Can lessons be a waste of time?

[Tommygun16]

My theory is this: I'm so inconsistent that the pro will see a different swing every time I see them and try and fix that thing, which isn't reflective of how I normally play anyway.

Example - saw the pro yesterday and all I was doing was shanking my irons. Never shank it normally, never been a problem, but when being watched that's all I was doing. So he introduces 'swing changes' to make me fix it. Ok. But next time I'm at the range or playing, I go back to not shanking it again. So what's the point in the lesson/swing changes?

Prediction: next time I see him, I'll be slicing it (that day). So he'll introduce something to 'fix the slice', but that's not generally my problem.

Complete waste of time. I think you have to figure it out yourself. Thoughts?

Edit:
I think the issue is this: I have seen 3x pros over the years. Their method is always the same - let me watch you swing a few times then I can tell you what you're doing wrong (in essence).

The problem is no one tells you anymore how to swing. I get that 'everyone has their own unique swing' which seems to be the current thing in fashion. But you want to watch my swing? Which one? I have 20+. The one where I release my wrists, or the one where I don't. The one where I keep my weight back on my heels to stop me tipping over? The one where I have to take it back on the inside to stop coming over the top?

But despite asking no one can tell me how to swing. No one knows what you're feeling. They just see a flaw (the flaw on the day) and try and fix it (which over time will almost certainly contradict a correction given to you on another day).

Maybe you've got it or you don't. I'm coming more around to that kind of thinking.

 

[chrisd]

I agree, there are certainly times when you do things that are different than the norm, on Thursday my first tee shot was a shank - something I hardly ever do and didn't do again! However, I think a good teaching pro will see stuff over a lesson that will show him your tendencies, and be able to see past a few shanks or hooks etc and be able to change, for example, poor grip, bad posture etc etc and start to give you the basics to a better alround swing.

 

[bobmac]

At the start of the lesson, the pro should ask ''how can I help''?

 

[Neilds]

Lessons are a waste of time - unless you put the effort in to practice between the lessons

 

[HPIMG]

I have a mixed opinion on lessons. I think they can be great if you have a bad fault that you are not aware of, pro should easily see and point this out and give you a fix but on the other hand I was playing the best golf I have played recently, everything seemed to be working pretty dam good and my pro started to tweak stuff I didn’t think needed tweaking. I have went from threatening to shoot level par constantly to shooting around +15 constantly over the past week.
So I would say if you are really not happy with your game, go see a pro. If you are happy with your game, just leave it alone.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Yes lessons can be a waste of time - depends on lots of factors , who the pro is , what level you are at , have you reached your peak , how much work you put in after

 

[Tommygun16]

Lessons are a waste of time - unless you put the effort in to practice between the lessons

I'm not saying pros can't give good advice. But the point for me is I'm so inconsistent they just try and fix what they see in front of them. I was shanking it yesterday (out of the blue) and so that was what he was trying to fix (which makes sense as he can't help me if I'm shanking it). But I'm just back from the range and was flushing it, no shanks. So back to my 'old' swing. What was the point of yesterdays lesson?

 

[Crow]

I'm not saying pros can't give good advice. But the point for me is I'm so inconsistent they just try and fix what they see in front of them. I was shanking it yesterday (out of the blue) and so that was what he was trying to fix (which makes sense as he can't help me if I'm shanking it). But I'm just back from the range and was flushing it, no shanks. So back to my 'old' swing. What was the point of yesterdays lesson?

It plainly worked, the Pro has fixed your shanks!
Otherwise, as Bob said, you need to tell the Pro what you want to achieve from the lesson.

 

[Tommygun16]

It plainly worked, the Pro has fixed your shanks!
Otherwise, as Bob said, you need to tell the Pro what you want to achieve from the lesson.

Ha, unfortunately he didn't, I wasn't doing what he said, I was focussing on what I have done in the past (which he said was wrong). Back to flushing it. Bizarre.

 

[srixon 1]

Sounds daft, but I found over the years that for me the best time to have a lesson was when I was actually playing well and had loads of confidence.

