Frustration, elation and a very patient husband highlight Kate Allman’s golf journey so far.

The first time I played 18 holes of golf, I came very close to lobbing my 7-iron into a creek. Probably the proudest accomplishment in my golf career to date is completing that round with a full set of clubs – and my marriage – intact.

We teed off at midday on the June long weekend at Moss Vale Golf Club in the New South Wales Southern Highlands. It was a stunning winter day, one of those crisp, bluebird mornings when the greens look cartoonishly lime, and every man and his dog wants a piece of them.

In hindsight, it was possibly not the best choice of tee-time for a newish golfer to test her skills on her first round of 18. I say newish because I’d been hitting balls at driving ranges and in group lessons on and off for a good two years before that. I was confident in those settings with plenty of other women and learners around me. But here, on a full course, I felt new pressure to keep ahead of what I imagined were far more capable male golfers. I was certain they’d be hitting up my backside and scoffing at the “non-golfer” as I desperately sought to keep pace.

To complicate matters, my driver became determined to send all tee shots into tree trunks. My wedges had a gravitational pull into water features. By the time my husband and I rolled down to our ninth hole, a downhill par 4 with an ominous creek flowing in front of a green that’s right in front of the clubhouse windows, I was about to explode.

“Is she OK?” an older man collecting lost balls crept over to my husband to ask. I was rambling incoherently at this point and, after sending three balls to water-logged heaven, had flipped my 7-iron into the long grass nearby.

“She’s fine, we just need to take five,” my husband Nick replied.

Nick sat me down on a log. Clever man, he fed me a sandwich and some water. After a few angry tears, I recollected my 7-iron and my dignity. 

“I need to finish 18 holes,” I stubbornly insisted.

The shadows were growing long, kangaroos inhabited some of the holes, and there were far fewer people playing around us by this time. While it was not exactly pretty, I plucked my ball out of the 18th hole on dark.

How did I get here?

If you had told me 10 or even five years ago that I’d be planning long weekends around the prettiest golf courses in a region, or rearranging work schedules to fit in a game, I’d have thought you were mad.

Like many women, I grew up assuming golf was for men. Banker types making deals with corporate suits, or dads escaping family duties early on weekends while mums took the kids to Sunday school. Sure, I’d heard names like Karrie Webb – on the rare occasions her wins were televised on the male-sports-focused news of the 1990s. As a sports journalist now working in a more equitable era, I knew there were women in the pro ranks. But everyday, average women playing golf on a weekend? That type just didn’t exist. Not in the media, not in advertising, not in my world.

And while my husband had attended corporate golf days and semi-regular golf outings with his male friends, I didn’t know a single woman my age who could play.

How on earth did I fall into it?

How it started

Like a wayward tee shot into a bunker, I became a golfer without planning.

I suppose I had a steer in the right direction, given my mother-in-law, Andrea McGann, is a golf instructor based in Sydney. She had previously dragged me to “SwingFit” classes that combine fitness exercises with beginner golf lessons. The best part of those was you could wear activewear on the course and not get in trouble for not wearing a collared polo. It certainly encouraged other participants who were deterred by stuffy or expensive golf clothing.

But the spark that lit the match for me was a random invitation in 2021 to play at one of the nation’s most prestigious courses, The Australian Golf Club. 

“You have to play!” Nick insisted when I told him Lululemon was hosting a media day on the prestigious course and had invited me. I think the PR people assumed I could play because I had modelled once for those SwingFit classes in a newspaper article, the evidence of which was posted way down the grid of my Instagram account.

“There are golfers that have played their entire lives who can’t get a tee-time at The Australian!” a friend from my hockey club said enviously.

Apparently, this was an opportunity too good to miss.

The mother-in-law was most insistent. She immediately booked me into her ladies group classes at Eastlakes and Botany golf clubs. I was put on a rigorous six-week plan to get ‘Australian-ready’. Pitching and putting on Tuesdays; driving, wedges and bunkers on Thursdays.

The media day came, and I was as prepared as I could be. On immaculate grass that looked like it had been snipped with the world’s finest cutthroat razor, I was creating divots that could grass a football field. I took three shots for every one of my playing group’s. Among them were far more capable players, like the publisher of this very magazine. He was kind and encouraging but also mentioned that he had played at Augusta National – clearly, way out of my league.

