My g/f sucks at golf...

[Steve K]

What is a good way to get my g/f actually decent at golf? She wants to pick up the game but she can barely swing the club straight and has trouble hitting the ball. She's a little one about 5'5 110 pounds maybe, she's tiny. Any tips from fellow female golfers?

[mddubya]

1st off, what kinda of clubs is she using? If she is trying to use your clubs, she is fighting a uphill battle from the get go. I seriously doubt she has the swing speed for even mens regular or senior flex. She needs a set of womens clubs.

Next on the agenda, LESSONS. Sign her up for some group lessons, they are usually pretty cheap and there will most likely be other women in there so she won't feel out of place.

[Steve K]

Well she doesn't have any clubs yet but we saw a set of Wilsons for about 200 at Target, I don't want to indulge in anything too nice yet although I might be better off looking for a higher quality used set.

[Bakemono36]

Practice, practice, practice. It takes a long time to develop a proper golf swing. I think many of us who have been playing for a while forget just how much we sucked when we first started playing.

[mddubya]

And when the 2 of you play together, play best ball at 1st. Let her hit from the womens tees, then play which ever ball is the farthest. Don't let her keep score, it will only discourage her. And don't do like I did and constantly offer advice and swing tips. All that did was discourage my wife and she won't play at all now.

Let her find a grip and a basic swing in the group lessons, and then let her flail away. Eventually it should begin to feel somewhat natural, and maybe she will hit a few good shots and get hooked like the rest of us.

Keep her away from the driver, maybe 3 or 5 wood off the tee, and no long irons, 5 or 6 iron should be the lowest iron she plays. Get her hybrids if you are going to get her her own clubs.

And teach her to laugh off the bad ones, maybe even throw in a bad one of your own on purpose if you have to, and laugh it off to. Make it fun for her, not a contest.

[mddubya]

Well she doesn't have any clubs yet but we saw a set of Wilsons for about 200 at Target, I don't want to indulge in anything too nice yet although I might be better off looking for a higher quality used set.

I don't know if you have any experience in building clubs, but you could look into a set of Maltby Gliders for women. They are pretty much a full set of hybrids. Golf Works offers club packs, and for a fee will assemble them for you. For just a little more than that set of Wilson's you could get her a set that would last longer, and she could play as she improves.

MALTBY GLIDER TL IRON CLUBHEAD - The GolfWorks

MALTBY LTECH HYBRID HEADS

MALTBY LTECH IRON HEADS

MALTBY LTECH FAIRWAY HEADS

yeah, and best of luck to you!

[xman1112]

Next on the agenda, LESSONS. Sign her up for some group lessons, they are usually pretty cheap and there will most likely be other women in there so she won't feel out of place.

I agree very highly on this point. She will definitely feel better if she's with other girls doing the same things as her. She may also want to join the girls league which ought to put her out there with the girls and get her more comfortable with golf in general. Then hopefully it will make her better when the two of you play, both how she feels and how she's playing.

Try and ease into it slowly and remember, she probably doesn't feel the same way about it as you and the boys do...but it is cool to get the two of you out there, doing it together; baby steps.

Good luck and have fun...

[RC52]

I recently got my gf involved with golf, and she took lesson with her mom and dad together as a family thing, and now she goes every other monday to "ladies night" at the range and plays once a week with me.

[xamilo]

My Girlfriend is about 5'8 same weight as yours. She had a lot of trouble to start with regarding distance, but through time she has become better and better. I am about 5 times longer than she is, but she hits it straighter EVERY time, so she ends up having more fairways than I do

Two things we did for her improvement:

1. Lessons. They are the basis of everything
2. Clubs FOR HER. I ain't saying she needs to be fitted (it would be better, but to start with its a little bit expensive if she leaves the game after two weeks), but clubs with a Lady Flex like he Adams Tight Lies or something would do the trick and increase her distance.

Give her time mate, she'll get it with time and patience,

Cheers,

[Steve K]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[gwlee7]

Here's what I did to help my wife get interested.

We started by learning how to make short putts. I threw a nickel on the practice green about 4 feet away from the hole and made sure it was a straight putt. I helped her grip the putter correctly and then told her to take the putter back just a little bit and then feel like she was rolling the ball with her right hand into the hole (this was to get her to use an "accelerating stroke" from the beginning). Of course, she hits the first about 10 feet long and the second about two feet short. She laughs. She then starts rolling them the right speed but just missing. I tell her to relax and then give it no more thought than tossing a balled up piece of paper into a trash can. She then proceeds to sink 4 in a row and just missed the 5th. I say okay, you know how to putt now, let's learn to chip.

We move just off the green and take a sandwedge (we'd borrowed a couple of old, lost ladies clubs from the pro shop) and I get her lined up and tell to pretend that there is a twig that she has to knock out from under the ball. She skulls the first about 50 feet. She stubs the second about four feet when it needs to go about 15. I say, relax your hands and really think about knocking that twig out from under the ball. She starts popping the ball onto the green and it is rolling out straight. She actually holes about the 9th or 10th try.

I tell her that now, she can help any team out in couples golf because she can chip and putt.

The next time we go and practice a little bit, she decides that she likes my SeeMore center shafted putter so much that she get the female asisstant pro to cut it down to her liking and put a Winn lady's grip on it. I say HEY that was my favoritie putter and she says OH WELL.

Moral of the story: Start her at the green and work back from there and she'll never get but so frustrated. And, do not let her use anything that you aren't willing to give her.

[Steve K]

Good tips, thanks.

[buykrux]

so i see it isnt just your gf who sucks at golf...

[JEFF4i]

We're going to need pictures of her to really know.

[SiberianDVM]

My G/F sucks at golf, too, and I've been trying to teach her for 2 years now. She absolutely refuses to take formal lessons, but will sort of listen to me.

Yesterday we played 18 holes at Aiken Golf Club, primarily so she could see the fox squirrels. This course has some of the toughest greens around, so naturally she sinks a 20 footer, then misses a 2 footer a couple of holes later. If she hasn't learned anything else from me, at least she's learned how to curse after missing a short putt.

On the 13th hole that has a steeply sloping back to front green, she flubs 2 chip shots, then blades the next one 20 feet past the hole. After sitting there for a moment, the little pink ball starts rolling back down the hill..........right into the cup.

I told her to savor the moment, because after you finally think you know what you're doing on a golf course, you don't make shots like that anymore.