Where would our wise, penny-pinching grandmother would want us to begin? With free of course. www.golfspan.com offers both a silver and a gold membership. Gold gets you over 600 video tips, a 10% pro shop discount, a personalized video locker and free registration. Platinum is $29.95 yearly, but any level of membership might be worth the opportunity to “purchase videos in full DVD-quality” and download them onto a Windows system or watch said videos on one’s cell phone. Golfspan.com has the ability to literally place golf instructional tips in the palm of your hand.

Perhaps, however, you are a devotee of The Golf Channel, and you’ve been dying to take a peek into their video vault. With the purchase of a premium subscription, you can simply click “Instruction” on the Channel’s homepage and have the choice of viewing instantly tips in several categories: lessons, health and fitness, “back nine with Hank Haney,” golf schools and game tracker, to name a few. “The Golf Channel Pro Shop” offers an additional selection once you click “DVD” on the “Instruction” drop down menu; there you will find Rick Smith, Jim McLean, Jim Flick, Dean Reinmuth, David Leadbetter, Ben Hogan and Mark O’Meara.

A wonderful collection of instructors, but The Golf Channel may not be your speed. You really like those “for dummies” books, and you were hoping there might be something along those lines for you, the itinerant novice still struggling with how to hold the darn club. Never fear: www.activevideos.com has come to the rescue. “Golf for Dummies” is there for $19.95, as is something entitled “Butch Harmon Short & Sweet” which promises to teach you “the short game” in a “clear, concise, and easy to follow program” with a “friendly approach.” Sounds ideal for anyone a bit intimidated by the prospect of an afternoon on the links.

Looking for a video by Tiger Woods coach, Hank Haney ? You can pick up 3 Club tour for $9.95 at amazon.com

The seasoned professional looking to improve his or her game need not go wanting either. If only the best of the best graces your computer or television screen, go to About: golf, and let Brent Kelly review for you the “Top 10 Instructional Videos and DVDs for Golfers.” From “Jack Nicklaus: Golf My Way” to the 11-volume “Phil Ritson Video Encyclopedia of Golf” by Phil Ritson, co-founder of Ritson-Sole Golf Schools, considered one of the top golf schools in the U.S., Kelly fills the accomplished player in on the videos that might turn him or her pro.

And there is absolutely nothing better than becoming pro in one’s own home for a mere $29.95.