I think you’ll agree that they are explained very clearly to help you perfect these aspects of the game. Try them, and let me know how you get on.

Pure Point Golf Products

I should make it clear that I am an affiliate of Pure Point Golf because I really rate the products and consider them to be very good value.  Sure, I make a little bit of commission out of the sale, but that’s not the point – all Bobby’s products are good quality as you can tell from the video. Buy them through the link if you want to. Don’t if you don’t want to - it’ll still cost the same :-)

You will want to look the part but not stand out, particularly when you are learning to play otherwise you will draw attention to yourself unnecessarily. This may inhibit you and distract you.

There are dress codes for playing golf, but they are not as rigid as you might think and it does depend on what you are doing, and the types of golf course you are playing on.

On the driving range, the practice area and for lessons with the golf pro it doesn’t matter too much what you wear. Certainly there isn’t a problem on the driving range. Wear what you like, but you should be comfortable.

A casual sports shirt, a sweater or fleece, a pair of jeans or casual pants will do. It is advisable to have some golf shoes, although this is not absolutely necessary in the very early stages of learning the game. Trainers or sport shoes will do on the range and practice areas.

On the golf course you are usually not allowed to play in jeans or a tee-shirt. Casual pants and sports or polo shirts should usually be worn. Look at what the golfers on TV are wearing and wear something similar to them – perhaps avoiding John Daly and Ian Poulter for style!

Golf need not be expensive when you first start to learn to play. You DON’T need to buy branded clothing. Something clean, comfortable and presentable should be acceptable.

If you’re in doubt, contact the golf course first and ask them what their dress codes are.

In the UK the Professional Golf Association (PGA) is where you can search for golf professionals in your area. NOT ONLY that, but you can search for coaches in other countries too.

On the UK PGA website, click on the tab ‘Find your PGA Pro’ on the Home Page. You will see that you simply have to enter some basic area information to find a pro in your area.

My local search produced a map with eight golf courses with pros within about 10 miles of my home and 4 local clubs with PGA Pros within 2-3 of miles of where I live with the telephone numbers of the courses.

If you are based in the US, Australia, Spain or wherever, go to the national PGA website where you live to find information on local pros in your area. Simply type in ‘pga, Spain’ or Australia or any country that you live in.

Now let’s have a look at accessing International PGA Pros in the United States from the UK PGA website. On the ‘Find your PGA Pro’ page you can search for PGA pros in your country of choice. I simply left in the ‘United States of America’ default international country and was presented with a list of pros.

These are listed alphabetically by name, and by club with contact details. The problem here is that America is huge and the listings are not by state or town which is not be very helpful.

To narrow the search type in “USPGA official website” into Google and you will be directed to the USPGA website.Click on the ‘Instruction’ tab on the Home Page and then on the ‘Find a PGA Instructor’ link which will take you to another page where details on the type of instruction you want e.g. ‘Beginners lessons’, ‘men, women, group’ can be ticked.

I simply ticked the ‘Beginner Lessons’ box at the top and entered ‘Idaho’ as the state and left the ‘Within’ box at 10 miles of Boise, Idaho which produced a list of instructors and locations in and around Boise.

From there, to trace the contact details of local pros I typed in the name of one of the courses listed into Google and came up with the website including telephone numbers.

You could of course Google local clubs in your area – “PGA Golf Pros in Boise, Idaho”, or “Beginner golf lessons in Wolverhampton/Sidney/Alberta”, for example. I’m sure you don’t need me to explain how you do that.

Finding a pro anywhere where golf is played couldn’t be easier. Once you have tracked them down through an internet search, you just need to pick up the phone and call them. If you are just starting to play, ask if the instructor does beginner lessons, women’s lessons, group and individual lessons and what they charge. Simple.

**SPECIAL NOTE Most golf clubs either have a “ladies” grip or a “men’s” grip on the golf club. If you have small hands it is very important to make sure you have your clubs gripped with a ladies grip, it doesn’t matter if you own men’s clubs. If you have large hands you should have your clubs gripped with men’s grips.

There are a couple more options, if your hands are really small you can have “junior” grips placed on your clubs or if you have x-large hands or arthritis you can have “jumbo” grips placed on your clubs. The grip size also effects ball flight. Large grips tend to make a person fade the ball and small grips tend to make a person draw the ball.**

Grip Variations

There are multiple ways to grip a golf club. Although it sounds overwhelming, it truly is not. Once you begin to experiment you will eliminate four or five of them instantly. I will give you a guide to get you started on the right track.
Interlocking Grip

Overlapping Grip

For starters, if you have small hands and fingers, the interlocking grip will probably work best for you. It helps you wrap your fingers and palm around the grip handle.

