Lesson Confusion

[Prodavid116]

So been having lessons for a while which were good and got me to a good standard of hitting the golf ball anyway been playing the course a lot now probably 4 times a week and Range only once a week any last week lesson went great and so did the course in patches and then today i went onto the course and was doing okay hitting irons etc... and then went to my lesson after and i just couldn't hit anything because we started going through it properly again setting the wrists etc.... and i thought to myself ive been doing okay on the course and learnt to play in those conditions should i just stop lessons and continue in my own way , as it starts making me think of a lot and thats no good, or should i continue with lessons and go to the range more as well

 

[SammmeBee]

Just go play golf.......

 

[RichA]

I'm not a good golfer, but I've played on and off for thirty years. I had lessons last year for the first time.
The first couple of lessons were useful to sort out my posture and I'm not ruling out the odd lesson in future, if I fancy it.
I think I would spend less time and money having lessons and at the range and more time just playing golf and focusing on enjoying it.
Unless you have serious aspirations to be a pro, enjoy what you've got - it's what the handicap system is for. I've improved most by just playing and thinking about what I'm doing a bit more.

 

[Boomy]

If you plan to keep playing for a long time, then stick with the lessons as it’ll set you up for the long term, and build the base for you to be a better player with a more consistent game. I’d try to balance some range time to work on your drills/technique and on the course time to learn course management skills and develop your feel on and around the greens - balance both.

 

[bobmac]

The danger is trying to fix everything too quickly and ending up with 25 swing thoughts.
Have a break with the lessons and let what you've learned so far soak in.

Then maybe October time, have another one or two to give you something to work on over the winter.

 

[Boomy]

The danger is trying to fix everything too quickly and ending up with 25 swing thoughts.
Have a break with the lessons and let what you've learned so far soak in.

Then maybe October time, have another one or two to give you something to work on over the winter.

That in my humble opinion is really bad advice. The coach will be managing the amount of swing thoughts and training drills to build up the swing. Stopping now will almost certainly result in bad habits forming to compensate incorrect swing paths etc and groove them in, making them much harder to correct at a later point. Balance lessons, drills/practice at the range, with going out for games - drill at the range, play on the course. As a British Triathlon qualified coach we see the best results with athletes who follow coaching from the start, balancing the learning side with the going out and doing. Swimming is technical like a golf swing and trying to improve someone who has grooved in their own technique is much, much harder than someone who established good basics from the start.

 

[RichA]

That in my humble opinion is really bad advice. The coach will be managing the amount of swing thoughts and training drills to build up the swing. Stopping now will almost certainly result in bad habits forming to compensate incorrect swing paths etc and groove them in, making them much harder to correct at a later point. Balance lessons, drills/practice at the range, with going out for games - drill at the range, play on the course. As a British Triathlon qualified coach we see the best results with athletes who follow coaching from the start, balancing the learning side with the going out and doing. Swimming is technical like a golf swing and trying to improve someone who has grooved in their own technique is much, much harder than someone who established good basics from the start.

But is he trying to "make the first team" or just enjoy golf for recreation. Too many lessons can mess with your head. If it's purely for recreation, you really have to start out with realistic goals - in any hobby or sport.

 

[Boomy]

But is he trying to "make the first team" or just enjoy golf for recreation. Too many lessons can mess with your head. If it's purely for recreation, you really have to start out with realistic goals - in any hobby or sport.

Your first post was full of examples why he should continue with lessons to be honest.

Your opening gambit was that you aren’t a very good golfer and have played for 30 years on and off - maybe if you’d had lessons at the beginning you could have grooved in the fundamentals to be more consistent and still play better now. You said you’ve now had lessons and they were useful - if you’d done that at the start they’d of been even more useful - it’s quite simple really, practice makes permanent, not perfect! Get guidance on the fundamentals from the start, groove them in and enjoy better golf for longer. As for your comment about only needing lessons if you have aspirations of becoming a pro, that is utter nonsense - you can aspire to be the best you can be, and enjoy the golf even more by not hacking it around a course (with no thoughts of becoming a pro) It would appear the OP is a young lad who has a lot of golfing years ahead, so why not start by doing it right (rather than trying to get help after 30 years)

A good coach will not overpower you with swing thoughts that mess with your head - a good coach will work on your swing and give drills to do at the range, then encourage you to just play when you’re on the course. It’s about balance as I’ve already highlighted - range time for swing thoughts, and just play out on the course. Going out on the course all the time with swing thoughts instead of doing the drills at the range won’t help at all.

If you’re building a house you don’t put the roof on first then start working back towards the foundations - you start at the bottom and build up from good foundations.

 

[bobmac]

That in my humble opinion is really bad advice. The coach will be managing the amount of swing thoughts and training drills to build up the swing.

A good coach will not overpower you with swing thoughts that mess with your head

Maybe he's not a good coach as the OP has already said ''as it starts making me think of a lot and thats no good''

I'd rather the golfer has good solid basics before introducing more swing thoughts like 'setting the wrists'.

 

[RichA]

Your first post was full of examples why he should continue with lessons to be honest.

