well spend $400 and use it for 4-5 years. I also bought all my stuff used. I looked on craigslist and found some great deals. I got the R5 taylormade driver (they are at R9 now) for $50. $40 for a taylormade 3 wood, $35 for a cleveland sandwedge (cleveland makes the best sand wedge), $45 for a taylormade stand bag (only one year old, usually goes for $125-130). For the irons, I bought the ping i3 ($200). Older clubs, not as forgiving as say the callaway big bertha, but they definitely are not hard to hit. In the end it is all about your swing. I found a great website online for some basic lessons. http://www.videojug.com/user/RickardStrongert It definitely helps if you get hire a pro or at least have friends who know how to play the game.
Hey Dubious... I've got a related question... I drool at the idea of going to a demo day, using a launch detector and getting my swing thoroughly analyzed, trying out several different brands and types of drivers, and finding a driver that is perfect for me... ... ...but I can't spend $300 - $400 doing it. Is there any hope for me?
All the big golf stores, Golfsmith, Golf Galaxy, Edwin Watts, etc. have tons of used clubs, most of the Mom and Pop stores have a some. I still recommend the box set for beginners, you'll like have the new looking stuff. If you get serious about golf , you will buy more expensive stuff later. Beginners should start with Ben Hogan's book and advance to group lessons at a learning center. You can learn what you need to know from the book but you need someone looking at you to make corrections to your technique. Get a five or six lesson series from a teaching pro once you have decided you really want to play the game for life In Houston I personally know and can endorse the people at Memorial, Matt Swanson's School of Golf, The Timber Creek Teaching Center, The Blackhorse Teaching Center, Bear Creek and The Kingwood Teaching Center. But most upscale public and private courses with a range will have competent teaching professionals. Drox, launch monitors are becoming more common but Trackman costs $28,000 and Flight Scope costs $9,000 so people don't really want to give away sessions on them. I get one two weeks in the Spring and two weeks in the fall in conjunction with the Callaway fit van, We don't require purchases but we usually do the sessions on a reservation basis. They work wonders in custom fitting drivers; you can fine tune spin numbers and launch angles. But you really need a fairly "repeating" swing to get a functional result. For irons they aren't really needed as much. I can see how they could be very beneficial as an advanced teaching aid because they will illustrate the movement of the clubhead as well as the ball. You can see things like swing path and attack angles. Darryl at Matt Swanson's Wildcat location bought a Trackman and is doing custom club fitting sessions for $100. There is usually someone who has one for the big multi-vendor days but those are done for the season down here. There will probably be a couple in the Fall.
Strictly Golf on San Felipe is a great place to go for used clubs. They have a great selection of used stuff at reasonable prices and they'll probably work with you on the price if you try a little. Great small shop.
ebay is a much better deal than the used clubs at Strictly, Golfsmith, etc... (though you can't demo on ebay) but yeah, SG is great Just make sure and buy from a reputable seller so you get a legit club in the right condition
Dubious I have been playing golf for a few years but not frequent enough to get any good at it. I still consider myself as a beginner and are looking at the Top Flite XL 5000 for new golf clubs in order to get hybids and try those. Do you consider this a good set? O would appreciate any feedback tou have on these clubs as you are associated with Callaway. Thanks.
You can go to golfsmith and buy name brand used clubs for very cheap. Dont get blade irons pros or very good golfers use them.
Usually, I'd recommend that you borrow someone's lefty clubs and go to a driving range. See if you enjoy it or have any natural ability. My father-in-law is left-handed, but he uses right-handed clubs, so I'm not much help on that one.
i'm a lefty and found a set of cleveland ta5's plus odyssey white hot and cleveland bag for $400 at joes of westheimer a few years ago. i pretty much quit playing until very recently but have now been making it to the range a couple of times a week... hopefully i'll be able to take some lessons very soon and hit the course not long after that.
Yeah, but you gotta realize, he's not gonna spend $400 on a set of golf clubs if he's not sure if he's gonna enjoy golf and never tried it before. He needs to borrow some clubs first.
Yeah. That sounds about right. I'm a student at UH, so I don't have much (any) money to spend right now. Friends of mine always want me to go with, but they're all righties.
I have a 10 year old 3 wood, driver and 5 wood (callaway big bertha's) sitting in my closet. However, if you have never played you really should try to hit a high iron to start with. try ebay and buy a super cheap 8 iron
Callaway owns Top Flite and uses that brand name for it's discount store level equipment. Yes, that's exactly what I'm recommending for beginning golfers who actually want to get out on the golf course. For people who have never picked up a club and just want to start learning to make contact at the driving range, I recommend going to a golf shop and buying a single club, preferably a 7 iron ($20). Get one with some cavity back weighting and some offset (the store guy will know what that means). I also recommend you ask them to put a 'training' grip on it ($8) because the grip you need to use in golf is not a natural feeling grip. The training grip forces your hands into the proper position from the start. Then get the Hogan book and work on it chapter by chapter, at home and on the range until you can fairly consistantly hit the ball 100 yards in the air. At that point buy a sand wedge and learn how to 'chip' a ball on to a putting surface from about 25 yards. Then buy a used putter and learn how to get a ball in the cup in two putts. You will be way ahead in enjoying the game if you can actually get the ball in the hole. Now, you are ready to learn how to hit the ball longer, start with a 5 iron and a five wood. When you can fairly consistently hit these two clubs and the three above, you can probably go on the golf course with friends or advance to some group lessons. I believe it takes something like 40 hours of driving range practice plus 10 hours chipping and 5 putting. I know that seems like a lot, but golf is a fairly difficult game and most people give it up because of frustration and embarrassment. Getting somewhat competent before exposing yourself is the best way to avoid that and actually enjoy the game (being outside in a beautiful landscape, spending 4 hours with friends etc.) You want to be able to beat it around in 100 strokes or so, not lose too many balls and actually post a score. If you can do that, you are about as good as about the average golfer and you can relax and enjoy the ambiance of the game.
I took a golf class back in college and I've been hooked ever since. I agree with what most people have been saying, start out with a cheap starter set and don't worry about the golf ball, buy the cheapest golf ball you can find, as you will be losing a lot of them.
Dude, this book was a GREAT suggestion. Thanks for the heads up. I'm starting to understand why the grip is the way it is, the stance, beginning and end of the stroke etc. It's great. This books is helping me put alot of things into perspective. I suggest ya'll read it if ya'll are starting out.
