Golf Tuition & question.

[WilliamDun]

So a couple of questions as a new player. I have been playing for a month! yes one month and from the word go I thought the best thing would be lessons, and am currently having one a week with my local club PGA tutor. In addition I have been spending a couple of hours a week at the driving range to practice between lessons.

Question 1 - My tutor is more traditional, spending time on the practice ground, watching, correcting and teaching. This is all done without the aid of filming, software or any gadgets. He is a great guy and I get on well with him well. My questions is am I going to get the most out of lessons with a good coach and no computer aided back up? or is this just me being new and over interested in technology rather than the basics? In short how do you know you have the right tutor?

Question 2 - I'm happy with what I have been learning so far and obviously its going to be a steep learning curve to start. However I do seem to have a problem hitting the ball thin catching the bottom of the club. My understanding is this is common with new players. (kinda linked to questions one, would I benefit form seeing video of what I'm doing to understand why?) is there any drills you can do to reduce this? or other ways of addressing it?

Thanks for the help everybody!!

Oh I'm based just on the outskirts of Northampton as a side note.

 

[jamielaing]

So a couple of questions as a new player. I have been playing for a month! yes one month and from the word go I thought the best thing would be lessons, and am currently having one a week with my local club PGA tutor. In addition I have been spending a couple of hours a week at the driving range to practice between lessons.

Question 1 - My tutor is more traditional, spending time on the practice ground, watching, correcting and teaching. This is all done without the aid of filming, software or any gadgets. He is a great guy and I get on well with him well. My questions is am I going to get the most out of lessons with a good coach and no computer aided back up? or is this just me being new and over interested in technology rather than the basics? In short how do you know you have the right tutor?

Question 2 - I'm happy with what I have been learning so far and obviously its going to be a steep learning curve to start. However I do seem to have a problem hitting the ball thin catching the bottom of the club. My understanding is this is common with new players. (kinda linked to questions one, would I benefit form seeing video of what I'm doing to understand why?) is there any drills you can do to reduce this? or other ways of addressing it?

Thanks for the help everybody!!

Oh I'm based just on the outskirts of Northampton as a side note.

How do you think everyone learnt 40 years ago! As long as he is explaining why you should be doing things I would say you should trust your teacher. Changing could just confuse you.

At your stage just try to take what he says on board and enjoy hitting the ball. He will probably offer video lessons if you ask for it. Only if you feel visualising will help.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Welcome to the board. I'd say whilst the tech/trackmans/GC2 etc etc are great, if you are starting getting the fundamentals correct from a good pro will vastly outweigh the benefit of seeing data. And then as you improve you can look at getting some figures. But whatever you do do not try and over complicate it to start with, worry about path angles and smash factors later on.

But having said that I would kind of expect your pro to possibly use a bit video, as you can do that so easily nowadays, just to highlight a few things to you.

And as for thining it then it all depends on why you are doing this, could be a few reasons. Which your pro should be able to tell you. I'd be a bit wary of doing a drill to try and solve 'the problem' if that problem is not actually the reason you are thining it. As that will potentially make it worse.

 

[WilliamDun]

Thanks for the quick reply. I suppose the only reason I mentioned it was 40 years ago we didn't have the technology, if we had im sure we would have embraced it. As you (HackerKhan) said im not looking to get bogged down with every detail more posture and swing to make sure I get the fundamentals right and don't create bad habits I have to correct later.

 

[jamielaing]

Thanks for the quick reply. I suppose the only reason I mentioned it was 40 years ago we didn't have the technology, if we had im sure we would have embraced it. As you (HackerKhan) said im not looking to get bogged down with every detail more posture and swing to make sure I get the fundamentals right and don't create bad habits I have to correct later.

Sorry, that was a bit sarcastic in tone, wasn't meant to be like that!

Technology is great but as Hacker Khan said, listen to what you are being told and shown and feel what he is teaching you.