On the other hand, if you have large hands, the overlapping grip will probably work best for you.

The grips are the proper way to hold a club- however there are three different ways you can apply them to the golf club.

Weak

Neutral

Strong

You can grip the golf club in a weak position (no knuckles of the left hand showing), neutral (one knuckle of the left hand showing) or the strong position (2 or 3 knuckles of the left hand showing).

During your experimenting, if the golf ball has a tendency to curve to the right, you will want to move BOTH hands to the right (strong). When you move the hands make sure you do it slowly.

If the golf ball has a tendency to curve to the left, you will want to move BOTH hands slowly to the left (weak). Now, if the golf ball is flying without a curve, you have the correct grip for you. DO NOT EXPERIMENT WITH ANY OTHER GRIP.

Grip Pressure

OK, you have found the correct grip for you. There is one last item we need to deal with. The amount of pressure you apply to the club plays a major role in how you swing the golf club. The tighter you grip the golf club the slower your arms will swing and the longer the clubface will take to release in the downswing (causing a slice).

This is a good thing if you HOOK the golf ball. This will definitely stop the ball from curving from right to left. On the other hand if you have problems SLICING the golf ball this amount of grip pressure will make the ball slice more.

If you are struggling with slicing the golf ball, you will have to hold the golf club like you were holding a baby’s hand. Gently, the lighter you grip the golf club the faster the club will swing and the quicker the club will release in the downswing. If you do not have any problems with the ball curving, you have found the correct amount of grip pressure.

Bobby Eldridge – Purepoint Golf

For a FULL set of golf instruction DVDs from Bobby – CLICK HERE

Left Hand

When you pick up a golf club your hands are the only part of your body that touch the club. For many years the hands (grip) have often been referred to as the steering wheel of the golf swing. I don’t believe this could be more true. Gripping the golf club correctly makes playing this game a much better experience.

Gripping the golf club at first glance does not seem like a very difficult thing to do, however, it can take a lot of trial and error to figure out the correct grip for you.

Place the golf club up in your left hand, the golf club goes across the left palm- from the base of the forefinger to the pad above the pinky finger.

Now, hold the handle steady with your left fingers and wrap your palm around the top of the grip.

1. Club Goes Across the Left Palm

2. Wrap Palm Around Top of the Grip

The grip does more to effect the ball flight than anything else in the game. That’s why we’ve started with the grip. It’s the foundation of the swing, and a quick fix for those of you that have undesirable ball flight patterns.

The more you grip the golf club in the fingers, the faster you can swing the golf club and the quicker the clubface will close. If you grip the golf club further up in the palm, the slower the golf club will travel and the longer it takes for the clubface to close.

If you are slicing the golf ball, you will want to move the grip more into the fingers (the base of the fingers), if you are hooking the golf ball, you will want to move the grip more into the palm area (higher up in the left hand).

Right Hand

Now that the left hand is in place you are going to place the right hand on the golf club. With your right hand on the side of your right leg, slowly bring it towards the bottom of the golf club.

The right hand will be placed on the golf club more in the fingers than the palm. You will simply fold the right hand around the fingers of the left. BOTH PALMS MUST ALWAYS FACE EACH OTHER. It is not a difficult thing to do but it is mandatory, no grey area.

3. Bring your Right Hand Towards the Bottom of your Left Hand

4. Fold your Right Hand Around the Fingers of the Left Hand

5. Both Palms MUST Face Each Other

Congratulations, you have now GRIPPED the golf club. But hold on a second, there is a good chance this is not the correct grip for you, so you will have to experiment.

However, I have given you a great starting point. The placement of the hands on the golf club controls what the clubface will do during the golf swing and ultimately what the clubface will look like at impact.

In Grip #2 I will explain some grip variations that will individualise the grip for you and help correct slicing and hooking the golf ball.

Bobby Eldridge – Purepoint Golf.

For a FULL set of golf instruction DVDs from Bobby - CLICK HERE

Bobby has been a teaching pro for over 30 years and he has produced some excellent Golf Instruction Videos for beginners and advanced players, including a Seniors DVD.

I like Bobby’s style. He is very matter of fact, gives clear instructions and covers all aspects of the game. I think you can learn a lot by listening to and watching Bobby. Give his videos a try and learn to play golf from a pro who knows what he’s talking about.

