Bad Lessons / Dont work for you

[hombre_paulo]

So about a year ago i had a lesson measured with flightscope. Which identified i was swinging massively in to out (8 degrees ish) and compensating with a very closed faced to path, with the resulting shot being reasonably straight to slight draw but obviously a loss of distance due to smash factor being low and my bad shot being a straight block. Pro changed my setup by moving me closer to the ball with a more upright stance. He advised that i`ll be hitting a few fats and thins for a few weeks while I get used to it.

Well a year later and I'm sick of these fats and thins!!!! Went to the range yesterday, stood a little further away and let my swing return to my old ways and to what feels more comfortable to me and BOOM! Nice clean 8i hit straight down the middle, move to 5i same again, driver same again. Who cares about 5-10 yards with a 7i when your accuracy and distance consistency shoots up 80% - think I`ll stick to my way of doing thing going forward.

Anyone had advice from a lesson that they just couldn't translate into better golf?

 

[Capella]

I think it is normal that as long as you have to force yourself to move in a certain way, your swing will never be natural and you will have trouble striking the ball. On the other hand I am pretty certain that, if you really did apply the change for a year, even if it feels now as if you are going back to the way you hit it before, your path numbers will have changed in the meantime.

 

[Garush34]

So about a year ago i had a lesson measured with flightscope. Which identified i was swinging massively in to out (8 degrees ish) and compensating with a very closed faced to path, with the resulting shot being reasonably straight to slight draw but obviously a loss of distance due to smash factor being low and my bad shot being a straight block. Pro changed my setup by moving me closer to the ball with a more upright stance. He advised that i`ll be hitting a few fats and thins for a few weeks while I get used to it.

Well a year later and I'm sick of these fats and thins!!!! Went to the range yesterday, stood a little further away and let my swing return to my old ways and to what feels more comfortable to me and BOOM! Nice clean 8i hit straight down the middle, move to 5i same again, driver same again. Who cares about 5-10 yards with a 7i when your accuracy and distance consistency shoots up 80% - think I`ll stick to my way of doing thing going forward.

Anyone had advice from a lesson that they just couldn't translate into better golf?

Have you been back for follow up lessons since? I have had lessons where for that lesson and maybe the next range session it hasn't been great but usually the changes bed in within a couple of weeks and its just the odd shot that gets away from me.

 

[AmandaJR]

If I'm reading this correctly you had one lesson which suggested changes and no further lessons? In which case I'd suggest the lesson wasn't "bad" but needed more regular follow ups to be sure you have translated the information correctly and are progressing.

Sometimes we associate the changes to feeling odd/different so, even when it feels more natural, continue to seek the odd feeling and over-exaggerate what's required. Sometimes, feel not being real and all that, we feel we're making the changes but actually we're not, or we're doing something different.

That all being said, do what works for you, if that gives you the golf you want...

 

[Jensen]

I fully understand and have sadly experienced the same.
Sadly in my experience Pros try to teach one swing type, and that's theirs. From my experience I've met very few that teach a method that suits your natural dynamics.

 

[Garush34]

I fully understand and have sadly experienced the same.
Sadly in my experience Pros try to teach one swing type, and that's theirs. From my experience I've met very few that teach a method that suits your natural dynamics.

All depends on the pro, some will have models they fit too all their students. Others work with what the student has and develops from there. The pro I use is in the latter camp, I have not had any major changes in the 5 or so years I have been seeing him, it has all just been a development of the swing I already had, which has improved over time.

 

[Slab]

I know I cant swing like the book says I should, but I can't blame a pro for not being able to enhance something that's already knackered

Bit like asking your mechanic to show you how to fill the car wiper/washer with that nice glass cleaner fluid... when the windscreen's already smashed

 

[anotherdouble]

I have had lessons before and have subsequently changed pros when they have tried to change me for the 'textbook' swing. I am too old to start changing everything. I went to somebody new and told him this is what I have and this is what I would like however I am much more interested in functionality and not textbook so if what I want is too complex that we adapt what I have. Works a treat

 

[ManinBlack]

I fully understand and have sadly experienced the same.
Sadly in my experience Pros try to teach one swing type, and that's theirs. From my experience I've met very few that teach a method that suits your natural dynamics.

