Are lessons really worth it?

[leaney]

I know most people will say that are worth it but I'm not so sure.

I started playing golf 6 months ago and in this time, I've had 7 lessons @ £43.50 a pop = £304.50.

I learnt how the how to properly grip a club in my first lesson - I should have looked on Youtube first and saved myself the £43.50.

The next 2 lessons were spent on trying to get rid of the tension in my swing. It turns out I was holding the club way too hard (something that I actually ended up working out on my own!)

The next 4 lessons were spent working on my swing plane and working on making sure my hands were in the correct place.

Up until 10 days ago, I couldn't make a full swing. I was told that it was because I had big arm and chest muscles (from the work I do in the gym). But the reason I couldn't make a full swing is because I was reaching out so far on my back swing.

I was determined to learn out to take a full a proper swing.....and by accident I found a chap on Youtube called 'Mark Crossfield' a pro.

I quickly realised that my swing plane was wrong and the next day I was putting what I learnt into the practice on the range and low and behold, I was able to make a full swing!

That same evening I was again on net watching more of Mark's Youtube clips. I've spent hours watching all of his videos over the past 10 days. And I've spent an hour a day putting his tips into practice.

And the difference is amazing. I can now hit all my clubs very well with the exception of the driver that is still a work in progress.

I'm very confident that I won't be chopping around my course as badly as I have been.

I wish I had kept the £304.50 because I've learnt more in 10 days than I have over the past 6 months whilst practising what little I had learned from my pro.

I'm a very sporty person and still fairly young at 25 and I did always think 'Why am I not improving?'. Especially after dedicating a decent amount of time to practising.

My guess is that some pros will try and teach you one small thing at a time, so you keep going back more often. And when I'm paying a decent amount of money....I expect more from them.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but what are your thoughts?

 

[JustOne]

I think it depends on the person and the level of their game. Some can really relate to what they see on the web and some literally can't fathom how to swing a club even if it's strangling them, and therefore need guidance. Personally I'd rather spend the money on a video camera so I can see for myself what's really going on.

 

[wull]

as above....

it varies from person to person.what might work for one person might not work for another.some people come away from lessons completely changed and hitting the ball really well and for others.....it's the complete opposite.

the downside is it's almost a gamble,you take your chance and see what happens.it is a lot of money though.

 

[Junior]

Not at £43.50 a pop (unless thats per hour?). A half hour lesson with a top coach around here is £30 per half hour

I like Mark Crossfields video's too. Working on your swing with videos is fine, but I always find it helps to see my swing on video, so a lesson with a pro every now and then is fine. I have a few a year.

 

[MadAdey]

Like most things in life mate there are good and bad. Just remember one thing. Just because he is a PGA qualified pro it does not mean he is a very good teacher. Also sometimes the Pro is not the correct one for you. I have had lessons with different Pros and some are absolutely useless. THey understand the text book golf swing and the mechanics of it otherwise they would not have passed their exams. But that does not mean they know how to put it into practice with different players. It may be worth speaking to people and getting some recommendations for pros in your area if you fancy giving another one a chance.

 

[leaney]

I think it depends on the person and the level of their game. Some can really relate to what they see on the web and some literally can't fathom how to swing a club even if it's strangling them, and therefore need guidance. Personally I'd rather spend the money on a video camera so I can see for myself what's really going on.

I couldn't agree more with having a video camera. I have the V1 app on my iphone and it really does do a great job for the £1.99 it cost me.

Once you have an understanding of the mechanics of it all, it's easy to then look at your swing and look at what you can do better.

Maybe I'll have another lesson in 6 months, just in case the pro can tell me something that I've missed. (I'll be using another pro though).

 

[fat-tiger]

£43 pound a ago who you getting your lessons off david leadbetter????? if your new to the game then your doing it right, but do yourself a favour shop around and see if you can get a deal say 6 lessons for 100quid, ok the might not be as good as the 1s your getting at the minute but all you need at the minute is the basics, is it a big hotel chain company golf course were your going for them??

