I have some friends who play golf and love it. I have never played and feel that it can be something I take up as I get towards retirement. How and where do I start? The only swings I have taken are at the local Top Golf place.

Absolute beginner. Give me tips.

Yep, best advice is to find a local course/pros that will give a series of beginner weekly lessons. Then make sure to go practice at least once in between. Many of these beginner series will have an "on course" portion where they also teach you proper etiquette.

In 6-8 weeks, you'll still be terrible but will at least have a proper foundation to improve from. You'll start to see improvement which for most seeds the desire to keep going out. Trying to do it on your own or with friends coaching you is how you ingrain bad habits you'll never shake, you won't improve quickly, and your eventual ceiling will be lower

Have you ever played baseball? If so, the transition is 100% easier.

If not, some local courses have "range" memberships which include free group lessons on the weekends or specific times.

Don't get the giant bucket of balls at the range. Hitting 1000 balls in an hour will not help. Get the medium bucket or even the small many times before going any larger. When you get towards the end of the bucket and you are starting to feel tired, switch to wedges and try to hit 3/4 ahots or hits that take less energy than trying to hit it a mile. Swinging when you are tired will teach you bad habits.

How old are you?

SW AG80 said:

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Take a series of lessons and go play/practice between lessons so you can work on what you learned in the lesson.

First and foremost, know that taking up golf late in life is a HUGE time commitment if you want to be good enough to enjoy the game.

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Agree 100%, would also add....learn the rules and etiquette required, play quick. Slow play drives me nuts.

Not walking in people's lines, quiet when a player is swinging etc. Keep your score honestly.

Cheating on your score is a big no-no. Claiming less strokes than you take - that'll get called out quickly.

Don't take more than a couple of minutes to look for a lost ball. (Start playing with the less expensive golf balls)

also consider learning the game "backwards". Spend A LOT of time on and around the putting green. Get your putting stroke down and learn how to chip the ball. Get comfortable scoring from 50 yards and in. If you can get the feel for chipping the ball...lengthening the swing MAY come easier. Plus, even a "worm burner" from the tee or fairway will travel a 100 yards or so, eventually getting you to that 50 yard area mentioned above.

Aggie95 said:

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also consider learning the game "backwards". Spend A LOT of time on and around the putting green. Get your putting stroke down and learn how to chip the ball. Get comfortable scoring from 50 yards and in. If you can get the feel for chipping the ball...lengthening the swing MAY come easier. Plus, even a "worm burner" from the tee or fairway will travel a 100 yards or so, eventually getting you to that 50 yard area mentioned above.

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Disagree for those who is trying to break 90/100. Getting better with your driver and irons would be more beneficial. Duckhooking your drive 100yds into the water and then fatting your next shot sure as heck will guarantee a big number.

Plus, working on your short game is boring. Nobody ever brags about draining a 30 ft putt for double bogey. But if you striped your drive 270yds down the middle on your way to a triple bogey, you'll forget about the other 6 shots you took to hole out.

OP,

Do you have golfer friends?

CyclingAg82 said:

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SW AG80 said:

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Take a series of lessons and go play/practice between lessons so you can work on what you learned in the lesson.

First and foremost, know that taking up golf late in life is a HUGE time commitment if you want to be good enough to enjoy the game.

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Agree 100%, would also add....learn the rules and etiquette required, play quick. Slow play drives me nuts.

Not walking in people's lines, quiet when a player is swinging etc. Keep your score honestly.

Cheating on your score is a big no-no. Claiming less strokes than you take - that'll get called out quickly.

Don't take more than a couple of minutes to look for a lost ball. (Start playing with the less expensive golf balls)

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Thanks but I'm far away from reaching that point. I at step 0 right now. I'm not looking to win, I just want to enjoy a sport that I see others enjoying.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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OP,

Do you have golfer friends?

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Yes, I have 2 friends who play almost every week. Neighbors also. One of them volunteered to take me to a local indoor place to hit where they have a video game like setup. I think I should take proper lessons from a coach though.

oldflyer said:

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Learn to practice with an objective. It's not about pounding balls.

