fed up of lessons

[hovis]

i've been playing golf now for 16 months and in total i've had loads of lessons.

pro 1, said my grip was too weak. after 13 lessons and no improvement i give up.
taught myself for 3 months and saw a great improvement. score dropped from 110's to high 90's

pro 2 said my grip was too strong after 9 lessons with very little improvement i give up.
taught myself for a month. scores dropped into low 90's

pro 3 said my takeaway was the problem. 11 lessons with no improvement.

WHAT DO I DO ?

what i am trying to say is lessons dont seem to help. each pro thinks the fault is in different area's. i'm spending a fortune on lessons and practice time but getting nowhere. what i have done is baught the v1 golf app and then video my swings, i then compare them to the pre-loaded models and copy them.

has anyone else had any likewise experiance.

 

[G1BB0]

maybe lessons just aren't suited to you

thats not to say the pro's are wrong. See how you get on over the winter practising on your own

My pro works on areas of the game I ask to improve, he hasnt made any dramatic changes just subtle grip/stance tweaks. It's enough so I know why I am hitting the ball a certain way and the drills I need to implement to correct it.

 

[One Planer]

I think you case highlights the issue of finding a good pro you can work with and sticking at it.

 

[bobmac]

How much did you play and practice between lessons?

 

[Monty_Brown]

It's fair to say you've had more lessons in a year than I've had in 20 years. When taking up the game, I always think that most people will have a "tipping point" or "eureka moment" when things suddenly click and they go from being all over the place to suddenly having a repeatable swing that can form the basis for long-term handicap progress. Personally I think it's a combination of muscle memory taking effect and a sense of feel for the club face.

It could be that the pros' work has simply clicked after you've stopped working with them, so you don't believe they helped you.

It's clearly got you annoyed, so I'd tend to agree that taking time away from lessons could be a good thing at this point. Play for the sheer enjoyment and develop more of an instinctive feel for your golf swing. Then when you do have a more repeatable action, you could think about going back to one of your pros.

Chin up though buddy... it'll happen.

 

[ADB]

Everyone is different and responds to different methods of teaching, I think you have yet to find someone who undertands the way you tick. As it seems you are not averse to practice, I would stick with lessons but try a different pro.

Alternatively, post your videos on here and have the real experts dissect your swing

 

[G1BB0]

it also sounds like you are having lessons too often, 33 lessons in 16 months!!!

try having them 1 month apart and in the weeks between just practise the drills.

2 a month leaves no time inbetween to really ingrain what is taught from the previous lesson

 

[hovis]

How much did you play and practice between lessons?

i get loads of time off work. i play 3 times a week and hit the range about 2/3 times a week. ,maybe i'm over doing it

 

[G1BB0]

are you able to have a lesson, practice and implement every round/range session? or do you (like me) have a lesson, do the drills but on the course resort back to the old swing as the new changes dont feel right just yet?

 

[Monty_Brown]

Alternatively, post your videos on here and have the real experts dissect your swing

I hear ya Snaphook. Nothing like a load of diametrically opposing advice to put the mind at rest!

 

[Monty_Brown]

are you able to have a lesson, practice and implement every round/range session? or do you (like me) have a lesson, do the drills but on the course resort back to the old swing as the new changes dont feel right just yet?

I've said before on here that my pro gives me a target of 1,000 practice balls with a swing change before it beds in and he gets me back for a look at it. Horses for courses but it may be that you need time to let the lessons take effect?

 

[G1BB0]

This is why after the pairs this weekend I am not having a round until the 11th Nov (birthday treat somewhere not known to me yet grrr) as I really want to practice what I have been taught between now & my next lesson on the 1st Nov and then hopefully have it sort of cemented by the 11th

actually this raises a question for Bob (as our resident PGA qualified Guru),

what would you recommend for someone who has a lesson and is given drills for swing changes with regards practice/round time? What I mean by that is would you advise practising for a couple of weeks avoiding the course or carry on as you are playing 1-2 a week and once or twice up the range?

 

[hovis]

are you able to have a lesson, practice and implement every round/range session? or do you (like me) have a lesson, do the drills but on the course resort back to the old swing as the new changes dont feel right just yet?

after my lessons i stay back for a basket of balls and practice the new stuff. i dont like to put lessons and games close together because the new skills havent sunk in yet. if i cant avoid it and play a game the next day for example, i use my old swing for the game.

what i find with lessons is they fix one fault but it creates a new one (usualy bigger) then i need another lesson to fix the new fault. i feel like i'm chasing my tail

 

[HRC99]

A pro is like a girl (or boy).