I agree. It sounds as if he was taking your natural flat (One Plane in Jim Hardy's parlance) swing & trying to turn it into a steep (Two Plane) swing. Jensen & I have had a similar experience & it's my belief that the nearer you can stay to your "natural" swing the better it is. Yes, change anything that is causing mi***** (miss hits!) but not the fundamental swing, which you will always tend to revert to. The average amateur doesn't practice enough to be able to dismantle & rebuild a swing.

 

[hovis]

i think 99% of pros are full of rubbish. always trying to get that photo perfect golf swing. i once told a golf pro that i was struggling with early release. we spent the whole lesson on ball position. when i said "look, if you want me to play the ball further up in my stance that's fine but i dont need a half our lesson on it" he got the hump.

i basically think he didn't know what else to do

 

[patricks148]

its happens, i saw a guy up here that is the SGU North district coach, teaches all the up and coming youngsters past and present ( Russel Knoxx and Sandy Scott, current European highest ranked am)

all he wanted to do was give me Big Ernies swing. i was almost 50 when i went to him with a bad back, knackered knee and shoulder problems. waste of time, i could not get into the positions he expected.

completely incapable of working with what i had or didn't have.

 

[pendodave]

Obviously I know nothing of the specifics here, but in the abstract, is it always a good thing for a pro to work with the player's existing swing?

I see a lot of shocking golf, and most of it is played with swings that are beyond redemption. A pro might see this, but at what point would he stop taking the cash if the punter keeps stumping up to " improve what I've got"?

 

[chrisd]

I have had lessons before and have subsequently changed pros when they have tried to change me for the 'textbook' swing. I am too old to start changing everything. I went to somebody new and told him this is what I have and this is what I would like however I am much more interested in functionality and not textbook so if what I want is too complex that we adapt what I have. Works a treat

I had a similar experience. Pro started to change my swing to something resembling Rory's but faster. I told him that I was in my 60's with two replaced hips and a knackered knee but NO he wouldn't listen, I then found that my reliable ball striking had disappeared and he promised I'd get it back later which clearly wasn't going to happen, and, as it's no use having a great strike but ending up in A& E I gave him up -it took all of 6 months to get my game back together

 

[Garush34]

Obviously I know nothing of the specifics here, but in the abstract, is it always a good thing for a pro to work with the player's existing swing?

I see a lot of shocking golf, and most of it is played with swings that are beyond redemption. A pro might see this, but at what point would he stop taking the cash if the punter keeps stumping up to " improve what I've got"?

All depends on what you've got to start with. And also depends on what you want out of lessons. For me i have always played sport and am fairly young, so so i had a decent idea of a swing i just wasn't very efficient, majorly over the top. So it made sense to work with what i had.

Even if a pro doesn't work with what youve got does it mean you should be put into a swing model? Plus who's really going to go for lessons and the pro says lets change everything in your swing so that you can play 2/3 times a month. Most would probs move on or not bother going back and just play the same golf they do now without improving.

 

[bobmac]

Are these pros mentioned so far under or over 30?

 

[Beezerk]

I fully understand and have sadly experienced the same.
Sadly in my experience Pros try to teach one swing type, and that's theirs. From my experience I've met very few that teach a method that suits your natural dynamics.

And the bad ones seem to have one set of stock drills they give out, like yeah I could have watched Youtube for that one mate.
I'm currently looking at getting an iron lesson or two but it seems to be a bit of a gamble depending on who you go with.

 

[Blue in Munich]

I had a similar experience. Pro started to change my swing to something resembling Rory's but faster. I told him that I was in my 60's with two replaced hips and a knackered knee but NO he wouldn't listen, I then found that my reliable ball striking had disappeared and he promised I'd get it back later which clearly wasn't going to happen, and, as it's no use having a great strike but ending up in A& E I gave him up -it took all of 6 months to get my game back together

Your hips & knee may be shot, but your long term memory is fine……….

 

[Garush34]

Are these pros mentioned so far under or over 30?

Mines over 30 Bob.

 

[richy]

Are these pros mentioned so far under or over 30?

What difference does their age make?

 

[bobmac]

What difference does their age make?

The PGA training course has changed over the years.
I know when I started my training, pros were taught to vary their teaching technique depending on who they were teaching.
Some wanted a tweak or a quick fix as they hate practicing while others want to hit it like Tiger so the pro had to learn HOW to teach, not just what to teach.
So lots of questions at the start of a lesson is essential to be able to understand what the person wants from the lesson.

Pros over 30 may have been taught in a different way with more emphasis on what to teach.