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My goal at this point is to be able to play with my friends without embarrassing myself too much. A little bit is fine.

wangus12 said:

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Learn to enjoy the game even if you aren't good, especially early on. Its not hard to enjoy being outdoors with friends and family, at least for me. Golf was the one sport I've ever been able to dissociate my competitiveness from. I train hard for other sports/activities and that doesn't leave a ton of time to go practice golf. Getting outside and walking a course with my brother or my wife is what I really enjoy about it.

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Good advice. I'm very competitive by nature so I'll end up trying to find ways to improve.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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How old are you?

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Graduated from A&M in the 90s

TXAGGIES said:

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Have you ever played baseball? If so, the transition is 100% easier.

If not, some local courses have "range" memberships which include free group lessons on the weekends or specific times.

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I play tennis.

OK, you won't like what I'm going to say. But I say **** people don't want to hear nor like to even talk about.

You're gonna suck. You will most likely never break 80. Most likely your big accomplishment will be shooting 89.
Your swing will be terrible. You'll spend a bunch of money on equipment and lessons and you will really not improve much. So you're competitive therefore you'll find a way to get better? You'll be searching for a long long time and you may never find the answer. You'll post in F Golf thread often. Golf will be the most agonizing activity you'll participate in. You'll be lonely, terrified, and embarrassed all at the same time when you're chasing your ball. You'll get angry, happy, baffled, and suicidal at any given moment while playing golf.

It's the most wonderful game you'll ever play.

Welcome to golf.

First thing you'll want to do is learn to properly grip the club. Do this right and the game could be minutely easier.
Pay attention to how the pros grip the club.

Good luck.

infinity ag said:

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CyclingAg82 said:

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SW AG80 said:

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Take a series of lessons and go play/practice between lessons so you can work on what you learned in the lesson.

First and foremost, know that taking up golf late in life is a HUGE time commitment if you want to be good enough to enjoy the game.

---

Agree 100%, would also add....learn the rules and etiquette required, play quick. Slow play drives me nuts.

Not walking in people's lines, quiet when a player is swinging etc. Keep your score honestly.

Cheating on your score is a big no-no. Claiming less strokes than you take - that'll get called out quickly.

Don't take more than a couple of minutes to look for a lost ball. (Start playing with the less expensive golf balls)

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Thanks but I'm far away from reaching that point. I at step 0 right now. I'm not looking to win, I just want to enjoy a sport that I see others enjoying.

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I get ya, and did not mean it that way.....it's just laying the groundwork for what is hopefully a great experience.

Been playing this game a long time -- 34 years consistently - started in the early 80s, took a 7 year break in 2007 to 2014 to be an avid cyclist then dropped it to golf again.

But the range of satisfaction to frustration in this sport is like no other.

Good luck and hope it catches on with you.

I always tell people

Get the body use to rotating. It's not normal for your spine to bend at an angle and swing with the amount of force needed to hit a ball.

The other thing is chipping is really good to work on hand eye coordination.

Don't go out and swing as hard as possible on the range. Hit 50% wedges and get comfortable swinging the golf club.

Find a golf pro can help you get the hands and body where it needs to be as well.

I'll just add that I got my scores way down by practicing everything 100 yards and in. If you can get your wedges dialed in and learn to at least 2-putt consistently you won't be nearly as disappointed out there. When you go to the range don't just swing aimlessly (I learned this from experience). Check distances and practice aiming at certain targets.

CFTXAG10 said:

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I'll just add that I got my scores way down by practicing everything 100 yards and in. If you can get your wedges dialed in and learn to at least 2-putt consistently you won't be nearly as disappointed out there. When you go to the range don't just swing aimlessly (I learned this from experience). Check distances and practice aiming at certain targets.

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Truth.

I brought down my index to 0-4 by dialing in 135 yards in to 80 yards on simulator. I need more work for 80 yards in.

