Do golf lessons work?

[HomerJSimpson]

Whatever is going on is still working. Played the front nine last night and scored ok. Didn't hit it as well as the previous night but the two ball putter back in the bag and working and the short game was on point. Pulled a pink tee out of the pocket on the 3rd and thought I'd give it a go rather than a longer wooden tee and hit it great. Proceeded to use it on the other driving holes and hit it great. Maybe having it a little lower helped. The only downside was the pitching from 50-60 yards but I'll keep grinding that out in practice

 

[Orikoru]

Whatever is going on is still working. Played the front nine last night and scored ok. Didn't hit it as well as the previous night but the two ball putter back in the bag and working and the short game was on point. Pulled a pink tee out of the pocket on the 3rd and thought I'd give it a go rather than a longer wooden tee and hit it great. Proceeded to use it on the other driving holes and hit it great. Maybe having it a little lower helped. The only downside was the pitching from 50-60 yards but I'll keep grinding that out in practice

As a side point because that reminded me, when I did my driver fitting recently I told him I was using orange castle tees, but after a few hits he ended up switching me down to pinks as he said I was getting too much spin. While I do love my new driver so I have no regrets, a little part of me wondered if I would have been longer with the old driver simply by switching tees. I originally went up to orange because I was hitting everything thin and low off the pinks for a while so the higher tees helped, but I've gone with what he said and gone back to pinks now. It is certainly a better flight if I hit it properly.

 

[Springveldt]

Had a lesson today. Took him 5 minutes to get me going again and then the next 25 minutes we used to grind it in.
My issue is, he fixes me, but I keep losing it again and again after a short while. I should be booking 5 minute lessons before a round, that would be useful ;-)

My issue is that I don't lose it as such, I end up over doing it.

An example would be with my irons I was pulling everything left. I thought I was coming in too steep and over the top but Trackman showed it was the complete opposite. I was 6 inside to out and really shallow (think less than 1 down with a 7 iron). The big pulls left where me fatting the ball and closing the face over. So my whole lesson was basically grooving a feeling of coming in steeper and more out to in. During the lesson I could never actually get an out to in path, best I got was back to neutral on a couple of them.

Fast forward 6 weeks to another lesson and my 7 iron was now 5 out to in, with 6 down. I was basically overdoing the feeling without even realising.

 

[Springveldt]

Turn was the big thing in my last lesson last Wednesday. I wasn't making a full turn and was too quick into transition. Worked hard on feeling as though the back was pointing at the target on the backswing and the left shoulder was over the right shoe and that I made the turn fully and properly before turning into the shot. The biggest difference when it went right was getting the club head speed up from 92-93 to and average of 96-97 (and several on the 100mph mark) with a 7 iron but dispersion remained constant and in fact hit three line balls (including one with the 100mph swing speed) and as a result was seeing some extra distance

That's really, really fast. Would give you a driver speed of 120+ mph.

Wouldn't like to be in a long driver contest with you.

 

[larmen]

Fast forward 6 weeks to another lesson and my 7 iron was now 5 out to in, with 6 down. I was basically overdoing the feeling without even realising.

I think we all have that. My working theory is that chasing a feeling goes out of the door once you are in the right spot. I chase taking it further back, but once in the correct place where it should feel normal I am still chasing the feeling of taking it further back. Next session is taking it further up front. ...

Crossfield just did a video on the take away, I should do it visually in the garden without a ball.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Absolutely. 40 points and a handicap cut and everything clicking....................at the moment

 

[jamiet7682]

Just had my second one to one lesson with Iain at Mearns Castle, still working on my grip, really having to exagerate what feels like a stupidly strong grip to get myself in a neutral position, this is because my default grip was so weak.
Also worked on my right arm at take away, my action was like someone staring a pull cord lawmower, so worked on using the wrist, then elbow and keeping my palm to the ground.
Seen immediate improvement, was hitting my 7 iron straight and well over 100 yards, usually max out at about 110 and never get that clean contact.
Hopefully get to the range this week to work on the changes, but every time i do that I usually end up over thinking everything and forget to actually hit the ball.
I tend to find the changes just naturally bleed into my swing over time, trying to force them in immediately after the lesson doesnt work, i just keep them in my mind and find that my swing will just change naturally over the next week or so to incorporate them.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Best ever gross on the front nine, functioning short game and second the next day in the roll up. Very happy with my progress and looking forward to my next lesson and refining and honing even further

