There’s nothing quite like the feeling of connecting with a golf ball and watching it fly straight and true down the fairway. For beginners, though, that feeling can be elusive. If you’re having trouble making solid contact with the ball, don’t worry – you’re not alone. In this article, we’ll discuss the basics of how to hit a golf ball, and give you a few tips to help you get started.
Basics of Hitting a Golf Ball
As with any sport there are specific techniques and methods that help people improve their game and hit that ball more accurately.
The first thing you need to do is find the right equipment
The first thing we need to cover is the golf ball itself. Golf balls are typically made out of two types of materials: synthetic or natural. Natural golf balls are made out of a substance called ‘cork’. These are more expensive but are also generally considered to be higher quality. Synthetic golf balls can be made from a variety of different materials, including recycled plastic.
The next key feature we need to talk about is the ‘cover’ of the ball. This is the part that’s easiest to see and it comes in a variety of different colours. The colours are solely for aesthetic purposes so you can pick whichever one you like best. Finally, you need to understand how the golf ball is designed to actually fly when you hit it.
The weight of the ball is designed to give it momentum so that it can travel as far as possible. Moreover, the size and shape of the ball has been engineered to cause it to spin in the air, which helps it travel straighter.
Make sure you have a golf club that’s the correct length for your height, and that the grip is comfortable in your hands. You also need to find the right ball for your game. A beginner should use a ball that’s designed for beginners, such as a low-compression ball.
The next step is to learn how to stand correctly.
Your back should be straight, your spine and head facing the ball. Your weight should be evenly distributed between the balls of your feet, and your legs should be together. Your hands should be slightly cupped, with your hands facing the ball.
Next, you need to learn how to grip the club properly. Most beginners hold the club a little too tightly, which makes it harder to hit a ball. Instead, grip the club loosely, with your thumb lightly touching the club’s grip, and your hand slightly cupping the club.
Your hands should be about shoulder width apart.
Hitting the Ball with a Practice Tee
How to hit a golf ball? You’ve practiced your tee shot, but it hasn’t improved yet. What’s frustrating about all this is that none of this means that you’re not ready to actually go out and hit the course.
I find hitting the ball too often is the worst thing that can be done. Over practicing your golf swing will diminish its performance if not killed it altogether. So instead, please try just hitting the ball with a practice tee when you swing.
Whichever, place the practice tee on the ground — not tied or stuffed into a hole in the ground — and take a regular golf swing. Hopefully you’ll find that when you place the tee on the ground, it stays there.
Next, there are two ways you can hit the practice tee ball. First, you can put the tee on the ground and swing the club as usual. Second, you can put the tee ball on the tee above by lining up parallel with the guide on the shaft, then positioning the tee ball over the guide with your finger.
Let’s look at that second option specifically. When you do that, you must make sure you have proper form. You should be swinging back completely, and that’s much like the backswing of a conventional golf shot.
Setting Your Set
Now, you’ve probably been told by your golf instructor to form a “full set”, if you haven’t already figured it out on your own.
For a set to work, you need a swing that incorporates a bit of backswing, downswing, falher and follow through into a full swing.
That’s why a full set makes almost all golfers’ game better.
When setting your set, though, look at things that are causing an issue with the set you’re using, see which direction you need to work in, and then see what you need to avoid doing in order to improve.
Doing all this before you swing is the best way to ensure your full set and it’s power.
As for the kind of set, there’s not one right way, but a few that make it easier to narrow things down.
Have a pull-through type set, which results from a slight lateral tilt toward the target and a slight downswing, introduced by the fortes of the cover shoulders.
Have a hinge-type set, which results from forward rotation of the hips and shoulders, followed by a downswing that results from the rear part of your body and a follow through that leads into the third shot.
Everything else is all over the place.
And if you’re still not able to improve on your swing, maybe it’s high time to try something different.
Setting Up Your Swing
Since developing your swing is a continuous process, each round you play will likely look a bit different when you step up to the ball. As one part of that continual evolution, your golf swing will likely change slightly from round to round. Nevertheless, golf experts suggest you maintain a few common foundations regarding your swing.
Digging Your Feet
Digging your feet into the soft dirt of the golf course is a conservative move in ‘normal’ golf swings. This position is known as the contact point and it is the point where your swing begins. If you find your legs sinking into the sand, try digging the balls of your shoes a little deeper to keep the ground firm.
Knee Up
Keep your knee pointed to the sky at the point where you dig your feet into the soil and grasp the shaft of your club. This allows you to feel a natural moment when you extend your arm to push the golf ball back towards the hole.
Drive
As you become comfortable with the action of your golf swing, you’ll find yourself moving forwards during your backswing. You’ll generally start by hiking up the front of your knees; then, as your golf swing progresses, it is common to feel the whole of your body moving forward.
While your movement might not appear instant, recognize that putting your body into action is what makes swinging the club easier.