I made my way around nine holes trying not to draw too much attention, laughing a lot at myself and enjoyed a fancy lunch in The Australian’s clubhouse afterwards. Fortunately, we agreed to an eight-shot limit so there were a few holes where I could just pick up my ball rather than embarrass myself further.

However, one moment sticks in my memory. An approach where I selected a 5-iron on the advice of this magazine’s publisher.

I lined up, breathed out, swung and struck the ball cleanly. That inimitable “clock” sound rung out as my ball flew through the air and dropped neatly onto the green, a couple of metres from the hole. I felt ‘it’, that thrilling satisfaction of everything aligning perfectly to send a tiny white ball on its way to a tiny green hole. I was ready to dedicate as many hours as I needed to reproduce that feeling.

And so my addictive, joyous and maddening journey in golf began.

How it’s going

And so here I am, 31 years old, left hand in glove, hoiking a set of clubs around a course on a long weekend. I’m unable to open my Instagram feed without going down rabbit holes riddled with grip tips and swing videos.

After that day at The Australian, my mother-in-law gave me a set of her old clubs. Buying the equipment can be a major cost barrier to starting out, so admittedly this was a huge head start.

I acquired golf clothing that could double as activewear. Skorts that I could wear to play hockey or tennis and shorts that would be useful for travelling and hiking. I found Lululemon’s range looked and felt great and fitted nicely (and I promise this is not a sponsored story!).

I learned other tips to get around cost hurdles. Second-hand golf clubs go for rock-bottom prices on Facebook Marketplace if you watch out for them. I nabbed a folding buggy on Marketplace for $20, after months lugging my clubs over my shoulder (an experience every rookie should go through first).

Botany Golf Club in Sydney may not be as immaculate as The Australian, but it’s open to the public, costs $20.50 for nine holes and offers a much easier run (shallow bunkers, only one water feature) for newish golfers like me. Craigieburn in Bowral, which is across the road from the house I grew up in, is almost always deserted and has a $15 special. The grass usually needs trimming and there are kangaroos bounding across the fairways, but I usually have the whole place to myself. I love it because I don’t feel any pressure to perform.

I’m getting better at the different shot types, and I roughly know which clubs to select and when. Something clicked when I realised this is a process of trial and error that even the pros are still navigating (why do you think they have caddies?). Bringing a variety of clubs other than my driver to Friday nights at the driving range has helped me discover how far I tend to hit what. I also succumbed to lessons from the mother-in-law on pitching and bunker shots.

Contrary to what some women might assume – that golf is secret men’s business – hubby Nick is thrilled I can now tee off with him. Plenty of men I know would similarly love their partners to be on the course sharing in the enjoyment, rather than nagging them to come home for chores. Nick and I play almost every other sport together, from surfing to skiing to kicking a footy at the park; why not add golf? He’s also the most non-judgmental and calm playing partner I could ask for, purely because he’s already seen me at my worst. We survived that day at Moss Vale, after all.

Now, can I call myself a golfer?

Forget grip tips, swing techniques and club selection – the hardest part of golf for me might be setting aside enough time to play. This is especially the case for busy women who love the gym and play other sports. It’s probably why it took me two years to notch up 18 holes at Moss Vale. It’s also why I think the golf community needs to loosen its strict definitions of what it is to ‘play’.

If you enjoy a hit at the driving range wearing activewear, that counts. If you chip around on nine holes irregularly, you play golf. If you can’t afford a membership but love to tee off on public courses or when on holidays, no matter, you’re a part of our community.

Women who are new to the game and outnumbered by men in every direction should be confident to call themselves golfers. You don’t need to chuck a tantrum ticking off 18 holes to qualify. 

