It's obviously very tempting to go to the driving range to try and hit the ball as far as possible when you're new to golf. It's something you see every day on courses and practices all over the world: players bring their friends along to help them discover the pleasure of making contact with the ball. It's a funny approach, but unfortunately it's also highly ineffective!
Wanting to go to the driving range to try and get the ball off the ground at all costs is the best way to pick up the worst things about golf.
Add to that well-meaning friends who will bombard you with advice that is wrong or unsuited to your level and you won't get your golfing career off to the best start!
Our advice? Take a lesson, at least for the first time.
A good first lesson will help you understand the meaning of the game of golf, which is much deeper than simply trying to hit the ball as far as you can with all your might.
Ideally, in an hour you'll have time to do a bit of putting to understand the arm swing and alignment. You'll then move on to putting, which will help you to understand that the aim of the game of golf is to move your ball forward in relation to a target. Then you'll finish with a bit of practice to learn the basics of the swing.