 

[evemccc]

In my experience I have found that sometimes things will become apparent ages afterwards

If something is wrong, it is unlikely to be rectified within a day or week of practising what is ‘right’ - it has taken me a while to implement some swing changes and I still don’t consistently achieve my desired results but I do feel / know I’m on the right track.
Also, how do you know you are correctly implementing what the pro wants — do you use a tripod to record yourself?

 

[Tommygun16]

I think the issue is this: I have seen 3x pros over the years. Their method is always the same - let me watch you swing a few times then I can tell you what you're doing wrong (in essence).

The problem is no one tells you anymore how to swing. I get that 'everyone has their own unique swing' which seems to be the current thing in fashion. But you want to watch my swing? Which one? I have 20+. The one where I release my wrists, or the one where I don't. The one where I keep my weight back on my heels to stop me tipping over? The one where I have to take it back on the inside to stop coming over the top?

But despite asking no one can tell me how to swing. No one knows what you're feeling. They just see a flaw (the flaw on the day) and try and fix it (which over time will almost certainly contradict a correction given to you on another day).

Maybe you've got it or you don't. I'm coming more around to that kind of thinking.

 

[SocketRocket]

Sound like you need advice on why you are so inconsistent. You may be swaying, overusing your wrists etc.

 

[SocketRocket]

I had countless lessons when I started playing golf but not one of them explained how the club needs to make proper contact with the ball. It was all about going through various check points in the swing.

I now believe if you can show clearly what proper impact is the rest of the swing will take care of it's self.

 

[HPIMG]

The one where I have to take it back on the inside to stop coming over the top?

.

I was always told taking the club back too much on the inside causes you to come over the top. Maybe some others can give input but I believe if a pro is telling you that he’s wrong.

 

[Tommygun16]

Sound like you need advice on why you are so inconsistent. You may be swaying, overusing your wrists etc.

Hallelujah.

But that's my point, they can't give me that as it's different every time and don't actually tell you how to swing.

 

[evemccc]

Another idea is to choose one pro and get an afternoon with her/him - or a block of a few lessons relatively quickly?
Explaining what your issues are and showing him/her your 20swings and letting them give you a fix, can’t really be done in a single lesson I think - but a concentrated block may help?

 

[jim8flog]

Once you have a good teacher (or 2) I would say definitely not and it also comes down to whether or not you do what they say and not what you think you should do.

 

[BiMGuy]

I think most people get told to go see their pro for a lesson if they aren’t very good or are struggling expecting the pro to tweak something and all will be fixed.

There are many pros out there happy to take your money to tell you to strengthen your grip to fix a slice.

Many people don’t really want to put the effort in to get better, for these people lessons are a waste of time and money. As is going to the wrong pro.

A good pro will ask you what you want or expect from a lesson and how much effort/commitment you are prepared to give. Then be honest about what they see and what you need to do to improve.

 

[Lee762]

I think the issue is this: I have seen 3x pros over the years. Their method is always the same - let me watch you swing a few times then I can tell you what you're doing wrong (in essence).

The problem is no one tells you anymore how to swing. I get that 'everyone has their own unique swing' which seems to be the current thing in fashion. But you want to watch my swing? Which one? I have 20+. The one where I release my wrists, or the one where I don't. The one where I keep my weight back on my heels to stop me tipping over? The one where I have to take it back on the inside to stop coming over the top?

But despite asking no one can tell me how to swing. No one knows what you're feeling. They just see a flaw (the flaw on the day) and try and fix it (which over time will almost certainly contradict a correction given to you on another day).

Maybe you've got it or you don't. I'm coming more around to that kind of thinking.

I had lessons when I first started but after 6 lessons I stopped. I didn't really receive any advice as to how to build a repeatable swing. So I pretty much just started watching Tour pros and tried to copy them (no it didn't make me a tour player). Eventually, I bought "A swing for Life" by Nick Faldo, that book alone got me down to a 9 handicap (albeit a short hitter), with my best round being 3 over.

Since then I have looked at other Tour Players books, aswell as Butch Harmon and now Ben Hogan, but I think I will go back to Nick Faldo as that works best.