The post New To The Game: How Kate Made The Cut appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

The only connection golfer’s have to the club is with their hands, yet so many never think about how to grip a golf club. The grip isn’t a one size fits all. Every golfer has a slightly different structure to their arms and body. To deliver a square clubface, some will need their trail hand more on top of the club. Others, more under. But the basics of the grip hold true, and golfers should check them often. Here’s how. – Joe Plecker, Director of Instruction, Landings Club, Savannah, Georgia, Golf Digest Best in State Teacher

How to grip a golf club

• Start with the club at your side
• Hinge the club up with your lead wrist
• Place your trail hand in your fingers

How to grip a golf club step No.1: At your side

Your arm is in its most natural position when it’s hanging down by your side. This is a great place to grip the golf club your lead hand. Your elbow is bent and the wrist is soft. Don’t do anything rigid here; with the weight of the club on the ground, just let your arm rest in its own natural position at your side. Most golfers will have a lead hand grip where the palm is turned slightly inward, so it’s facing their left thigh.

How to grip a golf club step No.2: Hinge up

Once you’ve found a comfortable grip by your side, hinge the club up with your lead wrist. Your wrist needs to have this range of motion as you swing, so it will help clarify what a good grip is for you. If you hinge the club up and the clubface begins to open or close, return the club to your side, adjust your hand position, and start again. It’s a great check for the position of your lead hand because it mimics the action that you’re going to see in the golf swing.

How to grip a golf club step No.3: Grip in fingers

There’s a whole spectrum of ways golfers can place their trail hand on the club. Some golfers’ hands will be more under the grip, some on the side and others more on top. But no matter who you are, the club should be in the fingers for your trail hand, so your trail palm cradles your lead hand thumb. If more players did that, it would be hugely beneficial for their games.

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One simple move – straightening your trail arm at the right time – can upgrade your entire game, driver to wedges.

I’m a swing junkie. I look for things great players do and try to figure out why they do them. A couple of years ago, I noticed that the longest hitters swing into impact with some bend in the trail arm. The arm is straightening, but it’s not straight. I also found that power players in other hitting sports – tennis, baseball, boxing – don’t fully straighten the trail arm at impact. I began training this move into my swing, and the results were shocking. A year ago, my ball speed with the driver was 147 miles an hour, max. Now, I can get it up to 157! That’s 20 to 30 more yards.

This straightening of the trail arm has a major effect on other parts of the game, particularly iron play and pitching. With irons, it promotes solid contact because it helps you stay in posture through the shot. On pitches, it controls the loft at impact for predictable trajectory and roll.

In short, this one key move can give you the things you probably want the most – more driving
distance, quality contact on iron shots and better control with the wedges.

DRIVER

Extend through the impact zone

The major benefit of the trail arm staying bent into impact with the driver is more speed. When the arm is still straightening through the strike, the energy of the swing keeps going down the shaft and into the ball. Once you straighten the arm, energy starts to dissipate and the clubhead slows down. A good feel is that you’re pushing your trail hand away from your trail shoulder through impact [above]. The real bombers almost double that shoulder-to-hand distance from about three or four feet before impact to just after the strike.

To practise this power move, make swings in which you segment the motion, stopping between steps. First, swing your driver to the top. Second, turn your body to its normal impact position. Third, swing the club through by straightening your trail arm.

Work on this three-step motion slowly at first and then start to put the steps together into normal swings. Finally, go back to hitting shots. You’ll quickly get a feel for extending your trail arm out to the target after impact – and see a serious boost in speed.

If you don’t do it

When the arm straightens too soon, the butt end of the grip starts to move backwards, away from the target. As a result, the clubhead bottoms out way behind the ball, often causing drop-kicks or thin contact low on the clubface. Also, the body stops turning forward, so the hips and shoulders are facing the ball at impact [above] instead of rotating towards the target. When the body stalls like this, another major power source is cut off. If you feel like you’re swinging fast but not hitting it anywhere, it’s a good bet you’re straightening the trail arm too soon.

Drill: The towel turn

Grab your golf-bag towel, and hold one end in your trail hand at the top-of-backswing position. Wrap the towel behind your trail biceps and pull it against your sternum with your lead hand [above left]. Now, mimic your forward swing, turning your trail shoulder down to its impact position [above right]. The elbow still should be bent 90 degrees, so this is an exaggeration. In a real swing, the arm would be straightening, but still bent! Work on this drill, but intersperse normal driver swings trying to replicate the feel of the trail arm staying bent into  the impact zone.

