The Green Golfer is an ongoing column this summer featuring golf lessons from Past PGA of Canada president Barrie McWha at the Blue Ocean Golf Club and a journalist who has never golfed in his life.
The things I knew about golf before my first lesson: It’s commonly associated with rich businessmen, they all wear awesome clothes like plus-fours and caddie caps, and scoring wise it’s like the card game Hearts, in that you don’t want points. Unlike in Hearts, you cannot shoot the moon and give the other golfers 26 points.
My first lesson with Barrie didn’t cover any of these things. Although we did start by talking about the importance of socializing on the golf course.
“You’ve probably heard people say that all business gets done on the golf course,” Barrie told me. “I think it is more an opportunity to develop relationship, which then leads to business. After 18 holes, you get a good sense of who a person is. Then you decide if you want to do business with them.”
Once we were on the driving range, Barrie told me we wouldn’t be hitting any balls this week. We would just be working on the swing.
Barrie said he wanted me to get used to the idea that golf is basically all about the swing.
“What happens to the golf ball is just a byproduct of the swing,” he said.
We started with the grip, which Barrie said is important to get right early. A lot of golfers rush through the grip and ultimately end up compromising their swing.
(Note: I’m right handed, everything is reversed if you’re left handed).
The proper grip is with the left hand near the top of the club, about an inch from the very end, with the thumb extended. Like a thumbs up, but you’re holding a golf club.
Most of the power in the grip is in the left hand. The right hand sits comfortably ahead of the left hand, but overlapping slightly with the left thumb gently cushioned under the palm pad of the right thumb. The right pinky finger is loosely hooked over the left index finger.
Experienced golfers sometimes use variations on this grip, but this is where you should start, Barrie told me.
The arms should hang from the shoulders and are extended.
For the correct posture, you should start with your feet a comfortable distance apart and parallel, with the golf ball (once you’re allowed to hit one) directly in the middle of your stance. The distance from the ball is determined by the length of the club.
For the full swing, your feet are probably going to be a little wider than hip distance apart, and your knees a little bent.
The stance varies from golfer to golfer based on height and body shape. A good rule of thumb is that this should be a comfortable position to stand in for a short time. If you’re uncomfortable, you’re probably doing something wrong.
In order to hit the ball, you need to be bent forward slightly from the hips. If you’re bending in the lower back, the rest of the swing will be thrown off. Bending at the hips allows you keep your spine straight.
Keep your eyes on the ball as you coil your spine like a spring until your left shoulder rotates under your chin. Then uncoil it. Ideally, the golf club will follow the exact same trajectory it took on the way up, coming into contact with the ball at the base of the swing.
The follow through, while an important part of the swing, is just a release of your momentum after you connect with the ball. There’s a fancy thing that golfers do where they come up on their back toe to finish the swing, but I haven’t figured that part out yet.
A little over halfway through the lesson, Barrie decided I was getting the basics well enough to try hitting some balls, and try to hit them I did.
I missed most of them but did successfully make contact with a few. Every time I missed, Barrie said he could see me pulling my head up and straightening my spine slightly. Just enough to move the head of the golf club incrementally out of its desired path.
We had to resort to Barrie holding my head in place while I swung, so that I wouldn’t take my eyes off the ball at the last second.
After the lesson, Barrie let me borrow a 7 iron from the course and told me to practise my grip.
“Do it while you’re watching TV or have some free time,” he said. “Just get a feel for the grip so that it becomes natural.
“Eventually, all of it will become a natural motion for your muscles and you won’t have to think about doing it.
“Once you get there,” Barrie said, “you can start to worry about where you want to aim the ball.”