Return here to see Bobby’s ‘Golf Tips of the Day’ updated daily.

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When Hank refers to ‘opening the club face’, what he means is laying the angle of the club face back so that the loft of the club is higher. It means the ball will go higher and hopefully land softer.

Practice pitching the ball onto the green from 20-30-40 yards to get the feel of hitting the ball well from the center of the club at the right speed. This is a great way to learn how to hit the ball well.

If you are not clear about what Hank is saying, leave me a comment and I’ll try to explain.

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P.S. The spelling on the video title is NOT mine and I’m afraid the quality of the audio isn’t perfect!

Beg, borrow or buy a cheap putter and a pitching wedge for around $10-$12 each. Get 20-25 golf balls from your friends, a local golf club or a cheap sports goods outlet. That’s all you need – one putter, one club and a bag of balls.

Go to your local or municipal golf course where there should be a practice putting green. This will usually be free or very low cost. To begin with just learn to putt from all parts of the green – uphill shots and downhill ones; short ones and longer ones, straight ones and ‘curved’ ones. Spend several hours learning to putt.

When you feel you have the hang of putting, learn to chip short shots from between 5-12 feet from the green towards the flag. This is much more difficult than it seems, and it is where many shots are dropped in a round of golf.

The main problem inexperienced golfers have with the chip shot is how far back to take the club and accelerating through the ball. This requires practice and many, many chip shots.

The common mistakes that golfers make playing this shot are ‘grounding’ (hitting the ground first) the club before striking the ball or ‘topping’ the ball – striking it too high.

Chipping requires you to adopt a much more upright stance – that is with your feet almost together and no more than 2-3 inches apart. Your hands should be ‘ahead’ of the ball, meaning that they are at a slight angle in front of the ball as you strike it.

You only need to take the club back a short distance to strike the ball – probably no more than 12-24 inches depending on how far you want the ball to travel. Make sure that you make good, clean contact and ensure that you strike the ball in the centre of the club. This is crucial.

All you want to do is lift the ball a little up in the air to clear the fringe around the putting green and land the ball on the green to run towards the hole.

To help you develop your chipping technique, watch how the professionals do it and note their stance, how they address the ball, the extent of the backlift and accelerating through the ball as they strike it. Memorise these techniques and practice, practice and practice doing this yourself around the green.

These two simple practice techniques will get you prepared for learning other parts of the game.

You DON’T have to, but the driver is the club that potentially hits the ball further (or longer) than the other clubs and is usually the golfer’s first weapon of choice from the tee.

The tee-shot is a shot played from a tee – a disposable device, normally a wooden (or these days, plastic) peg, on which the ball is placed for driving.

The ‘tee’ also refers to the area from which the ball is hit on the first shot of the hole – and is also known as the ‘teeing ground’ or ‘tee box’. The ball must be teed off (hit) within the ‘tee’ markers – these are two small colored posts which inform you where you can place your tee and ball for your shot. They are usually spaced about 3-6 yards apart.

‘Woods/metals’ are smaller than drivers, but the same shape and design. Typically you will have a 3 and possibly a 5 wood/metal in your golf bag. They were known as ‘woods’ in the past because they were made of wood. Nowadays they are usually made of metal because they are cheaper to produce and perform better than wooden clubs.

Conventionally they are known as ‘woods’, but because they are now made of ‘metal’ they are sometimes called ‘woods’ or ‘metals’ or ‘metal woods’, and sometimes just ‘woods’. Confused? In the club hierarchy, the driver is first, the 3 wood 2^nd and the 5 wood third.

The other clubs in the hierarchy are called ‘irons’. Irons are the clubs that are made of iron – what a surprise! Actually they are not ‘iron’, but a modern metal, but not the same as the 3 and 5 ’wood/metal’.

Irons range from a 1 iron (the longest) through to a pitching wedge and sand wedge (the shortest). So there is a 1 iron, 2, 3, 4, and so on up to a 9 iron. The sand wedge and the pitching wedge are the next two clubs in the sequence after the 9 iron.

These days it is very uncommon for a player to have a 1 and 2 iron in their bags, and even 3 irons are rare. Players are only allowed to put 14 clubs in their bags including the putter so some choices have to be made on what to include.

In summary, the shorter the club, the higher the ‘loft’ or angle of the club face, the higher the ball goes and the shorter the distance it travels.