If you are obviously naturally crap, can lessons really help?

[Snelly]

I don't believe that anyone is naturally crap or naturally brilliant. That said, we all learn in subtly different ways and possibly some are more conducive to improving at a given skill faster than others.

In essence, I think that good golfers are made and not born. An understanding of swing fundamentals then hundreds of hours of hard work and hundreds of rounds of golf are what you need to be a decent player.

 

[garyinderry]

I am going to go against the grain here and say I do believe there maybe some kind of natural ability at play here. I am thinking specifically of one of my best friends. He was never the best at any of the sports we played. When ever we tried our hand at a new sport, be it, tennis, gaelic, hurling, golf or even snooker. you could be pretty sure who would be in the top 3 out of the group to take quickly to the sport.

This one person I am thinking about has improved through some practice at football but never looked comfortable. I also believe that no amount of training by the worlds best coaches would provide him with a first touch. Its just non existent. Neither is the ability to pick a pass. He could play till the world stops turning and I don't think he would ever become natural for him.

Hand eye coordination plays a big part in golf, you could be pretty certain if you threw something to this chap, there is a very good chance he will drop it. Some people have better spatial awareness than others and a natural ability to change into a position to react to a certain situation.

In saying this, everyone can improve through practice and repetition. An amount of natural ability will determine how quickly you improve and by how much.

 

[Brian_C]

Yes lessons will definitly help. I'm in a very similar situation to you, I'm struggling to break 100, had a terrible slice but with the lessons I've had I'm confident and looking forward to the coming season. Being honest, I'm now confident of breaking 90 over the next 3mths and getting a H/C of around 20.
I went for a few lessons and the things he picked up on and pointed out were obvious, at least when he pointed them out. (bend from the waist, bend knees, get weight more over the ball, grip, standing too close to the ball, swing plane and flow-through). OK, each lesson he pointed out, maybe 2 of these things and left me to work on them in my own time over 2-3wks.
It's well worth it.

 

[full_throttle]

go for it G1BBO, practice what you are shown/told, it my not work every time but the results will soon begin to improve

my second lesson is friday, after last week I need it, had a shocker on Friday so still things to tidy up.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

truth is that swinging a golf club is probably a pretty natural act for most of not all of us - look at toddlers when given a plastic golf club - they swing it 'naturally'. The problem is that we grow up and start trying to swing a golf club how we think it should be swung - and we do all the wrong and unnatural things that a toddler doesn't do.

My (21 yr old) lad doesn't play much at all - but when he does he says he focusses on getting his stance, his grip and his address right - as the pro taught him when he was 11. having got these basics established he just swings the golf club - and it works. He looks like a golfer. His shot execution may not be that brilliant - but that bit is practice.

 

[G1BB0]

thanks for the very honest replies folks, appreciated. I dont have aspirations of single figure handicaps but knowing I can par/birdie then throw in an 8 or 9 does my head in. A lot is prob down to concentration and poor course management but also poor fundamentals. Hopefully a course of lessons and a kick up the backside every few weeks will be the tonic I need.

Watch this space

 

[SocketRocket]

I found Vodka gold this afternoon, littlegolf flakes floating in a bottle, so we empotied it :smirk:

So you were Spartacus! :smirk:

 

[Hack-Man-Hob]

Hey, I was sort of in the same boat. Been playing 3 years now and was totally hooked/addicted after my first round. I played ALL THE TIME. Everyone told me go get lessons straight away before you get bad habits but I'd rather spend the money on the course. I was that intimidated feeling like I didn't belong for 6 months I'd only play in horrific weather or late afternoon so the course would be empty. Now I did play alot 2-3-4 times a week and learned so much more about course management, playing conditions, getting out of hazards and the rules! than I ever did about my golf swing and most importantly accepting this was a long haul project and I could hit par one hole quadruple the next and live with it. 3 Years in my handicap is respectable (I think so anyway) and i'ts all down to practice for me, on course practice then later and now on the range. I've spent my money wisely on memberships and equipment listened to good advice and slowly figured it out. Took me over a year to break 100 then come the 1st summer it tumbled, shooting reg mid 80's now (with the odd catastrophe 115+ thrown in but thats just the way it goes) All the practice in the horriffic winter and practice from horriffic lies under trees over bushes paid off! Only now I think I feel truly ready and happy/confident to go for lessons where I feel like I'd understand and be able to apply it and get my moneys worth. Don't get me wrong there are days I cant hit the ball at all (118 last November works golf day) and my soul dies when those days come I really still feel like an absolute 1st timer but I take heart knowing I can go out the day after and maybe stiff my Hybrid 190yds and shoot 83 because I practiced it so many damn times!

