Do golf lessons work?

[bradleywedge]

I have never paid for a golf lesson in my life, I have received advice from pro's on a casual basis but never actually had a proper assessment.

My game has stalled somewhat and I seem to be going backwards if anything. I am loathe to have someone completely change my swing as I am at the stage of my life where I just want to go out and play with a bit of consistency instead of spending half my time looking for my ball off the fairway. I feel I just need a few tweaks here and there, mainly on driving the ball straight and help hitting longer irons.

Do you suggest just a 30/45 min lesson to start just to have my swing assessed, or anything more? What are you looking to pay? I have looked at local PGA pro's and they are looking to charge between £40 and £50 for an hour lesson, I take it this is the going rate.

Anyone like to share a success story from seeing a teaching pro?

 

[anotherdouble]

Like any form of teaching and learning a practical skill, the outcome is dependent on the amount of practice the student is willing to put in between the lessons. Doesn’t have to be golf, you can attribute the principle to learning to swim, play a musical instrument, computing, cooking etc. if You only rock up for lessons on a weekly, monthly basis then it will be a slow process

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I have lessons, and still do every now and then as I know I start to create issues and faults with my game.
I don't think you can equate what a pro says causally with what a pro says when hes dedicated his window of time to you, looking at your swing in all it's glory.
As for not wanting to change your swing, I was like you in that regards but the bottom line was I was never going to steadily improve and be consistant with the swing and grip I had.
I had to accept some change, and whilst I am still not anywhere as good as I want I have managed to definately improve and drop the handicap. As a result, I enjoy it more.

 

[Tashyboy]

Like any form of teaching and learning a practical skill, the outcome is dependent on the amount of practice the student is willing to put in between the lessons. Doesn’t have to be golf, you can attribute the principle to learning to swim, play a musical instrument, computing, cooking etc. if You only rock up for lessons on a weekly, monthly basis then it will be a slow process

This is the correct answer. And the problem lies in the statement " I am loathe to have someone completely change my swing" etc. Your swing is causing you to well not be consistent. Who is to say you will completely change your swing. A lesson will tell you why your swing is inconsistent. Last lesson I had, he gave me a drill to do at home. Ironically my problem was off the tee. Or so I thought. We worked with a seven iron. I hit them straight . Picked up the driver and boom. Flippin eck where did that come from. Ironically learning to take the club away on the right line helped to create power as well as accuracy. Was it a massive tweak. No not really. I knew what I was doing was wrong, I had never been shown how to correct it.
Lesson lesson lesson. In all honesty, there's enough lads on here from the north east. Where you from?

 

[clubchamp98]

If you keep doing what your doing you will keep getting what you get.
It might be something very simple that you can’t see.
A good pro won’t take your swing apart unless you ask him to.
£30 for 30 mins up here, if he’s any good he will only need 5 mins to see it and 25 to show you how to sort it.

 

[chrisd]

I've been having a series of lessons over a prolonged period, my swing now is hugely different to what it was last year. I have worked hard at the range to ingrain the changes and feel that my swing is much better, and consistent, (except the driver) and, after a long series of handicap increases during the changes, I finally won the mid week medal a couple of weeks ago and a small cut.

The fact is that you have to commit to whatever changes required and many don't and go back to their old swings if they dont get immediate results

 

[Orikoru]

I have some of the same reservations about a pro making wholesale changes - largely because you need to commit of lot of time to practising to bed them in, and I'm not willing or really able to do that. I almost relented earlier this year but I managed to work through the issues I was having myself in the end.

If you can find a really good pro who understands what you want and is good at working with your own swing then I'm sure you can find what you're looking for. Unfortunately though finding the right pro can be a bit of a trial and error process, so you might have to go through a frog or two before you find your prince. So to speak.

A lot of people on this forum swear by lessons as the be all and end all, but you really need to put that practise time in to get the benefit, which not everyone can do.

 

[jim8flog]

I used to have regular lessons when I was younger.

