Golf swing basics form an important part of a beginners guide to golf. Golf swing ensures that the game of golf is a perfect combination of pleasure and competition. Like chess, golf also requires our minds to work in synchronization with out bodies. A golf club is to golf what a bat is to cricket and is used to strike the ball through swinging.

Golf has many factors associated with it but some major steps which help during the initial stages are discussed below.

Choosing the Correct Golf Club

The most practical thing to do is to select the appropriate golf club with respect to the hand styles, height and hand size.

There are many golf stores run by golf enthusiasts and golf professionals where you can check numerous golf clubs to choose from and also get free golf tips for beginners. You can also check tips on the internet.

Gripping the Golf Club

Now that you have your favorite golf club, next in golf basics comes gripping the golf set correctly. Both your hands have to work simultaneously (as a unit) for you to succeed. There should be light grip pressure. A light to medium tight grip gives a power swing.

There are many grips which have their importance during the game. As grips influence the swing and also are related to injuries, it is important to select the proper grip. Some popular types of grips are discussed below.

• The Overlapping Grip: The overlapping grip is a popular grip used in golf circuits. Overlapping grip is also called as the Vardon overlap grip in golf advice booklets as golf great Harry Vardon used to use this type of grip during his games. In this type of grip, you need to place your little finger of your trailing hand between the middle finger and the index finger on the lead hand. The left hand is the lead hand for right handed people.
• The Interlocking Grip: This type of grip is also called simply as the ‘interlock’ at times. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods made this type of grip popular. The name of the grip is due to the fact that it interlocks your leading and trailing hands. This involves a risk of the handle going into the palms while playing the shot which might ruin the shot. People with small hands or slightly weak wrists and forearms can use this type of grip. Also, it the best type of grip suited for newcomers in the game.
• The Baseball Grip: This type of grip is also called the ten finger grip as all the fingers are practically where they should be if common sense is applied. But as most golfers agree, common sense and golf do not sync. This is the least popular type of grip but was made famous by Bob Estes, Beth Daniel and others. This grip can also be used by beginners for the ease of using it. The baseball grip can be used by people with weak hands and people who have joint pains. It is the easiest type of grip with lead hand and trailing hand touching each other.

In most beginners guide to golf, interlocking grip is suggested method during initial stages. With experience, you can move to other appropriate grip

Make the Correct Posture and Bending

Always remember that you need not be over the ball, just side to it. You can check videos of golfers and then practice to get the correct posture while playing a shot. Your back has to be straight with the correct amount of bending is required at the hips. Your hips need to be the pivot while swinging your golf club. You can practice by moving the golf club over the top of the golf ball to get the appropriate posture.

Planning Your Shot

Golf is not only about clubs and balls, it requires skill, a certain level of planning and a golf player should understand the need of the hour as well. You can plan your shots depending on where you want the ball to land.

You should try and relate to the club and ball on a mental level. Many golfers close their eyes and visualize their shots. Next, they practice the swing repeatedly until their body moves with their mental image. Most golf tips for beginners involve practicing half shots to get a better control of their shots.

Imagining the Shot

In the game of golf, it is often said that as soon as you hit the ball, you know where it will land. You might have seen players closing their eyes just before taking a shot. What they are doing here is visualizing their shot. Once that is done, your body moves in tandem with your mind creating the proper flow displaying the golf swing basics in full flow. After you become a professional in golf, visualizing is easy and often not required.

Swing basics involve backswing, downswing, striking the ball and then the follow-through – exactly in that order. The quality of your golf game will eventually depend on the amount of practice involved and synchronization of your body, mind and the golf club.