 

[JustOne]

Took me over a year to break 100 then come the 1st summer it tumbled, shooting reg mid 80's now (with the odd catastrophe 115+ thrown in but thats just the way it goes) All the practice in the horriffic winter and practice from horriffic lies under trees over bushes paid off! Only now I think I feel truly ready and happy/confident to go for lessons where I feel like I'd understand and be able to apply it and get my moneys worth. Don't get me wrong there are days I cant hit the ball at all (118 last November works golf day) and my soul dies when those days come....

Top quality comments there :thup:

 

[garyinderry]

If you are obviously naturally crap, can lessons really help?

Another way to look at this question. Is the traditional swing too hard to learn?

The pros have it one week, gone the next. the worlds best player still double crosses all over the shop while trying different types of swings.

We have guys on here who have had god knows how many lessons tweaking this, tweaking that and ending up back where they started as natural tendencies kick in.

It has been discussed at length on here whether the golf swing is natural or not. It seems natural but to swing in a textbook way at the start is completely unnatural to the vast majority of people who try it.

Usually when we learn something new we crawl before we try to walk. Yet we have people brand new to the game being taught this most complicated of movements.

Surely there are simpler swings that can be taught to get people starting off. Elements of stack and tilt come to mind. keeping the weight to the left would help a huge amount of people. 3/4 backswing length never getting near parallel etc.

At what stage should you learn to swing properly? 28, 18, 9 handicap or scratch?

I watch this video and ask myself, what is a proper golf swing? one that hits all the check points or one that hits the ball to its intended target?

[video=youtube;u3kh0bjlYX0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3kh0bjlYX0[/video]

 

[Fish]

At what stage should you learn to swing properly? 28, 18, 9 handicap or scratch?

I watch this video and ask myself, what is a proper golf swing? one that hits all the check points or one that hits the ball to its intended target?

After watching that, why are we so obsessed on attempting to "swing properly", if there is such a way? Like many in that video, if it goes where you want, and with some degree of consistency, stick, and work with that!

 

[Birchy]

Its all about where the ball goes.

 

[USER1999]

I think I'm eammon Darcy.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think we all know my swing is full of technical flaws. I could go down the Murph route but I am now in a position following the effort I put in over the winter of 2013 where the club path is bringing the face back in a decent manner on a regular basis and the quality of the strike is much improved. In short, I am hitting it ok DESPITE the flaws. Yes it could get better but I'm at that juncture where enough is enough on the longer swing and for me it's all about the short game where my problems are causing me scoring issues. Get that right and the handicap should tumble. After that I'll just take lessons once a quarter on the long swing to check everything is working (unless it goes to rat poo big time). Sometimes you just have to accept your limitations and leanr to play within them

 

[One Planer]

For me, lessons have helped.

My swing is more consistent and in a much better place, but that's not why I started lessons.

The reason I started to take lessons was to improve my scores. The only way I was going to do that was limit my bad shots.

Once I could limit my bad shots, I can work on a consistent 'miss' (... Not hitting a pull and only missing right as an example)

Once I can do that, I can work on making that miss less penal.

When I can do all of the above my score will improve as:

a) Know I will swing the club consistently

b) Know where my miss will be if I miss

c) Know that if I do miss, my miss won't be bad

... And finally, but most importantly

d) I'll have confidence in my swing.

I couldn't care less how my swing looks on camera, although admittedly since lessons it does look a hell of a lot better

I would rather have a functional, scoring swing than a pretty swing that wont get me past 30 points :thup:

 

[garyinderry]

nail on head there Gareth. know where your miss will be. anyone who has a funky swing but knows what side they are going to miss it on and can do it repeat ably will score quite well at this game if they can chip and putt.


it pains me to see people aiming straight and not knowing if the ball is going to shoot right or left. i would much rather they had some swing faults in there that gives them a reliable shot shape. it might not be technically correct, but they will score better and enjoy their golf more as a consequence.

nothing instils fear more in a golfer not knowing where the ball is going to end up. this equals death grips and jerky swings. if you a
have it in your mind that you always fade the ball or always draw it, you will be much more comfortable over the ball.