When you start getting interested in them, the first one is very important to you and you'll always remember them but, after that, you've got to try a few different ones to find the right one.

Then when you think you've found the right one, you realise after a while that, actually, they weren't the right one after all.

You just haven't found the right one yet, that's all. Keep looking. They're out there.

 

[timchump]

i feel your pain

have had a number of lessons with a pro i greatly respect though half the time they seem to make my swing worse.

i've lost count of the number of times i've paid money just to be told to hit the ball on and in to out swing path

like yourself i tape my swing and look at it slo mo etc.

my approach now, is to have a lesson every month with a pro i have a good relationship with, between lessons i spend a lot of time thinking about what i have been taught, the theorey behind it and graudally bringing into my swing

i spend about 10 minutes at the start of each lesson explaining what want to next address on my swing

for example last lesson i thought my hip turn was poor and wondered whether it should be the first move in my downswing, the pro spent the reast of the lesson explaining the correct hip turn, and tying to get me in the correct positions

next lesson i'm going to ask him about dropping my hands more at the start of the downswing to create a better plane.

so basically i recommend approaching a lesson with what you want from it

 

[Monty_Brown]

Most of my golfing mates use the same pro as me and after a while, after comparing notes, we jokingly decided he's only got 6 lessons in his repertoire. The truth at the heart of that is that so many amateurs develop similar faults that we all tend to hear the same advice during lessons.

He's actually the best pro I've ever worked with - a good communicator who takes one thing at a time to keep it simple.

Going back to the OP and echoing the views of others, it may be you just haven't found the right one yet.

 

[chris661]

after my lessons i stay back for a basket of balls and practice the new stuff. i dont like to put lessons and games close together because the new skills havent sunk in yet. if i cant avoid it and play a game the next day for example, i use my old swing for the game.

what i find with lessons is they fix one fault but it creates a new one (usualy bigger) then i need another lesson to fix the new fault. i feel like i'm chasing my tail

Sorry unless I misunderstand something here you pay money for a lesson then use your "old" swing for a game. Whats the point? If I go for a lesson I will try and not play for a couple of weeks if making reasonably big changes yet you play every day? :crazy:

 

[hovis]

Sorry unless I misunderstand something here you pay money for a lesson then use your "old" swing for a game. Whats the point? If I go for a lesson I will try and not play for a couple of weeks if making reasonably big changes yet you play every day? :crazy:

try reading it again. i said i dont like to play striaght after a lesson because i want time to let the new stuff bed inn. but if i cant avoid it and i have to play straight after then i use my old swing because the new one will be worse till its programmed in

 

[AllyLodge]

For now I'm just getting down to to the lowest I can physically go, and from then I will have lessons

 

[HomerJSimpson]

what i find with lessons is they fix one fault but it creates a new one (usualy bigger) then i need another lesson to fix the new fault. i feel like i'm chasing my tail

This begs several points. As a relative newbie still it might just be that there are a number of faults and that each pro was trying to put strong foundations in place before moving onto other things. Did you ever sit down before and after a lesson and discuss what you wanted to achieve that time and going forward.

Personally even I think 33 lessons is too many and I've been accussed on here of taking too many. When I have a lesson, I hit a bucket afterwards but spend ages and ages, rehearsing, swinging in slow motion and really trying to feel the changes. A 50 ball bucket can take 90 minutes to hit. I will then hit the range two or three times after that still doing a lot of work without the ball. I may hit five, see how they go and stop and work on it again, hit another five and reassess. Are you honestly rehearsing or is it a case of just hitting balls and thinking you are doing what you are shown.

When I hit the course I accept that for a few rounds the score will be rubbish and that I will lose a few balls. Its the one step back two steps forward syndrome but you have to stick with the changes you've made. The course is the only true place to see if the work you've done is working. If not, either go back to the pro, explain your bad shots and let him see you swing or go back to the range and start again on rehearsing and working.

I have to say if you do have to play I'd still use the new swing as it over complcates the issue trying to work out which is the old and the new swing. If you think the pro only has 6 lessons in his repetoire, maybe you need to find a pro you can trust or ask him to explain what changes he is making and why. Its a 2 way street and so if you say nothing a pro will start with the biggest swing killers first like the grip and takeaway.