 

[Orikoru]

Best ever gross on the front nine, functioning short game and second the next day in the roll up. Very happy with my progress and looking forward to my next lesson and refining and honing even further

I don't mean to poke, but I find it interesting that you attribute any good performance to lessons, even though you have lessons all year round seemingly, and most weeks you're telling us how your golf game didn't click or go how you'd like. How can you be sure any improvement is down to lessons if you have them come rain or shine?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I don't mean to poke, but I find it interesting that you attribute any good performance to lessons, even though you have lessons all year round seemingly, and most weeks you're telling us how your golf game didn't click or go how you'd like. How can you be sure any improvement is down to lessons if you have them come rain or shine?

Not had too many swing lessons this year at all. In fact got an email telling me to start using them as HID got them for Christmas and they were supposed to be all used by September. We had a really good (and intense) lesson on the short game and while it still ebbs and flows when it was on as per the weekend the evidence of why he wanted me to change and the quality was there. He never re-invents the wheel with the long game and something we worked on in the last lesson seemed to resonate with the golfing brain. Definitely not a cas of lessons all year round

 

[larmen]

Back to the range today, and most of the stuff that didn't work worked fine. Managed to hit reasonably well from 3H down to 7i, and "good" from 8i down.
No idea what happens to the driver or 3 wood. Well, the 3 wood has a new shaft so I have an excuse for that, but the driver is the same as always.

 

[Mel Smooth]

The boy is having his first lesson over here tomorrow. Looked at geting him in an academy but they tend to run on Saturdays which would clash with his football, so I've decided to follow the same path as I took back in the UK when he was having lessons at Cleckheaton GC.
Got two courses nearby and I was unsure which to take him to, as the pro at Vistabella stopped us on the course a few weeks back and gave Jamie some very complimentary advice, but, we've another course (La Finca) which is a little closer. Decided to check the pro's credentials out and he seems to have some decent testimonials. ;-)

https://www.andreugolf.com/en/testimonies/

We'll see how he gets on tomorrow, he learnt loads from Lee Shepherd back in the UK, so hopefully he can carry on where he left off, and of course, his old man will be sat there trying to pick up a few scraps of useful info as well.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The boy is having his first lesson over here tomorrow. Looked at geting him in an academy but they tend to run on Saturdays which would clash with his football, so I've decided to follow the same path as I took back in the UK when he was having lessons at Cleckheaton GC.
Got two courses nearby and I was unsure which to take him to, as the pro at Vistabella stopped us on the course a few weeks back and gave Jamie some very complimentary advice, but, we've another course (La Finca) which is a little closer. Decided to check the pro's credentials out and he seems to have some decent testimonials. ;-)

https://www.andreugolf.com/en/testimonies/

We'll see how he gets on tomorrow, he learnt loads from Lee Shepherd back in the UK, so hopefully he can carry on where he left off, and of course, his old man will be sat there trying to pick up a few scraps of useful info as well.

Hope he enjoys it and it clicks for him. Make sure he works hard at the drills he's given and get him out on the course as often as he can to see how it holds together.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

As a side point because that reminded me, when I did my driver fitting recently I told him I was using orange castle tees, but after a few hits he ended up switching me down to pinks as he said I was getting too much spin. While I do love my new driver so I have no regrets, a little part of me wondered if I would have been longer with the old driver simply by switching tees. I originally went up to orange because I was hitting everything thin and low off the pinks for a while so the higher tees helped, but I've gone with what he said and gone back to pinks now. It is certainly a better flight if I hit it properly.