 

[Robobum]

Lessons are not for me. I just have no inclination, patience or sufficient time to practice (m)any alterations that would be made to my swing to make me a better golfer. I also play golf for enjoyment and can think of nothing worse than chopping it all over the place whilst something new becomes ingrained. For the two reasons above, I think I have a ceiling of where ability will take me and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

Even if I were to wanting lessons - that price would give me a fright for sure!!

 

[Mr_T]

I would say lessons are definetely worth it, but not at that price, I guess being a junior is an advantage because I get my lessons at a reduced cost of £20 a time, and often I just book a set of lessons which will get me a free one aswell. However as stated above it does depend on the player. I also like Mark Crossfields videos, it solved one problem I had although its unfortunately led to me going from one extreme to the other (my swing plane was too steep and now its too flat) so Ive now just booked more lessons as in my opinion soemtihng I see on the internet is no subsitute for seeing my own swing

 

[User 105]

I think it also depends how good you want to get. If you have any ambition of getting down to single figures then you really need to go with a pro, I know some people have done it by themselves but I think that's rare.

You do need to be a bit careful with the self diagnosis of a golf swing unless you really know what you're doing. Bit like self-dentistry

You may well see a fault in your swing and come to the wrong conclusion on the cause. You make that change then cause another problem and so on. Before long your swing will be a mess and will take ages for a pro to fix when you finally give up trying to sort it out yourself.

Find yourself a good pro with reasonable rates and have a lesson a month and allow time to practice in between. And be patient, it won't happen overnight.

And keep checking your grip. You'd be surprised at the number of faults that are grip related that show up elsewhere in you're swing !!!!

 

[Dreamer2]

hi,,,when i started golf about 4 months ago i to watched utube clips & started to teach myself ,the problem is i didn't realize how much concentration it took for just one shot & then i would still top the ball by lifting up to early

with being self tort i got down to a 17hc (playing 5 times aweek) also when things go wrong 2/3 things run through your brain making it harder to understand what you did wrong

the first lesson he changed my grip,stance & swing witch i practiced for a week ,,the second lesson he just watched to see if hide stuck with the changes & told me were i was going wrong,,

learning some basics of utube is great but you still need the coach lessons ,to get feedback when things are not going right ,,i know only have one lesson a month mostly to ask him questions on what I'm not sure about my game

i will say though having the lesson as made my game worse for know, but some shots I'm hitting the ball really
well & every time i go golfing i can feel my game improving all the time

 

[NWJocko]

Lessons are not for me. I just have no inclination, patience or sufficient time to practice (m)any alterations that would be made to my swing to make me a better golfer. I also play golf for enjoyment and can think of nothing worse than chopping it all over the place whilst something new becomes ingrained. For the two reasons above, I think I have a ceiling of where ability will take me and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

Even if I were to wanting lessons - that price would give me a fright for sure!!

Could have typed this myself, exactly my thoughts on it.

My grandad showed me how to swing a club when I was 4 and that is the only "lesson" I've ever had, and ever will have.

Each to their own though, if I ever started working too hard at golf it would become less enjoyable but others enjoy the lessons/practice etc....

 

[JustOne]

if I ever started working too hard at golf it would become less enjoyable but others enjoy the lessons/practice etc....

I changed my swing so that i didn't have to work so hard at it, at the time I figured I'd wasted 10yrs on the practice ground with a conventional swing, what's another 6 months getting used to a new swing going to hurt..

If you're good enough to be a pro then I'd assume you'd already be working with one from about the age of 13 or less, anyone who's not a pro should consider the reason they want to play and what level they want to get to before even thinking about lessons, then go and have a ruddy good talk with your local pro... if he doesn't want to spend time listening/advising you on the best route, go find another pro.



Edit: I've never had a lesson (in hindsight it might have helped!)