Your opening gambit was that you aren’t a very good golfer and have played for 30 years on and off - maybe if you’d had lessons at the beginning you could have grooved in the fundamentals to be more consistent and still play better now. You said you’ve now had lessons and they were useful - if you’d done that at the start they’d of been even more useful - it’s quite simple really, practice makes permanent, not perfect! Get guidance on the fundamentals from the start, groove them in and enjoy better golf for longer. As for your comment about only needing lessons if you have aspirations of becoming a pro, that is utter nonsense - you can aspire to be the best you can be, and enjoy the golf even more by not hacking it around a course (with no thoughts of becoming a pro) It would appear the OP is a young lad who has a lot of golfing years ahead, so why not start by doing it right (rather than trying to get help after 30 years)

A good coach will not overpower you with swing thoughts that mess with your head - a good coach will work on your swing and give drills to do at the range, then encourage you to just play when you’re on the course. It’s about balance as I’ve already highlighted - range time for swing thoughts, and just play out on the course. Going out on the course all the time with swing thoughts instead of doing the drills at the range won’t help at all.

If you’re building a house you don’t put the roof on first then start working back towards the foundations - you start at the bottom and build up from good foundations.

I wasn't seeking an argument. If you're building a house yourself, you're an idiot. Leave professional work to the pros, learn your limitations and enjoy your hobby.

 

[harpo_72]

Depends what the OP wants ... play for fun or play for money.
I would follow Bob, irrespective of the teacher I have found my head to be quite creative with new swing thoughts .. most are cobblers.
I will admit I enjoy the game when I shoot good scores and the ball drops and comes back on the greens and the driver is dropped on the intended target. Not bothered about fancy chips/sand saves /escapes .. as they are all a result of a bad shot.

 

[Boomy]

Maybe he's not a good coach as the OP has already said ''as it starts making me think of a lot and thats no good''

I'd rather the golfer has good solid basics before introducing more swing thoughts like 'setting the wrists'.

I’d rather the golfer has good solid basics as well - hence lessons rather than nothing at all through summer and thus grooving in bad swing basics. That’s kind of my point.

If the coach is giving too much info then the OP could ask the coach to keep it clearer with less swing thoughts to work on. Setting the wrists is part of the basic build.

 

[Boomy]

I wasn't seeking an argument. If you're building a house yourself, you're an idiot. Leave professional work to the pros, learn your limitations and enjoy your hobby.

I wasn’t seeking or wanting an argument either. I just struggle to skip passed bad advice (bad advice in my humble opinion)

But again you’ve answered your own question - building a house or a golf swing - use a professional who will build from the base up and you’ll reap the rewards after (a strong house or strong swing)

 

[Boomy]

Depends what the OP wants ... play for fun or play for money.
I would follow Bob, irrespective of the teacher I have found my head to be quite creative with new swing thoughts .. most are cobblers.
I will admit I enjoy the game when I shoot good scores and the ball drops and comes back on the greens and the driver is dropped on the intended target. Not bothered about fancy chips/sand saves /escapes .. as they are all a result of a bad shot.

Nope, you don’t have to play for money to want to be a good golfer - you can aspire to be good to play for fun. As I said previously if the OP sees playing golf as a long term thing then do it properly, if it’s a passing fad or a once a year for a laugh kinda thing then just go out and hack it around.

 

[bobmac]

Whatever.
I'm done.

 

[jim8flog]

Good lessons, learnt well last a life time.

I have only ever known one self taught golfer to be a really good one (low single figure).

I have seen many a golfer who has clearly never had a lesson who will never be a good golfer.

 

[RichA]

I wasn’t seeking or wanting an argument either. I just struggle to skip passed bad advice (bad advice in my humble opinion)

But again you’ve answered your own question - building a house or a golf swing - use a professional who will build from the base up and you’ll reap the rewards after (a strong house or strong swing)

House building isn't a hobby. Golf, for 99.9% of us is. The OP sounded to me like he needed to concentrate on balancing improvement with enjoyment. Yes I'm a bad golfer, but I have experience in taking hobbies more seriously than my talent should have allowed. Age brings different perspectives. Not necessarily correct, but different.
And I haven't suggested never having lessons again, just considering taking a break.

 

[Boomy]

House building isn't a hobby. Golf, for 99.9% of us is. The OP sounded to me like he needed to concentrate on balancing improvement with enjoyment. Yes I'm a bad golfer, but I have experience in taking hobbies more seriously than my talent should have allowed. Age brings different perspectives. Not necessarily correct, but different.
And I haven't suggested never having lessons again, just considering taking a break.

As I put much further up the thread - it’s about balancing the lesson/range time with the getting out on the course time. That way you can get better and enjoy it even more!

 

[r0wly86]

have you set out with the pro what you want to do.

a lot of pros will get people in sporadically because they have a problem that needs fixing, then have a lesson or two and stop. So pros have to try and fix something with very little time.

If you explain what your goal is and commit to a longer period of time then the pro should be able to allot the time and sessions better to get you to improve.

This is what I did, I used to go see a pro if something was going wrong, but then I bought 10 lessons and talked through what I wanted and by the tenth session I had got there because the pro had the time to plan the sessions and build me up to where I wanted to go

 

[Boomy]

Good lessons, learnt well last a life time.

I have only ever known one self taught golfer to be a really good one (low single figure).

I have seen many a golfer who has clearly never had a lesson who will never be a good golfer.

Exactly right ️️️️️