IRONS

Clear our before the strike

When you’re hitting off turf, you really have to control where your swing bottoms out. Maintaining your
posture through impact is a major contributor, and keeping some bend in the trail arm preserves posture. How? Look at it this way: the swing has a certain radius, and the bend in the trail arm largely controls it in the downswing. When the radius lengthens too soon from the arm straightening, the body pulls up to prevent the club from hitting the ground behind the ball. Keeping that arm bent allows you to stay in your posture.

Because an iron strike should be downward, you need to turn your trail shoulder down into impact [above]. But that can make you feel like you’re going to hit the ground too soon. To prevent this, your lead hip has to “clear”, or rotate open. Rotation moves the swing’s low point forward so you can turn down and not crash the club into the ground. For this to work, the trail arm must stay bent. Practise rotating your lower body through aggressively, turning your shoulder down and straightening your trail arm into the follow-through.

If you don’t do it

We’ve established that straightening the trail arm early causes a loss of posture, but what exactly happens? The hips push towards the ball, and the spine loses its forward tilt [above]. You see, your brain is very good at heading off trouble. When your trail arm straightens too soon, your brain senses that the club, in effect, is getting longer, so it tells your body to stand up to compensate. Obviously, that’s no recipe for consistent contact. You might time it right now and then, but you’re likely to hit a lot of fat and thin iron shots. Sound familiar?

Drill: The Throw

Here’s another great way to train the correct straightening of the trail arm on the downswing. Place a ball six feet in front of you on your target line, hold another ball in your trail hand, and take your setup without a club. Now, swing your trail arm back like you’re making a normal backswing, then start down and throw the ball [above] at the other one on the ground. If you hit it, or come close, it means you kept your trail elbow bent as your arm moved back in front of you. If your arm were to straighten too soon, you’d slam the ball down right in front of you.  

WEDGES

Maintain some hinge into the ball

The pitch swing is smaller and slower than a full-swing iron, but the same concept applies. With pitch shots, the big issue is loft – the loft on the clubface when you strike the ball and the resulting trajectory of the shot. Creating predictable loft is the key: too little loft, and the ball comes out hot; too much, and you don’t reach your target. Again, let the trail elbow bend going back and then straighten through impact [above].

In pitching, the trail wrist also plays a pivotal role because golfers tend to flip the wrist to try to lift the ball into the air. Like the trail elbow, that wrist should still have a little hinge at impact. 

One wrinkle in pitching: you have to control what the ball does in the air and on the ground, and the trail arm helps with both. It lets you deliver predictable clubface loft and make a solid strike, which imparts consistent spin on the ball so it rolls out as you expect. Hit some pitches where you straighten your trail arm before impact, then hit some where you let it straighten after the strike. You’ll become a believer real fast!

If you don’t do it

The lifting action that plagues poor pitchers has a distinct look if you freeze the swing right before the club reaches the ball [right]. The hands are back – the trail hand under the trail shoulder and its palm turning upwards. From this position, the clubhead bottoms out behind the ball, typically producing chunks or skulls. If you manage to get lucky and catch one solid, you still hit a weak shot because you’ve added loft to the clubface that you didn’t expect. Compare this to the correct image on the previous page [above]. The hands are centred on the body, the trail arm is pointing in front of the ball, and the chest is turning towards the target. That’s how you hit solid pitch shots with predictable loft.

Drill: The impact tap

The other drills got your body turning to impact (The Towel Turn) and your trail arm straightening correctly (The Throw). Now let’s get a club in your hands. Swing a 6-iron but stop halfway down, keeping the bend in your trail elbow and wrist [above left]. Then, turn your body forward until your hands are in front of the ball and stop [above middle]. Finally, tap the club into the ball, hitting it 10 yards or so [above right]. This teaches you to not lift or add loft to the face; just turn forward and straighten your arm to hit the ball. Ingrain those moves (pitching first, then full swing) to learn what great impact feels like. 

Photographs by J.D. Cuban

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Use your lead knee to help make the choice.

Xander Schauffele has been in the top three in one of the PGA Tour’s key ball-striking stats in each of the past two seasons – strokes gained/total. A big reason for that is his iron play. He knows how to adjust his swing to create the desired shot, and I’m not just talking about drawing it or fading it.