 

[chris661]

I think it also depends how good you want to get. If you have any ambition of getting down to single figures then you really need to go with a pro, I know some people have done it by themselves but I think that's rare.

I know of loads of cat 1 golfers who have never had a lesson and a couple of guys who were scratch and never had a lesson or practised cant be that rare.

 

[Mr_T]

I think the reason I have lessons is mainly to make playing golf more enjoyable, because as much as golf is enjoyable as it is, it is more enjoyable when you are playing well, and lessons can only help that

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Sorry but I disagree. If you are beginning I think its paramount to have a number of lessons and get the basics right. Yes you can look online and probably get a solid foundation but what happens once errors and flaws creep in. Are you correcting them or masking one error with another.

It reads to me that the OP simply didn't have a pro he connected with or really bought into what he was being taught. He makes no mention of working on drills shown or practicing and one assumes that he had the lesson and expected to be able to go out and play better immediately. I certainly doesn't work that way for me and I have to work hard to make any changes feel natural and to understand what I need to be doing and why.

I have no problem for those that don't want lessons or are happy to learn online through their own research. If you feel sure you know your game and what to look for when it goes awry then fine. For me, I prefer to have the comfort blanket of input from a qualified teacher and be able to call on his asssitance when I need help. I'm sure you could learn to drive a car online but would you be able to do it well enough to pass your test?

 

[Phil2511]

I think the reason I have lessons is mainly to make playing golf more enjoyable, because as much as golf is enjoyable as it is, it is more enjoyable when you are playing well, and lessons can only help that

Agreed.
Not even worrying about competitions, but it is a great feeling when you know you have the ability to play the shot you want when you want.
Even taking lessons you do get bad but when it starts to click you get so much more enjoyment than before the lessons.

 

[Bash]

Sorry but I disagree. If you are beginning I think its paramount to have a number of lessons and get the basics right. Yes you can look online and probably get a solid foundation but what happens once errors and flaws creep in. Are you correcting them or masking one error with another.

It reads to me that the OP simply didn't have a pro he connected with or really bought into what he was being taught. He makes no mention of working on drills shown or practicing and one assumes that he had the lesson and expected to be able to go out and play better immediately. I certainly doesn't work that way for me and I have to work hard to make any changes feel natural and to understand what I need to be doing and why.

I have no problem for those that don't want lessons or are happy to learn online through their own research. If you feel sure you know your game and what to look for when it goes awry then fine. For me, I prefer to have the comfort blanket of input from a qualified teacher and be able to call on his asssitance when I need help. I'm sure you could learn to drive a car online but would you be able to do it well enough to pass your test?

Not often I agree with EVERYTHING Homer says, but there's a first time for everything

A big DITTO from me

 

[RGDave]

I took up golf aged 22 and was rubbish. Totally hopeless. After a month or two, I went for a lesson and started to put things right, or at least improve bad habits and stop wasting time just either playing or hitting hundreds of balls down the range.
It came together quite well, and I went for one lesson every now and again (every 2 months or so) for about 2-3 years. So, I guess I had about 18 lessons over 3 years.
I went from going round in 110 to breaking 80 on a good day....this despite being non-athletic and being totally unable to keep my left arm straight or stop a number of other unwanted things. I have no complaints.
If I'd taken all those lessons in 6 months or something, I'm sure it wouldn't have worked in the same way.

It's up to you really. I filled in a lot of knowledge by reading, listening, watching, and these days of course, there's plenty on the internet.

BUT, and this is a BIG but, coming from someone who teaches and coaches for a living, the point of having a teacher is to find someone who can see what's going on and advise you how to improve/practise/exercise etc.

Like I tell my students, if you self-diagnose, you might fix some things yourself, but you could also end up going round in circles wasting time trying stuff which is not relevant or even damaging.

That's my take.

If you feel so negative, why not keep at it by yourself and just go now and again. Have a sort of half and half approach.

 

[RGDave]

I'm sure you could learn to drive a car online but would you be able to do it well enough to pass your test?

It's a good point.