Up the Ante: Hit the Windshield

Summer is upon us in full swing. The flowers are blooming, the mercury is rising and our skin is boiling as we head into mid-summer. I'm pretty sure the longest day of the year is coming up some time soon?

Anyways, I haven't had many chances to get out of the house during the winter, but now that the weather is going so good, one particular sport has my attention again: GOLF!

Yes, many view golf as a sport for old, poorly dressed "old chaps", but this is simply a stereotype that stemmed from that fact that many old people did like to play this game with a clubs and white, dimpled balls. Some people don't consider golf a sport at all! The reality is however that more and more people are picking up this age-old game and discovering how satisfying it can be a ball with a stick!

Now me, I used to play lots of minigolf; it was easy to pick up and required little skill to be good at. Then I think one or two years ago, I went to a real driving range for the first time. After taking one of the beat-up drivers from the box, I stepped onto the green (I think that's what it's called) with a bucket of balls and put one on the tee. I took a step back, aligned myself with the ball and swing with all my might. Of course, I missed the ball by about three metres and ended up almost whacking myself in the head with the club on the backswing. So no, I was not born to play golf. Over the past couple times of going to the driving range though, I've gotten a bit better, I think :) and it's probably the result of some good advice from my dad and common sense. So I'm going to share with you some strategies of mine that I find are helpful in getting your club to connect with the ball that will hopefully improve your game (unless you already know what you're doing... then ignore me).

Make sure you have enough tees to last through your session. Nothing is more frustrating than having two buckets of balls left and realizing that you're out of tees. Unless you want to practice with the wedge, having tees with you is essential. Make sure you have more than just a few because breaking and losing tees is very common. Some driving ranges now have rubber stands that you can put balls on but at the same time, many don't.
Get a club that's the right size for you. You shouldn't get a club that's too long or you'll find yourself leaning forward to get it to be straight with the ground. On the other hand, if your club is too short, you'll be holding it too close to your body to get a good swing. I'm not really an expert on figuring out club sizes but just experiment the first few times you go driving to find out what feels comfortable for you.
Know the significance of how far in you push the tee into the ground (if at all). If you put the tee deep into ground, then your ball will obviously rest a little closer to the ground. I don't usually do this because I find it's too hard for me to hit the ball. Of course, if you are using a wedge, putting the tee in deeper might be a good idea. Even better, don't use a tee at all if you're practicing with the wedge. If you find you simply cannot hit that ball, raise the tee higher so that it sticks out of the ground a good 4 centimetres or so. This will make the ball much easier to hit.
Square your shoulders with the ball. What this means is that you should be facing the ball directly, either from the left or right (depending on whether you are left or right handed). The ball doesn't have to be right in the middle of your two legs, but your legs should form a line roughly aiming at where you want the ball to go (parallel to your trajectory); this way your swing will curve more naturally towards the ball... I think.
Bend your knees slightly and keep your back straight. If you've done kungfu, you'll know this is sort of like horse stance. Your knees should be bent a little bit but you shouldn't be leaning over like a sumo wrestler. If your upper body is straight then you should be fine for hitting that ball... usually when I forget about this I end up missing and hitting the grass or something (come to think about it... I end up doing that whether or not I keep this position or not xD).
Keep that position throughout your swing; don't arch up when you pull the club back or during your backswing. Doing this will usually cause you to misjudge the position of the ball on the tee. Especially if you're coming down during the middle of your swing, you might end up hitting the dirt a foot behind the ball instead of hitting the ball itself. And yes, it is VERY difficult (if you're a noob like me) to hit the ball square in the centre of your driver every single time.
Take a few "practice swings". By this I mean pull your club back and pretend you're doing a swing, but stop before you hit the ball (obviously). If you find that the middle of the head isn't matching up with where the ball is sitting on the tee, you know either your swing, position or club is "out of whack"... or whatever they say. Anyhow, make sure you correct this misalignment before you swing or you'll probably just miss the ball.
You don't need to swing that hard. Unless you're planning to join one of those long driving competitions (300+ yards? Are you KIDDING ME?), you don't need to swing as hard as you think you do to hit the ball far. I'm a pretty lean/skinny person, and without putting a lot of arm strength into the club, I've hit the ball almost two hundred yards. What matters most is that you hit the ball right in the middle of the head two get a straight shot, and your ball will FLY.
Ignore the rules. You know they have signs telling you not to pick up balls on the green? This rule is for two reasons: It lets dumb people know that walking out into the green while there are dozens of people hitting golf balls towards you is a foolish and potentially deadly thing to do. The second reason for this rule is to prevent people from picking up balls that have accidentally rolled a few feet in front of them onto the green. By putting this rule in place, people have to buy more balls to replace those they've lost and technically cannot pick up, even if they are within 5 paces of you. So be safe and use your head. If the ball has rolled down the slope (that exists at some driving ranges), don't rush down and take it, cus you might also be rushing towards a quick trip to the hospital. If it's right in front of you however, or anywhere on the green where the risk of you getting hit by a golf ball is very minimal, go cautiously, pick it up... and run back. This is not a good idea if there is some crazy dude next to you that is hitting balls left and right like mad.