You can see that Schauffele’s body looks subtly different as he reaches the top of the backswing in these two images – check the left knee. In one photo [far left] that knee dives in. In the other it remains fairly stable. If you move the lead knee inward and towards the ball as you take the club back, even letting that foot’s heel come off the ground, you’ll be able to make a deeper, longer backswing. That adjustment translates to farther and higher iron shots, because you’ll be able to create more speed in the downswing and put more spin on the ball. Remember this move when you need to get it over a tree or clear something fronting a green.

When you don’t need to max out on distance, go with Xander’s stable-knee backswing for better accuracy. Keeping the left foot planted and the knee fairly still restricts lateral movement of the body and shortens the length of the backswing, making it easier to hit the ball with the centre of the clubface. Along with a ball position that is slightly farther back, a quieter lower body also promotes a lower ball flight and reduces spin, leading to straighter shots. 

When you play the ball farther back at address for this controlled shot, your swing path will be more from inside the target line. To adjust for that, it’s helpful to set up slightly open in relation to the target. – with Ron Kaspriske

Josh Zander, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, is at Stanford University Golf Course in California.

Photographs by J.D. Cuban

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This is your chance to rehearse a quality backswing.

Waggling the club before you hit a shot is a traditional way of reducing tension and getting primed to make a fluid swing. But if you do it in an old-school wristy fashion, you’re rehearsing something you really don’t want to do when it’s time to take the club back.

Let me explain.

Grab your driver and waggle, flicking the clubhead back and forth with your wrists. Pay attention to where the clubhead travels in the backswing. If it abruptly moves inside the target line, you’re rehearsing a poor takeaway – one that makes you want to re-route the club in the downswing on an out-in-path – an over-the-top slicer’s move.

Instead, waggle like Justin Thomas. Take the club back a few times with your arms and torso moving as one unit. You’ll notice the clubhead stays in front of your hands, yet moves slightly inside the target line without any excessive opening or closing of the face. Be sure to keep your arms relaxed, and move your belly button with the club as you start away smoothly. – with Ron Kaspriske

David Leadbetter is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional.

Feature Image: Walter Iooss 

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Writing down what I’m grateful for helps me play my best.

I’ve always been a happy person, but only in the past few months have I become a happy golfer. There is absolutely a difference.

The past few years have been awesome for me – I’ve gotten back to the PGA Tour and won twice, and I fulfilled a lifelong dream of winning the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, a tournament I attended as a kid. But before that, I went through some pretty brutal times. 

During the 2016-2017 season, I made two of 17 cuts, won just $US18,008 and lost my card. It was almost impossible not to let those consistent failures affect my mood on and off the golf course. 

Though I’ve gotten my game back, there are still moments that can make me feel pretty crappy. Maybe it’s missing a putt to get a top 10, rather than missing a putt to make the cut, but this game continues to test your emotions, no matter who you are or how good you are. 

I played in my first Masters last November and shot 75 on Friday to miss the cut by one. As you might imagine, I was not happy. Shortly after that performance, my caddie and longtime close friend Joe Greiner made a wise observation. He said I spend all this time working on my physical golf game but hardly any time working on my mental game. Why was my preparation ignoring such a huge part of golf?

Since then, I have made a conscious effort to turn my thinking around and bring the “happy guy” outlook to the PGA Tour. I’ve been reading books on it. I’ve been talking with my wife, who’s a huge help, and a music artist named Mike Stud about how I can focus on the right things when I’m playing. 

It boils down to this: for me, there is not a single positive that comes from getting mad after a golf shot. Of course, it’s good to remember the shot and analyse what went wrong. Then you can address it in your practice after the round. But sitting there and being angry isn’t going to do anything positive. It’s only going to bring you out of your focus and rhythm. Think of when you were playing your best; I highly doubt you were angry. 

It’s easier said than done, of course. I’ve found it helpful to focus on all the things I have in my life to be grateful for: a wife who loves me, amazing friends, a dog who loves me (at least when I feed her) and the opportunity to play the game I love for a living and make a whole bunch of money doing it. I can’t lose sight of all that just because of a bad shot or a bad round or even a bad month on the golf course. When I hit a bad shot, I try to think of all that’s right in my life. It puts everything into perspective and makes whatever thing happened on the course feel smaller, if that makes sense. 