I find that this is a good point, which I suspect is not addressed by many.
Other things being equal, I found that getting the ball teed at the right height made a lot of difference to how well the ball was struck.
Within limits, the ball teed at the low end rather than high was better for me.
On the range recently, my striking has improved so much since I concentrated on getting the right shoulder as low as possible on the downswing. Made things straighter. It also made the tee height very important.
So, yes, a very good point.
And about the old driver. Since the right shoulder etc, I've gone back to the old driver. The new one wasn't the answer. sorry😁

 

[Dan2501]

Not had a lesson for over a year. Handicap came down last year, but didn't play good golf for most of the season, couple of good rounds at the end of the season lost me a shot. Time to sort it out. Coach at my club is running unlimited lessons for all of winter so signed up for that and have my first lesson on Friday, looking forward to seeing how many stupid flaws I've added to my swing in the last year Hoping a load of lessons and practice over winter will set me up to get down to 10 next year, that's the goal.

 

[stefanovic]

Coach at my club is running unlimited lessons for all of winter so signed up for that and have my first lesson on Friday, looking forward to seeing how many stupid flaws I've added to my swing in the last year. Hoping a load of lessons and practice over winter will set me up to get down to 10 next year, that's the goal.

Isn't that the way lessons work? Fixing one fault just leads to another. So back for more lessons.
No wonder coaches get rich.
For faults and fixes you could try reading David Leadbetter. He should know, but like a pro once told me 'The problem was he couldn't actually do it himself.'
So it's a bit like the placebo effect - if you think the medicine works it probably will, for a while.
At least I did get down to 10 without any lessons, so I saved a bit there.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Hope he enjoys it and it clicks for him. Make sure he works hard at the drills he's given and get him out on the course as often as he can to see how it holds together.

It was good.
The lad has a tendency to push his shots to the right, particularly with the driver. Basically, he needs to over emphasize swinging out to in, to get rid of the in to out swing he currently has, which will blight him forever if it isn't nipped in the bud.
Hit some nice 7 irons about 110 yards - which I don't think is bad for a 9 year old kid, then when asked to hit the driver, he striped the first one straight down the driving range with just a touch of draw.
The pro was also teaching him some spanish as well, so I definitely got my moneys worth - which as a tight Yorkshireman was massively appreciated. ;-)

Hope he appreciates how fortunate he is, being taught how to play golf by a bloke that's knows Sergio Garcia since he was a kid, whilst wearing shorts and polo shirt at the arse end of October. I think I was splodging round the rec trying to hit lob shots over the rugby posts when I was learning as a kid.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It was good.
The lad has a tendency to push his shots to the right, particularly with the driver. Basically, he needs to over emphasize swinging out to in, to get rid of the in to out swing he currently has, which will blight him forever if it isn't nipped in the bud.
Hit some nice 7 irons about 110 yards - which I don't think is bad for a 9 year old kid, then when asked to hit the driver, he striped the first one straight down the driving range with just a touch of draw.
The pro was also teaching him some spanish as well, so I definitely got my moneys worth - which as a tight Yorkshireman was massively appreciated. ;-)

Hope he appreciates how fortunate he is, being taught how to play golf by a bloke that's knows Sergio Garcia since he was a kid, whilst wearing shorts and polo shirt at the arse end of October. I think I was splodging round the rec trying to hit lob shots over the rugby posts when I was learning as a kid.

If Carlsberg did lessons....

 

[larmen]

How quickly do you lose it again?

On the range today and mostly duffed all full shots, but had much better results from the stop motion shots. Basically hitting the mat before the ball. Now after driving home I have an idea what was wrong, but that idea might be wrong in itself.
Lesson on Saturday coming up.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

How quickly do you lose it again?

On the range today and mostly duffed all full shots, but had much better results from the stop motion shots. Basically hitting the mat before the ball. Now after driving home I have an idea what was wrong, but that idea might be wrong in itself.
Lesson on Saturday coming up.

I do tend to find that I can overdo practice and the drills from lessons to the point where I feel I over emphasise the feeling I'm trying to get. For me, it's finding a good mixture of working on the changes at the range and then getting on the course and simply trusting it and to a large degree putting the score made to the back of my mind and whether it's good or not simply play with the swing