Golf also called 'gowf' in Scot refers to a game where a player hits a ball into the hole using a stick. The stick is called 'golf club' and the hole into which ball is hit 'cup'. It is played on a huge grass covered tract of land designed as golf course. Golf is among those few games that does not use a fixed playing area. Generally a golf course has nine or eighteen holes. A player needs necessary equipment's to play golf. The equipment's include: golf club, ball, shoes, tee and a bag to put all of these into it.

 

Every player starts at teeing ground. It is the area from where ball is first hit. After teeing off player hits the ball towards putting green. Putting green is the area around actual hole or cup. As it is it is hard to put a small ball into a cup and this is made more difficult by adding hazards along the course. There are bodies of water, trees, shrubs, and bunkers all along the course acting as hazards. If a ball comes to rest in a hazard then some special rules apply.

 

If the ball comes to rest in a hazard then it cannot be touch by a club.

If it is not possible to play ball from hazard then it is removed by hands and dropped outside the hazard area.

But if ball is lost and cannot be found in five minutes then a player has to add a penalty stroke to his score and replay the last shot.

In golf, scoring is done by the number of shots player played to hit the ball into the hole. Who so ever hits the ball in minimum strokes wins.

 

There are two forms of playing golf:

 

Match play: when two players play every single hole as a separate game against each other. The player with lesser number of strokes wins the game.

Stroke play: when every player counts the total number of strokes played for the whole round of game.

The grip and posture both are important techniques of golf. There are mainly four types of golf clubs available.

 

Wood

Hybrids

Iron

Putters

 

A player is allowed to carry fourteen clubs during a round. While a player can play all shots using same club it is advisable to use different types for different shots. A typical set of golf club includes 8 iron, 3 woods, 2 wedges and a putter.

 

Nearly all players use one of these three grips:

 

Interlocking Grip:

 

People with small hands, beginners, players with weak forearms prefer this type of grip. The little finger is put on the trailing hand and intertwined with the index finger of lead hand.

 

Overlapping Grip or Vardon Overlap Grip:

 

This is the most common grip among players. Even golf instructors teach holding this way. A player places his hands on the handle by placing little finger between the index and middle finger on the lead hand. For a left hand golfer, right hand is the lead hand.

 

Baseball Grip or Ten Finger Grip:

 

It is the least preferred grip among players. Players, who experience joint pain, have arthritis or small hands use this grip.

 

A player can use various stances for hitting the ball. But one basic stance used by all players is when a player stands with their legs slightly apart and knees slightly bent. The club is held using any of the three grips. The body is turned towards waist and golf club is fully swung back and then forward. The successful shot is one that travels the maximum way. Most slices are caused by an 'over the top' swing. In this swing player approaches the ball from outside to inside swing path. The main keys to a good shot are:

 

• Keep the alignment close.
• Put ball in your stance.
• Take a firm grip.
• Swing inside out.

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