I’ve found that writing these things down can be super useful. Before the final round at Riviera, I remember sitting in my car and making a list of all the things I was excited for that day. This helps my mind focus on the positives.
I played an almost perfect round until the 18th green, when I missed a three-footer for the win. That could have made me really angry, but I called my wife afterwards, and she reminded me to “forgive quickly”. I wasn’t going to let one bad shot overshadow a fantastic day on the golf course. 

I was able to let that putt go before the playoff against Tony Finau. I made two solid pars to win, and it wouldn’t have been possible if I let that missed putt dominate my thoughts. 

Next time you’re on the golf course, and you hit a bad shot, take a moment to be grateful for the good things in your life. You’re on a golf course, so it can’t be that bad. Unlike me, this isn’t your job, so give yourself a break. This game is supposed to be fun, after all. – with Daniel Rapaport 

The post My Happy Place: Do this ONE thing to play your best golf appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

In the May 2021 issue we talked about transferring your practice to the golf course, and a great way to do that is to first bring the golf course to the range.

Taking time to practise on the range is only valuable if we practise in a manner that helps to shoot lower scores when we play; otherwise we’re just blindly hitting shots with no thought given to actually playing the game.

Next time you go to the range try this to maximise your practice: bring the scorecard of your home course and play the golf course.

Warm up and then take the club you would use on the tee of the first hole, picturing the shape of the shot that you want to play. Then move onto the club you would hit for your second shot and continue this way through the entire course, always picturing the hole you are playing and the type of shot you want to hit.

Each time you go to the range take a different scorecard and ‘play’ a different course. This is a great way to make your range-time fun and meaningful and will ensure that when you next tee it up, you’ll have honed the feels you want to take with you onto the golf course.

Quick tip

If you like to take a practice swing before each shot, do so in the exact same manner that you intend to hit the shot. A half-hearted practise swing with little purpose serves only to give your body mixed signals about what you’re actually trying to do. Swing like you mean it, or don’t bother at all.

If you have any questions or are interested in undertaking some online lessons, e-mail Jason at jason@jasonlawsgolf.com

Feature Image:  Getty Images | Jack Thomas

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Work on your game while your issues are still fresh.

No matter how good you are, there are days when you leave the course disappointed. Instead of going home upset, head to the range and the putting green if you can. A little work right after a round is a great way to feel better about your game – and improve, too.

All you’ll need to hit is about 30 balls. Your goal is to correct whatever issues that might have crept into your swing. Things like poor alignment and posture are easy to check post-round. For me, fatigue leads to standing up too straight, making my ball-striking inconsistent. To fix the problem, I grab whatever club I was hitting the worst that day and focus on making swings while keeping my spine angle from getting too upright. If you weren’t hitting it solid, I bet posture had something to do with it.

The next thing I do is a putting drill to restore the two fundamentals that might have gotten away from me as the round progressed – read and speed. I set up for a 15-foot putt and stick two tees in the ground on my line about halfway between the ball and the cup (the tees act as a gate). I then putt several balls. If a ball goes through the gate and in the hole, it’s worth three points. If it goes through the gate but passes the hole by a foot or two, it’s worth two points. And if it comes up short, it’s worth one point. The goal is to score 10 points in as few balls as possible. I find this immediately erases any bad tendencies from the round and gets my putting back to the basics. 

The best post-round work for you might be different, but the point is to improve your weak spots, solidify your fundamentals and head home with the confidence that you’ll play better next time.    – with Keely Levins

Boutier, from Clamart in France, won the ISPS Handa Vic Open in 2019 and then went 4-0 for Europe in her first Solheim Cup.

Photographs by J.D. Cuban

The post Tips From The Tour: Why you should practise post-round appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Taking someone out for the first time? Here’s what you need to know.

