Lessons - Do's and Dont's

TheCaddie

TheCaddie

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Hi All,

Been playing since May and have finally invested lessons.

I am hovering around the 100-110 mark now and want to get to sub 100 as quickly as possible. With consistency.

I've never had lessons before and wanted to see what advice you all had for getting the most out of them. I'm a newbie yes, but would find it hard to be told absolutely everything as if I've never played before. They ain't cheap!

I got 12 x 30 minute slots for the price of 8.

Advice, help and tips greatly appreciated!
 
TheCaddie said:
Hi All,

Been playing since May and have finally invested lessons.

I am hovering around the 100-110 mark now and want to get to sub 100 as quickly as possible. With consistency.

I've never had lessons before and wanted to see what advice you all had for getting the most out of them. I'm a newbie yes, but would find it hard to be told absolutely everything as if I've never played before. They ain't cheap!

I got 12 x 30 minute slots for the price of 8.

Advice, help and tips greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Do whatever the pro tells you and question anything you don't understand until you do.

Apart from that, enjoy it, usually a very rewarding experience.
 
TheCaddie said:
Hi All,

Been playing since May and have finally invested lessons.

I am hovering around the 100-110 mark now and want to get to sub 100 as quickly as possible. With consistency.

I've never had lessons before and wanted to see what advice you all had for getting the most out of them. I'm a newbie yes, but would find it hard to be told absolutely everything as if I've never played before. They ain't cheap!

I got 12 x 30 minute slots for the price of 8.

Advice, help and tips greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Be prepared for the pro to tell you that you're doing everything wrong.
It could happen.
Remember he/she's trying to help.
 
Me to. Been playing since July and was bought a voucher for christmas so am going to it for lessons (finally) can't wait to get started and have some structure for my practise and game. Go under a 100 for the first time, join my first club March/April time and get my first ever handicap (first target) :)
 
Farneyman said:
Be prepared to hit some balls in the weeks after the lessons to make sure to work on what the pro tells you. No point in having a lesson and not working on it.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I'd also space the lessons out to once every few weeks and practise what you have been taught a couple of times each week before the next lesson .
 
Bert said:
Me to. Been playing since July and was bought a voucher for christmas so am going to it for lessons (finally) can't wait to get started and have some structure for my practise and game. Go under a 100 for the first time, join my first club March/April time and get my first ever handicap (first target) :)
Click to expand...

Sounds similar to me! Where are you playing your golf at the moment?
 
Junior said:
I agree with this. I'd also space the lessons out to once every few weeks and practise what you have been taught a couple of times each week before the next lesson .
Click to expand...

I have 12 x 30 min lessons. Would you recommend I try making this 6 x 1hr lessons with a week gap between each?
 
Lessons a half hour long every 3-4 weeks

Practice what you have been taught continuously, don't expect miracles quickly but if you are hitting balls every second day and you do what you've been told you will see a change within 3 or 4 range sessions and if not id bring your next lesson forward to make sure you are doing what the pro is telling you.

If you don't practice regularly what you are being told in lessons and i mean range time not course time then you would be better giving me your money

its a long slog, best of luck.
 
Farneyman said:
Be prepared to hit some balls in the weeks after the lessons to make sure to work on what the pro tells you. No point in having a lesson and not working on it.
Click to expand...


^^^^^ This

I know several people who thought lessons where the magic key to unlocking their game but refused to practice what they had been taught.
One guy was made redundant with full pay plus half his redundancy pay up front with around 4 months before his final date. Spent most days up at the club with a lesson every week but never practiced what he had been taught. In the end his handicap didn't change, in fact it went up, with him blaming the pro for "not teaching him right!
I think it's generally thought that it takes 10,000 repeats of the same thing to make it permanent.
As I have been told practice makes permanent, not perfect. If you practice it wrong it will always be wrong until you change it.
 
Half hour every 2-3wks is plenty as long as you put the hours in in between. Too many golfers slag off coaches because the hour they spent didn't fix all their troubles instantly. Improvement in golf takes repetition.