The only reason that stops me having them now is my body. These days ten balls on the range is all I do before my body starts to complain about the repetition.

Mind you the last occasional lessons I had only lasted 15 minutes or less ones because the pro used to be able to spot the fault straight away and a few balls later all fixed.

 

[ScienceBoy]

On their own, no. If you just take golf lessons you won’t get very far.

You need to practice, do drills and most of all play.

If you can learn to fix your faults you can make big improvements beyond just lessons.

I’ve had one lesson this year and I am still benefiting from it as my pro helped me learn to fix, I’m still working on doing the little couple of fixed we identified.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

You are assuming a major swing change. The pro may change one thing. That one change may correct 3 other faults just because the cogs are now all working correctly together. Tashy and Clubchamp have nailed it for me.

Incidentally, give the pro parameters if you are worried. The lesson is for your benefit not for them to show off. Don't worry, get your game fixed and start enjoying yourself more again.

 

[Jacko_G]

Still go for a lesson per month to keep things ticking over. Find a decent pro and your game will improve no doubt about it in my mind.

 

[bobmac]

For me, a good teacher is someone who can improve a golfers impact position, not by rebuilding their swing but by changing as little as possible.
Minimum input, maximum satisfaction.
(D'Acampo. G 2016)

 

[clubchamp98]

For me, a good teacher is someone who can improve a golfers impact position, not by rebuilding their swing but by changing as little as possible.
Minimum input, maximum satisfaction.
(D'Acampo. G 2016)

Yes Someone said “ 6” behind the ball and 6” after the ball is all that counts”

 

[TheDiablo]

To put another perspective out there, I've got no time to practice, nor do I enjoy practice.

My golf was getting worse and worse, couldn't keep it on the course off the tee, went from 15 to 16.4 pretty much straight and was basically shooting 100, not even close to handicap.

I just thought no point getting a lesson cos I can't nor want to to practice, so it would be pointless. After all, everyone tells you lessons only work if you practice after/between

It got so bad that I had nothing to lose though. Went to a pro I saw when starting out a few years ago, and told him about my situation. 'Just give me one thing, maybe 2 in one lesson that I can take to a course and doesn't require practice'

Massively changed my takeaway on driver which changed the backswing and let me hit straight.

I've honestly not practiced once, not played more golf than usual and results have been very good.

Basically, it might be that there is a quick fix. Other than £50, what have you got to lose?

 

[bobmac]

No need to spend that sort of money.
30 mins will be plenty which should only cost you £20-25.
The pro should start the lesson by asking ''how can I help'' you just tell him what you told us.

Or if you have any videos of your swing, post them on here and I'll take a look.

 

[Capella]

From my experience, there are two kinds of golf pros. Those who go about it as bobmac describes in the quote above ... by making small but effective changes. Those lessons are normally very valuable and have a positive effect right away (you still need to practice those changes to make the most of them, though). Other pros go more by Theodore Adorno's “There is no right life in the wrong one.” and try to rebuild your swing from scratch. That might be a good approach for a relative beginner or for someone who is very ambitious and does not mind to put in many many hours of practice to end up with a "perfect" golf swing, but it will lead to a lot of frustration and a complete inability to play and enjoy the game in the meantime.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think my thoughts are well known. I have had a few pros in my time. One was really technical but got the message across in a way I understood and I knew why he was making each change and where it fitted into the chain reaction of the swing and why it needed improving. Another who was a Plane Truth advocate started off really well and got me down to 10 and then suddenly seemed to want to reinvent the wheel each time and when I asked why seemed to get very huffy. I tried explaining we were making good progress and only wanted to refine but he insisted there were still wholesale changes needed. I've been using the guy I see now for about 3-4 years. He's old school and while he has camera's and launch monitors if needed, like Bob, he can usually see the faults by eye and works to refine and work within a players current swing and limitations. I feel much happier since using him and this year I've gone from 15-12 and a couple of wins, although managed to climb back to 13 now feel much happier with where my game is.

