Length of Lessons?

[ADB]

Is 1/2 hour too short or 1hr too long?

I know this is a personal thing, but I just wanted to get a view from fellow forumers about how you take lessons.

Having never had a golf lesson before and really not being sure of the format these generally take, I have two options given my budget. Firstly, 6x30 min lessons at a local range or 2 x 1hr lessons at the local course with a GM top 25 coach.

Just thinking that although I get more time coaching in the 30 min lessons, how much can you learn in that time? Is a longer one hour session better to soak up the advice in the experience of others?

Also, I don't really want to become reliant on lessons as I would much rather be out on the course. I guess you could specify that you want to learn things to help general play rather than starting a huge swing reconstruction.

Appreciate any views.

 

[bobmac]

Is 1/2 hour too short or 1hr too long?

Both, which is why I also offer 45 min lessons

As far as the format
The lesson should start with questions
eg
Handicap
any physical problems
how often do you practice
strengths/weaknesses
ambitions

You basically tell the pro what area of your game you want to work on.
Then the pro watches you hit balls, then comes the explanation of your problem followed by drills to fix it.
Lastly should be any questions

The 6 lesson package is good however as it should focus on one thing at a time.
This is how I do it.
Lesson 1 Putting
2 chipping
3 pitching
4 bunkers
5 irons
6 tee shots

If however you're happy with most of your game and you just need a tweak, ask your pro for a 45 min lesson and take it from there.

 

[ADB]

[/QUOTE]Both, which is why I also offer 45 min lessons

[/QUOTE]

Typical

I am happy with my short game and used to be off single figures (thanks to the short game) but have been really struggling off the tee and my iron play is very inconsistent - that is what I want to work on.

If there are only a couple of key fundamentals to work on rather than a full game overview, I am thinking longer lessons may be the answer.

 

[bobmac]

Both, which is why I also offer 45 min lessons

[/QUOTE]

Typical

I am happy with my short game and used to be off single figures (thanks to the short game) but have been really struggling off the tee and my iron play is very inconsistent - that is what I want to work on.

If there are only a couple of key fundamentals to work on rather than a full game overview, I am thinking longer lessons may be the answer.

[/QUOTE]

Have you got a video of your swing you could post here or send me?

 

[viscount17]

sounds a bit inflexible (not you Bob), a lot of pros seem more willing to mix and match.

 

[MVP]

I think an hour is too long, depends on ur level tho. If u have one or two things that u need to work on the pro will tell u what u need to work on then u go and do it unless it takes an hour to tell u what ur doing wrong and what u need to do then half hour is fine!

Depends how quickly u pick things up. Ive got a half decent understanding about my own swing an when its bad im normally making the same mistakes/old habits so its an easier fix.

 

[chrisd]

I always go for an hour lesson. Nothing is too rushed. I do all the things that Bob said but I like to get only one or two things to concentrate on and usually will only have a lesson when I am playing well so that its for improvement and not fault fixing

Good luck




Chris

 

[ScienceBoy]

I prefer 30 minute lessons. An hour is too long.

I usually only remember one or two things to work on after about 2 weeks after the lesson.

 

[Robobum]

Not sure whether any pros offer it but I'd want to have a lesson of 15mins. If I'm only working on one thing, once we have got the basics covered I don't really want the pro charging me for another 15 - 30 mins to stand there watching me hit balls.

 

[Jaymosafehands]

I prefer 30 minute lessons. An hour is too long.

I usually only remember one or two things to work on after about 2 weeks after the lesson. [/quote

I agree completely. The pro I see sends an email at the end of each lesson with a video (rear and side) and a note of what you've discussed, what drills to work on and what to try and embed. I find these invaluable.

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

Just thinking that although I get more time coaching in the 30 min lessons, how much can you learn in that time?

It seems to me that lessons exist to inform rather than internalise a skill/'learn'. I go to lessons with my eyes and ears open, ready to hoover up every little nuance of my pros observations and advice. I then take this away and attempt to shape my many hours of practice accordingly over the succeeding weeks.

The first thing I do following a lesson is sit in my car and write down/sketch everything that I think the pro has just told me; these notes form the study guide that I review as a I prepare for every practice session.

When I am World Champion I will sell my notes for millions. Probably.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I prefer 30 minute lessons. An hour is too long.

I usually only remember one or two things to work on after about 2 weeks after the lesson.

I agree completely. The pro I see sends an email at the end of each lesson with a video (rear and side) and a note of what you've discussed, what drills to work on and what to try and embed. I find these invaluable.

I should really get my pro to email me the vids from my last lesson. When he said he was going to show me the video I thought I was going to see a stick insect being born with 5 extra limbs but actually there was a lot of things I was doing well, some even better than most. There was only a few small things needing improvement and I think I am on the way to sorting those out now!

Roll on the next lesson!

 

[stevek1969]

I've had 4 out of the 5 i booked all are 45minutes long basically have worked on swing path i tended to come round myself rather than straight out and thru,weight transfer and alignment all which are working well,i'm going to get another 5 to work on my short game and putting .

 

[ColinR]

I do 1 hour lessons.

The general format is, 15 minutes in doors with the video cameras on ( back and side ). This allows you to actually see you swing and what the pro is trying to tell you. He will often play my swing side by side with a pro on the pc, he normally uses Luke Donald. when shown side by side in slow motion it really shows you where you need to improve, for example when you start your hip turn or the right elbow is out to much etc etc

Once we have done this and have a couple of fixes in mind, its out to the range to practice. Sometimes we get finish this inside 30 minutes, sometimes it takes 45 minutes. If time allows we then have 15 minutes for a few putts, chips, bunker shots etc etc.

Time well spent.

 

[ADB]

Thanks for all the responses so far, my gut feeling reading people's ecxperiences is to take a 30 minute lesson and see whether I am getting what I want out of the experience before committing to a course of lessons. Also, after 30 minutes have I reached meltdown or ready to take more advice?

What is coming across strongly is that the use of a video camera to record and replay your swing is important and I should make sure this is on offer.

 

[Jaymosafehands]

I've found with the videos I can actually see progress. Not really seen how it will work on the course as I started when the clocks changed so I could get my fix. Summer will be interesting!

 

[JustOne]

Best thing you can ever do is get your swing on camera from the front and down-the-line. It'll let you see what your swing really looks like and you can easily compare it to the pros by freeze framing it and then watching some decent swings on Youtube and freeze framing those too.

 

[feary]

I have 30 minute lessons and my pro has the v1 swing analysis on his iphone. So he watches me hit balls, records my swing. He then shows me what i'm doing wrong, then shows me how to correct then. Then gives me a few drills. It sometimes runs over, but personally an hour would be too long.

 

[Robobum]

Best thing you can ever do is get your swing .......

Or the worst, depends which way you look at it!!!

When I looked at mine on video it was a miracle it went forward at all!!!

 

[idTommo]

30 min lessons for me, i find enough to concentrate on for a few weeks afterwards to drill the info into my head, also i get bored really quickly on the range anyway.