Also, to make breaking 100 very simple make sure some of those lessons are putting and chipping
 
TheCaddie said:
Maaaaybe! :-)
Click to expand...

I've just had a course of lessons there although mine were an hour long. Ask for some of your lessons to be in the "performance bay". The video technology really helped me with my plane and the pressure plates with my weight distribution through the swing. Also the pro got me to play a game with the trackman to try to hit the ball a random distance each time which really helped me with my chipping and pitching.

Would agree with practicing between lessons to groove things as a general principle... What I found however was that if there was something I was struggling with during the lesson, if I wasn't "on top of it" by the end of the lesson, practicing just meant that I reverted to my old way without the pro there to correct me. On the other hand if I had already got comfortable with something by the end of the lesson then when I practiced between them I did groove the changes. But then I'm not the most co-ordinated person so it does take me a looooonnnnng time to pick things like this up and I don't really have that "physical awareness" of my body and the swing (as a new starter to golf) to realise that I was reverting to my old style during practice. If you are more aware of your swing (which given you've already been playing for a while I would expect you are) you can probably pick things up during the lesson and if you find yourself going to the old way during practice, notice and correct it.

Also be aware that with the lessons at New Malden you have to use them within a few months of booking. Normally it is six months although on the poster I saw at the range it said that for the 12 for 8 offer it was three! I once phoned and asked and the lady on the phone said it was still six months although I think their computer may not have actually let them book any lessons onto their system past three months if they had tried because I ended up using mine up in three months as I had weekly lessons. Even if it is six months you certainly wouldn't be able to have more than two or three weeks between lessons to fit them all in. Probably worth giving them a call to see what they say and to get a "stop date" because you don't want to use half and find the rest have expired!
 
the_exile said:
I've just had a course of lessons there although mine were an hour long. Ask for some of your lessons to be in the "performance bay". The video technology really helped me with my plane and the pressure plates with my weight distribution through the swing. Also the pro got me to play a game with the trackman to try to hit the ball a random distance each time which really helped me with my chipping and pitching.

Would agree with practicing between lessons to groove things as a general principle... What I found however was that if there was something I was struggling with during the lesson, if I wasn't "on top of it" by the end of the lesson, practicing just meant that I reverted to my old way without the pro there to correct me. On the other hand if I had already got comfortable with something by the end of the lesson then when I practiced between them I did groove the changes. But then I'm not the most co-ordinated person so it does take me a looooonnnnng time to pick things like this up and I don't really have that "physical awareness" of my body and the swing (as a new starter to golf) to realise that I was reverting to my old style during practice. If you are more aware of your swing (which given you've already been playing for a while I would expect you are) you can probably pick things up during the lesson and if you find yourself going to the old way during practice, notice and correct it.

Also be aware that with the lessons at New Malden you have to use them within a few months of booking. Normally it is six months although on the poster I saw at the range it said that for the 12 for 8 offer it was three! I once phoned and asked and the lady on the phone said it was still six months although I think their computer may not have actually let them book any lessons onto their system past three months if they had tried because I ended up using mine up in three months as I had weekly lessons. Even if it is six months you certainly wouldn't be able to have more than two or three weeks between lessons to fit them all in. Probably worth giving them a call to see what they say and to get a "stop date" because you don't want to use half and find the rest have expired!
Click to expand...

OK, great. I am sure they will be worth the investment on time... Starting to plateau a little bit, I know what I need to do, but don't know how.

As for putting and chipping, they are actually some of my better skills. I will typically two-putt almost every hole. Tee shots and my second / third iron shot off the deck is where I really struggle.... All that being said, I am not delusional to the fact there is a lonnnnng way to go in all facets of my game.
 
Off the tee and second/third shot (off the floor/fatting or any real distance) is my main issue but same as you I am not stupid enough to know it is not going to happen overnight.
 
Bert said:
Off the tee and second/third shot (off the floor/fatting or any real distance) is my main issue but same as you I am not stupid enough to know it is not going to happen overnight.
Click to expand...

Good to hear I am not alone!! Hopefully next 3 months (or so) worth of lessons will result in a good summer of golf for me... we'll see....
 
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