I would always argue that if the very best pros in the world, who are hitting balls every day, still need to work on basics and have lessons then it should be something we do. It can be as simple as a 30 minute MOT at the start of each season to make sure the fundamentals are right and make any minor tweaks and doesn't have to be a major change or rebuild

 

[need_my_wedge]

I've been having a series of lessons over a prolonged period, my swing now is hugely different to what it was last year. I have worked hard at the range to ingrain the changes and feel that my swing is much better, and consistent, (except the driver) and, after a long series of handicap increases during the changes, I finally won the mid week medal a couple of weeks ago and a small cut.

The fact is that you have to commit to whatever changes required and many don't and go back to their old swings if they dont get immediate results

I'm with Chris. This time last year I was on the verge of chucking it in. I'd spent two years rapidly dropping from 13.0 - 15 and just couldn't hit a straight ball to save my life, had a really bad duck hook that killed my game. Decided to go and see a new pro (new to me), that my son had just started having lessons with after a few recommendations. Got on with him straight away, asked me what the issues were, asked me to hit a few balls, filmed it all on his ipad and was able to dissect it all very quickly. Unfortunately for me, there was a lot a wrong, grip, posture, takeaway, big sway off the ball, and a big lasso loop at the top worse than Furyk, not to mention that it just looked really awful to watch. I took the decision to try and fix it, and have been having regular lessons over the past 11 months, weekly at first, now every two - three weeks. I also committed to practicing, going to the range a couple of times a week and hitting a bucket working on whatever we did in the last lesson. I have a completely different swing now, which I am very pleased about. I haven't dropped my handicap yet, but my ball striking is hugely improved. Have had a lot of up and downs with the changes, instant fixes that work a treat, then subconciously over correcting to make it worse etc. However, when I play casual knocks now, I often come in under handicap by 4 or 5 shots, I don't spend very much time in the trees looking for balls, and don't lose them so quickly. My pro charges £150 for 6 lessons, which are supposed to be 30 minute sessions and usually run to 40/ 45. It's not perfect, and unlikely to be , but it feels much better swinging and hitting the ball, although I've decided to reduce comps for now, because I heap too much pressure on my game thinking the changes should give me a handicap reduction and then getting frustrated when it doesn't happen. If I keep doing what I'm doing, it will though. I appreciate that not everyone can do the lesson/ practice route, some maybe don't need as much practice as others, some don't want to, but I also run a martial arts club, and I can tell you from 30 years of experience, that any improvement usually only comes from being taught correctly and then practicing correctly, you really do only get what you put in.

 

[chrisd]

No need to spend that sort of money.
30 mins will be plenty which should only cost you £20-25.
The pro should start the lesson by asking ''how can I help'' you just tell him what you told us.

Or if you have any videos of your swing, post them on here and I'll take a look.

Down in the deep south east here most lessons are 45 minutes, I guess to allow the pro 15 minutes between lessons so as to run an hourly regime, and the cost is £45 to £50. I committed to 2 x 45 min lessons a month for as long as need at £60 per month and have told my pro that I intend to go to no more than one per month as from October. He does send out lots of good info and asks for a report on how I play every weekend so I've been happy with everything

 

[duncan mackie]

Most evolved golf swings are a series of sticking plasters, as the player looks to resolve his latest symptom with a quick, or easy/non disruptive, fix.
At it's extreme the player will buy another club, clubs or even look to change their ball to resolve a symptom that's crept into their game, or become exposed as they develop.

The trick, if there is one, is to remove only sufficient plasters to enable the player to move on the the level they wish (or is suitable for them given their resources - talent/time/committment/maybe money).
The real problem is normally honesty in terms of the various elements and this leads to most of the issues that get presented - either too much changed for the available commitment going forwards or not enough leaving unacceptable ceilings.

And of course there will always be a huge gap for many between their ball striking capabilities and their scoring...🤔

Applying this to the question asked -

A good professional should be able to assess your swing and, ideally present a range of approaches going forwards.
The player should select the approach that suits him.

It's not rocket science (unlike ball flight laws...🤗)