Grip
This is actually one of the hardest things for people new to golf – learning how to properly set up your body and grip your club.
I’m going to teach you how to grip your club once and for all here, and I hope we can eliminate the issue forever.
Now, if you are using a driver, work to keep your grip light on the forward hand. Try to make sure the bicep/tricept muscles actually touch the club.
When you finish the dragon technique while also doing this, you will only be able to hold the grip of the golf club for less than two seconds without your hands freezing up.
If you do this at the beginning, the learning process will go much easier.
How to grip your club Starting around 2.5 yards higher than you normally would on either the right side of the club or the left side, start pretzel straight.
It should almost feel like you are about to walk on a sidewalk.
Now, reset your right hand (the backhand) to the same position as your left hand.
Try making sure that they are in a perpendicular position to the club.
Continue this for a few steps so that you can determine whether your club is in a dead position or not.
To fix this, you just need to move your body.
You need to get them back in the right position from the beginning.
Follow-Through
Once you’ve made your swing, you’ll want to finish the process with a follow-through. The most important thing to remember with the follow-through is to keep your clubface parallel to the ground until the ball has left the club. This will help you to hit the ball straight and focus on accuracy rather than power.
If you want to improve your game, there are a few golf tips that can help you do that. First, make sure that you’re not swinging too hard. If you’re swinging too hard, you’re more likely to miss the ball or hit it off-course.
Next, you want to make sure that you’re using your entire body when you make the swing. If you’re only using your arms and not your legs, you’re not going to have as much momentum behind your swing.
Dead Ball
I’ll admit it. I’m a lucky golfer. For a good part of my life, I’ve been able to shoot under par consistently, and this has made enjoying the game and traveling to the practice ranges a breeze. Turning more clubs is the main reason I failed to break 60 until my early thirties.
In the cage, I attempted to improve my skills, and I was fortunate enough to learn the techniques that let me gain consistency and feel like I know what I’m doing. I switched my hitting style to focus on the short irons, and added a videocart to the battery of equipment in my bag.
When things in the practice range weren’t going as well, I realized that I was just trying to apply the techniques I learned in the cage to the real thing.
This approach didn’t explain much, and it wasn’t really doing me much good. The swing I was using was okay, but I wasn’t able to consistently hit anything within six feet of the first tee.
I knew that I needed a better approach, so I used the advice to translate from pro athletes when they’re discussing adjustments necessary to increase their on-course performance. When a golfer tries to hit a ball off their fairway and into their enclosure, they usually don’t need to make many adjustments to their swing mechanics.
FAQ
When It’s Time to Hit the Ball?
Play in a group so that you can easily learn the basics of the swing from your fellow students. This eliminates the danger of swinging too forcefully or too softly. Do this even when playing in a lesson, so you can improve your form naturally.
While learning how to hit golf balls, you should practice only once or twice per week. Testing yourself too greatly can give you poor technique and cause you to banish your golfing dreams.
It’s still always a great idea to seek out an experienced coach. Their coaching can provide you with real-life golfing lessons and prevent you from hurting yourself.
How do you learn golf?
The best way to learn golf is to start playing!
Before you start, go through the training manuals and read any of the coaching available for the sport before you start playing.
This way, you don’t waste any of your time.
You can also watch videos of amateur golfers to get an idea of how you should swing.
How to hit a golf ball
We notice that if a golfer stands with his body completely aligned with the target (for instance, hand near the ball and knees parallel to the target line, with legs and feet parallel to the target line) and looks directly down at the target, the highest percentage of golfers can determine their score in pounds per square inch (PSI).
The only thing you need to hit the perfect golf ball is the inspiration of the best golfers.
How Do You Start Playing Golf?
The first step to get started in golf is to know your game. Do this repeatedly over years and years and find out what works. Start with a basic course and gradually incorporate different club types and conditions. You will find that your game improves progressively.
Next, the initial skill set you need is to learn to strike the ball confidently and consistently.
Becoming a confident golfer begins by hitting different ball types such as of various styles to determine on how you should strike the ball. Students who seek to improve their aim should gradually step up the difficulty of the training equipment used to begin.
Newbies should next learn the swing motion while maintaining proper form.
How long is a golf swing?
Most of us see people on the golf course hitting quite a few shots before teeing off, or less importantly, 45 minutes or more waiting for the turn of a fairway. You never see a golfer sprint down the fairway scoring birdies and 10’s every time.
To put the sample of golfers under the microscope you only have to look at the velocity of the golf ball flying around. Basically a club head move 6-7 mph in a normal golf swing. How cool can that be?
Now that you know how to hit a golf ball for beginners, you can practice as much as you need to in order to improve your accuracy. While hitting the ball is the most obvious part of golf, it’s also the most difficult. However, with consistent practice and these tips in mind, you can become a better golfer in no time at all.
