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This page last updated:
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
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How to... learn to play golf
Duncan Hall gets ready to take a good swipe at the ball. (6AL0920506) Picture: ANDY LAITHWAITE
I ALWAYS used to dread the Ryder Cup weekend in our house.
For the full three days, dad took over the television, and all we could see was a collection of strangely dressed blokes walking very slowly around a series of fields trying to get a small white ball into a tiny white-lined hole.
As my dad was (and still is) a keen golfer with several trophies bearing his name in Hunstanton Golf Club’s display cases, we just had to put up with it – in the same way we put up with him disappearing off at the crack of dawn every Saturday morning for a game.
Apart from the odd hack round a par three pitch and putt and a few games of crazy golf, I never really picked up the bug that saw my dad going out on to the course in all weathers and a remarkable array of different jumpers.
But now, after a beginners’ golf session at the Alwalton driving range Swingers, I am beginning to get an idea of why he is so wrapped up in the game so memorably described by Mark Twain as “a good walk spoiled”.
The session I went on with instructor Will Waddingham was the first of a 10-week course organised by the Peterborough College of Adult Education designed to take you through the basics of the game – and in particular the mystery of the swing.
After a brief introduction, Will assigned us with an iron and a basket of balls and instructed us to do our worst.
Having missed the ball on the tee a couple of times after a series of heavy swipes, I finally managed to get the ball moving in the right direction – and was quite chuffed to see it sail past the 50 yard mark a few times (as well as the odd nose dive into the grass only a few feet away from where I was standing).
Many of the eight-strong class were facing the same sort of problems – and this was when Will began to reveal the secrets of the golf swing which he likened closer to trying to swing a weight on a piece of string around your head rather than the sort of croquet-inspired hands and arm movement we had been attempting.
The golf swing is much more about moving your shoulders and your hips to create the right movement and then dropping the club in the right position to make the ball soar, rather than trying to push it off the tee with your arms.
Speaking after the session, Will said: “Anyone can have a go at it – the easiest people to teach are the people who have not learned to hit the ball with their hand and eye co-ordination. All you need to learn is a blank canvas and a willingness to take on something completely different from what you would normally do.
“There is no right or wrong way to learn but there is a way to make it easier, which isn’t natural.”
As we set up for a photograph, the stance did feel extremely unnatural, but with very little effort I managed to get the ball to sail even
further than I had done previously – with what felt like very little effort, as rather than using my arms I was able to use muscles in my legs, back and shoulders to propel it further.
I still stuffed it up a few times – and had a few scares as the pair of golfers behind me started driving their shots into the dividing wall behind me – but when I got it right the club felt as light as air in my hands and the ball just seemed to soar upwards straight and true in front of me.
And it was clear among some of the rest of the eight-strong class that this change in their swing was paying great dividends, as many stayed on after the session just for the satisfaction of batting a few more balls out into the gathering gloom.
Will said he designed the rest of the course according to how the learners were getting on – introducing the principles of aiming, using different clubs, and sometimes taking the whole class out onto the pitch and putt course if everyone was ready during the spring and summer courses.
I personally could see why people get so passionate about the game – and this passion was something the Professional Golfers Association was trying to bring back into the sport – taking it away from the perceived image of stuffy exclusive clubs peopled by retiring businessmen with dodgy fashion sense.
Will, who started playing as a junior in Sheringham, Norfolk, said: “I took part in a PGA-run golf coaching course to bring more people into golf and provide greater access, which doesn’t require so much training as their PGA professionals course.
“After this course you can go on if you want to take it further with professional training, although most people just want a rough overview of what they need to do. At the driving range we try to make golf seem more like a night out, we get a mix of people here coming up here for a laugh, some people are very professional and want to improve their swing and some want to just get some aggression out on the ball!”