A lot of people are trying golf for the first time these days – and that’s fantastic – but they’re doing it in a different way: bypassing the lesson tee and heading straight to the course. As a coach, I’d like to see a little training before anyone steps on the first tee. But as a guy who wants to share this game with more people, I’m all in on this quick-start trend. And if I can’t train them, let’s train you – the golfer who’s introducing someone to our game – to help the newbies pick things up faster. In this article, my wife, Kerri, and I are playing with our boys, William and Michael. I want to share the advice I gave them to speed up the learning process. My goals: offer a few pointers, stick to them, and heap on the encouragement. Here are two more tips to get you started: tell your students to hit every shot with a 9-iron, and tee it up everywhere. Let’s go!  – with Peter Morrice

First fundamental

Get the grip right
The best grip advice is to hold the club in the fingers, not the palms. Like I’m doing here with William [above], place the grip in the lead hand (left hand for righties). Angle it across the base of the fingers, from the first knuckle of the forefinger to the bottom of the pinky, then close the hand around the grip. Add the other hand, also in the fingers – interlock, overlap, 10-finger, whatever feels good. The thumb pad of the trail hand should cover the thumb of the first. That makes it easy to hinge the wrists for power.

Second fundamental

Make sure they’re relaxed at address
Discussions about how to set up to the ball can quickly dissolve into a complicated mess. Instead, have them focus on three things: posture, balance and tension. Good posture establishes the correct distance from the ball, which is critical for beginners. I tell Michael to bend to the ball, add a little flex in his knees, and make sure his arms feel like they’re hanging straight down [below]. It’s really that simple. I remind him that his weight should be in the middle of his feet, not on his toes or heels. Last thing: tell them to relax! Michael looks great here, but he needs to stay loose.

Third fundamental

Have them turn with the club
Many new golfers mistakenly swing the club back with only their hands and arms – the body stays fairly still. It’s probably out of fear of missing the ball. Instead, what I’m showing William [left] is to feel as if the club is always in front of his body, just like it was at address. This gets the chest turning immediately, which increases rotation and keeps everything moving in sync. Of course, the club moves up and behind the body as the swing progresses, but this simple idea of turning with the club will get a beginner to start the swing correctly. It also triggers the weight shift to the back leg. I don’t tell William this – the less I say, the better – but when he loads correctly, he unloads correctly and rips it.

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Save the tough shots for another time

Leaving shots in a bunker or hacking around in the rough can steal confidence and scare off new golfers. When one of our boys finds a tough spot, I just throw the ball back in the fairway. I let them know this isn’t cheating; we’re just having fun. Kerri and I want to make sure they have success and, more importantly, want to come back out.

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Fourth fundamental

Tell them to pick up speed
My instruction for the through-swing is to have beginners imagine the club keeps gaining speed all the way to the finish. This prevents the common mistake of hitting at the ball, instead of swinging through it. I want all my golfers, especially anyone new to the game, to have a sense for the overall flow of the swing, instead of thinking about individual positions. Rhythm is so important to learn early on. When a golfer like William [right] can groove smooth acceleration throughout the swing, so many good things automatically fall into place. Plus, acceleration means distance, and nothing hooks a beginner on golf like watching that ball go.

Fifth fundamental

Have them clip the tee – every time
Hitting down on the ball to make it go high in the air is a tough concept for beginners. It’s totally counter-intuitive. One of the reasons my kids – and hopefully the beginners you’re helping – should use only a 9-iron to start is that the loft of that club takes away the urge to help the ball up. And with a tee under the ball for every swing, we’ve got a built-in training aid. I tell our boys all the time, “Hit the tee.” That simple directive promotes a downward strike – and every once in a while, that sensation of squeezing the ball off the ground. Long drives are nice, but is any feel in golf better than a pure iron shot? Michael loved it when he smoked this one [above].

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Always celebrate the little wins

Beginners aren’t always sure what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot. That’s where you come in. First, steer any reactions over bad shots towards the next opportunity. (The shorter the miss, the sooner the next opportunity.) As for good shots, anything airborne is a high-five – or an occasional hug if your kid grooves one. Even a hot ground ball should be praised. Point is, lay on the compliments.

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How to hit ’em high and soft.

A lot of golfers can get the ball out of the sand, but it runs too hard and ends up off the green. These shots need loft. With more loft on the clubface when it slides under the ball, you get more height and more spin to keep the ball  on the green. First, open the face, then take your grip. Next, play the ball off your front instep, and angle the shafta touch away from the target. Finally, swing with the idea of hitting two to three inches behind the ball and spanking the sand with the back of the clubhead. The face will look skyward in the finish [above], and the ball will fly high and stop fast. – with Peter Morrice 

Butch Harmon is based at Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada

Photograph by J.D. Cuban

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