And finding a driver head shaft combo that gets me on the fairway more than 50% of the time.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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I'll just add that I got my scores way down by practicing everything 100 yards and in. If you can get your wedges dialed in and learn to at least 2-putt consistently you won't be nearly as disappointed out there. When you go to the range don't just swing aimlessly (I learned this from experience). Check distances and practice aiming at certain targets.

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Truth.

I brought down my index to 0-4 by dialing in 135 yards in to 80 yards on simulator. I need more work for 80 yards in.

And finding a driver head shaft combo that gets me on the fairway more than 50% of the time.

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I started with a cheap TaylorMade driver, went to a Rogue ST Max graphite reg flex, now I am finally with a Ping G430 SFT stiff flex and am comfortable. Another issue I had was tee height, I was putting the ball way too high and losing distance. Switched to short tees, now my ball flight is much lower but its a lot longer and straighter.

We just dis-serviced Infinity Ag...

Let the GAS begin and he'll end up with 5 drivers and 9 shafts.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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We just dis-serviced Infinity Ag...

Let the GAS begin and he'll end up with 5 drivers and 9 shafts.

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concac said:

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Aggie95 said:

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also consider learning the game "backwards". Spend A LOT of time on and around the putting green. Get your putting stroke down and learn how to chip the ball. Get comfortable scoring from 50 yards and in. If you can get the feel for chipping the ball...lengthening the swing MAY come easier. Plus, even a "worm burner" from the tee or fairway will travel a 100 yards or so, eventually getting you to that 50 yard area mentioned above.

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Disagree for those who is trying to break 90/100. Getting better with your driver and irons would be more beneficial. Duckhooking your drive 100yds into the water and then fatting your next shot sure as heck will guarantee a big number.

Plus, working on your short game is boring. Nobody ever brags about draining a 30 ft putt for double bogey. But if you striped your drive 270yds down the middle on your way to a triple bogey, you'll forget about the other 6 shots you took to hole out.

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This is definitely the prevailing mindset for the younger guys I play with when I go out as a single. Some of them can murder it off the tee but their short game is always garbage.

To be fair, I was pretty much the same in my 20's.

But you have to be able to get driver in play, followed by approaches that at least have you in GIR vicinity. Without those, I don't care how good your short game is. You're gonna suck and it's not going to be fun.

Golf1 said:

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I always tell people

Don't go out and swing as hard as possible on the range EVER. The key to putting the ball to where you want is hitting the in the middle of the club face.

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I have no issues with swinging hard if you are properly swinging.
Many, when try to swing hard, get way to active arms to try and get fast. If you can work on your body speed properly great but tends to cause more issues than it's worth.

For a full swing, always swing as hard as you can without losing balance while keeping a sensible tempo.

It's a bad habit to swing easy.

Aint no golfer worth anything swung easy. It just looks easy (couples...ernie) but they're swinging the **** out of that club.

Quote:

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First thing you'll want to do is learn to properly grip the club. Do this right and the game could be minutely easier.

Pay attention to how the pros grip the club.

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As stated here, this is the absolutely best, can not be overstated, can not be overemphasized advice to any beginning golfer. Secondly, I would recommend learning how to chip and pitch the ball because if done properly, you will learn how to properly compress the ball by hitting down. Getting a feel for this movement pattern will help you improve quicker.

infinity ag said:

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I have some friends who play golf and love it. I have never played and feel that it can be something I take up as I get towards retirement. How and where do I start? The only swings I have taken are at the local Top Golf place.

Absolute beginner. Give me tips.

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Spend the money and go to GolfTec. There is no such thing as an easy fix in golf, but the technology they use will allow you to really understand what you're doing vs what you need to be doing.

I had to essentially start from zero after a significant back injury, and tried other places and really good coaches but just couldn't get there. I read a post on this forum about someone's experience there, and I took the plunge. It has been the best decision I've made since I decided to get back into golf. I have a long way to go to get back to where I was/want to be, but the improvement in 6 months has been significant.