Technology is used for fine tuning in my opinion and if you start on stats and numbers now you will get so confused. Concentrate on making the contact and building from there.

 

[WilliamDun]

Honestly I didn't think it was that sarcastic! if you saw my playing you could have said something far worse! Thanks for the advise.

Will.

 

[Jake O'Reilly]

So a couple of questions as a new player. I have been playing for a month! yes one month and from the word go I thought the best thing would be lessons, and am currently having one a week with my local club PGA tutor. In addition I have been spending a couple of hours a week at the driving range to practice between lessons.

Question 1 - My tutor is more traditional, spending time on the practice ground, watching, correcting and teaching. This is all done without the aid of filming, software or any gadgets. He is a great guy and I get on well with him well. My questions is am I going to get the most out of lessons with a good coach and no computer aided back up? or is this just me being new and over interested in technology rather than the basics? In short how do you know you have the right tutor?

Question 2 - I'm happy with what I have been learning so far and obviously its going to be a steep learning curve to start. However I do seem to have a problem hitting the ball thin catching the bottom of the club. My understanding is this is common with new players. (kinda linked to questions one, would I benefit form seeing video of what I'm doing to understand why?) is there any drills you can do to reduce this? or other ways of addressing it?

Thanks for the help everybody!!

Welcome to the world of golf!!!

Putting aside your newness to the game, knowing you have the right golf coach involves a bit of trial and error. Some players like it straight, others like gentle encouragement, some are all about feel, others like to see launch numbers and work on mechanics, everyone is different!

Once you've built up trust with someone you don't need to see your swing to follow their instructions, but in the early stages it's natural to want visual confirmation that what you are trying is making a positive difference. I'm sure you coach wouldn't mind doing a before and after video to show you, even if it's only on your mobile phone's camera.

To your second question, you could be thinning it for loads of different reasons (flicking at it with your hands, straightening your knees and lifting up before impact etc etc). As part of your lesson your coach should give you some drills to take away and work on, if he hasn't, tell him you like to practice lots and ask for some!

 

[MadAdey]

Stick with him, it's all about getting the basics sorted to start with. Forget all the modern technology and do what your told. If you have a Video camera it might be worth asking if you could film the lessons so you can have something to work from when going to the range.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have used a guy with all the gadgets going and he made big changes and it really helped seeing my swing on video and the numbers on the launch monitor. I'm currently going to a guy at a range who has years of experience and has a great word of mouth reputation (http://www.lavenderparkgolf.co.uk/index.php/our-professionals/) and look at Andy Piper.

He doesn't use anything technical and I guess the OP would call him traditional. He never seems to make it feel as though he's changed too much and merely tweaked something small but he gets results in the lesson and you leave hitting it so much better.

With regards the thinned shots, it will happen until you star to get a modicum of consistency. And the fatted ones too. Go back and your pro should help you out. Most will give you a quick tip or tweak to work on and help

To the OP I would say welcome to golf and be prepared for years of frustration and moments of fleeting joy but it's a great game and will always give you something even in a terrible round. Stick with the lessons, work hard on the drills and enjoy playing on the course

 

[Big-Dog]

Welcome to the forum and great great game.

All the info above and trust me you will get it straight on here, is 100% correct with sticking with the pro take on board what he says and ask for drills. Most pros get frustrated that their pupils do not go to practise enough and therefore do not see the benefits they turn up week after week having not practised. Spend the first few minutes of your lesson speaking with the pro tell him about your practise what went well and what did not, talk about how you practise, for instance do you play your course in your head at the driving range, what are you working on or do you go and just blast 100 balls.

Once he has an idea he has got someone who will be seriously looking at improving then you may get a bit more of his time after all someone new maybe a good source of income over the coming years for him!! Also if you are practising rather than just blasting a few balls and not getting the results do not be afraid to tell him.

Best of luck and again welcome to the crazy world of golf and the even crazier world of the FORUM!!

Hit em straight ...ish