Teaching

Beginner golf lessons that still work when you leave the range

Playing lessons · First-round nerves · What I skip on purpose

Coach and player working on a golf swing — If the only place you can hit it is a mat, we have not finished the lesson.

New golfers collect tips like seashells. One video says hold it in the fingers. The next says turn your shoulder under your chin. By Saturday you have eight swing thoughts and a slice that could file a flight plan. My beginner lessons are deliberately small.

The three things I care about in hour one

1. A grip you can repeat

Lead hand sits so you can see about two knuckles. Trail hand fits on, not fighting. We are not chasing a tour grip photo. We are chasing “this feels the same on ball ten as ball one.” Palms-only grips feel powerful and leak the face open. Fingers give you a chance.

2. A stance that is athletic, not a pose

Soft knees, weight in the middle of the feet, not the heels. For a mid-iron the ball sits nearer the centre than you think. Beginners shove it forward like a driver, then hit the ground two inches early and call themselves unlucky.

3. Aim at a target, not at the ball

Clubface first, feet second. Pick a leaf, a sprinkler, a discoloured patch. If your body aims twenty yards right, your brain will invent a swing to save it. That invented swing is the slice.

One thought is a lesson. Four thoughts is a traffic jam.

Why I drag beginners onto the course

The range does not have out of bounds, a group behind you, or a ball sitting in a heel mark. A playing lesson is slower golf and better golf. We hit two balls from a fairway, we drop near a green, we talk about when to pick up on a hole that is already gone. You learn pace. You learn that a 7 from 40 metres is a win.

We also cover the social stuff nobody puts in a “learn golf” list: where to stand, when to talk, how to take a drop without a committee meeting. Pair this with etiquette if your stomach knots at the thought of a clubhouse starter.

What we will not do

I will not rebuild your swing in 40 minutes. I will not sell you a new driver because your contact is heel-side. I will not pretend every beginner should start with a blade iron. Loaner cavity-backs, a hybrid instead of a long iron, and a putter you are not scared of — that is enough hardware.

Simple set of clubs suitable for a new golfer — Fitting can wait until you know your typical miss. Today we want contact.

Lessons run in Nairobi and I travel. Bring shoes you can walk in and a willingness to look silly for one hole. After that it gets quieter in your head. Book a beginner playing lesson.