Lessons

[Rough and ready]

Thinking of biting the bullet and finally taking some lessons question is I'm playing to handicap or below fairly regularly atm , should I enjoy my golf this summer without all the swing / grip / stance changes and start the lessons more to the end of the year when I'll be more inclined to spend hours on the range working on the changes or just jump in now and hope it doesn't affect me golf too much ?

 

[Pin-seeker]

Maybe try having a lesson but tell the pro that you don't really want to take on any major changes at the minute.
It could just be a case of tweaking a couple of things.
The last lesson I had only had positive effects straight from the off.

 

[garyinderry]

Easy one this. Short game lesson.

If playing well leave your swing alone.

 

[Dan151]

Just go see a professional and see what they say. You might find they give you little tweaks that improve your game

 

[Rough and ready]

Thanks playing tomorrow so I'll speak to the pro at the club , short game is in great shape at the minute I'm really struggling off the tee whether it's driver / wood / hybrid or iron just can't seem to get a good connection hoping it's something simple like alignment like I said I don't want to really strip anything down and rebuild as I'm enjoying my golf

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I would speak to the pro, dependant on how many lessons you want. Maybe a single full swing lesson to get an MOT and after that focus on the short game. Talk to the pro and discuss what you are trying to achieve

 

[SocketRocket]

Most of the best Golfers I know have never taken a lesson and some of the worst have taken lots. I think its good for any golfer to understand the fundamentals of good ball striking and a good start would be to purchase and follow Ben Hogan's book 'Five Lessons, the modern fundamentals of Golf' I despair at the way most Pros teach, they never seem to explain the basic requirements to good ball striking.

 

[Sybez]

With any luck I'm having 2 hours with Mark Crossfield this week.... will be carnage I'm sure!

 

[stokie_93]

Most of the best Golfers I know have never taken a lesson and some of the worst have taken lots. I think its good for any golfer to understand the fundamentals of good ball striking and a good start would be to purchase and follow Ben Hogan's book 'Five Lessons, the modern fundamentals of Golf' I despair at the way most Pros teach, they never seem to explain the basic requirements to good ball striking.

i'm with you on this! I got down to 8 without having a single lesson! Had a few junior teaching days but never any direct lessons.

I took 5 years out and got back in to it again with no lessons and at the moment i'm playing to about 9/10 consistently.

I've seen great golfers and friends have really poor years because of lessons and swing changes that never stick anyway! Absurd amount of money too!

 

[bobmac]

I despair at the way most Pros teach, they never seem to explain the basic requirements to good ball striking.

A bit of a sweeping statement dont you think?

Absurd amount of money too!

How much does your plumber charge?

 

[stokie_93]

How much does your plumber charge?[/QUOTE]

you'd have to ask my parents as i'm not a home owner...

Although I think our next door neighbour does our plumbing :thup:

 

[Alex1975]

A bit of a sweeping statement dont you think?





How much does your plumber charge?

I despair of all teaching pros I have worked with. I have never had a pro who wanted to make my golf as a whole better, they just want to stand in their bay or sim and work on the swing. It is a very strange industry and while it is not for me to condemn, I do think it should be done better, with more care.

Tricky to liken it to a plumber as hes not getting paid until he had completed his job to the customers satisfaction.

However, every time someone has talked about your style bob, it seems you are someone who is looking at pupils whole games and working out where they will best improve.

 

[Curls]

However, every time someone has talked about your style bob, it seems you are someone who is looking at pupils whole games and working out where they will best improve

I can vouch for that personally.

OP how about a 9 hole "on the course" lesson for starters. The pro will see most aspects of your game and you'll figure out if they're someone you will like spending time with/respond to. This is important. If you think they aren't your sort of person then maybe they won't be the best fit for you. Agree with the comments about pros trying to change everything to a set way of teaching, but that's only some pros. Bob and Im sure there are others are cut from different cloth. Find em, there are some who will say they can improve themselves but I've only ever found real improvement from lessons with a good coach.

 

[lex!]

Without hesitation I recommend that you should bag yourself some lessons. Ask your mates at the club who they think is the best one for you. All the PGA pro's at my place are brilliant, and work really hard to help us improve. I enjoy my lesson time, and to hear him talk about the game, you might do too! There is loads to learn, how can you go wrong?

 

[AmandaJR]

I despair of all teaching pros I have worked with. I have never had a pro who wanted to make my golf as a whole better, they just want to stand in their bay or sim and work on the swing. It is a very strange industry and while it is not for me to condemn, I do think it should be done better, with more care.

Tricky to liken it to a plumber as hes not getting paid until he had completed his job to the customers satisfaction.

However, every time someone has talked about your style bob, it seems you are someone who is looking at pupils whole games and working out where they will best improve.

Crikey. Not sure if you've just been unlucky but I've never had a lesson with one who didn't actively want to make my game better. Some are better than others and have more experience and/or fit better with an individual but I'd say each one tried to help me improve and were genuinely interested in that process.

 

[Alex1975]

Crikey. Not sure if you've just been unlucky but I've never had a lesson with one who didn't actively want to make my game better. Some are better than others and have more experience and/or fit better with an individual but I'd say each one tried to help me improve and were genuinely interested in that process.

Ye maybe unlucky but I pretty much don't take lessons any more. I find that PGA pros are all burned out and lazy as per the above. How hard is it to take someone to the practice ground and see how they chip and putt and ask about how they score and just the simple stuff. All they seem to want to do is stand in a bay and teach the same lesson to anyone to will pay them. I just see a massive lack of passion.

I called a guy Ed a while back who gave me a really good putting lesson some time ago. I asked him about a lesson for some different type of shots from 50/60 yards. He could not book me in as his website booking system was down and being rebuilt but did not bother to take my details. Chatted on about packages and using the clock system and it was all going to be wonderful .... Close the deal buddy! make me feel like you want the business and have some interest in actually doing it.

 

[AmandaJR]

That is in direct contrast to my recent lessons/experience! My coach sent me off with a yardage chart so I can work on full swing and 9 o'clock swing yardages between now and next lesson. At that we'll see where we need to go in terms of fine tuning - he's not over keen on the full clock method which suits me (Dave Pelz booked just removed feel for me).

At my new course I'm struggling with the slopes as I'm used to flatter than flat! Booked an hour on course with the teaching pro there. He was keen and enthused to get a lesson booked in and we flitted around in a buggy finding the most awkward of the four lies (uphill, downhill, above feet, below feet). He then followed the lesson up with an email of notes regarding technique on all four which was very personalised to why I struggle rather than a copy/paste of some resource or another. He also uploaded my swing and said advice to "Edulfi" (I think it's called) and has since sent a couple of messages to see how things are going.

 

[lex!]

Not like my lessons/experience either. Some people are so unlucky in life.

I have previously had lessons on the putting green, in a bunker, on the chipping area, pitching to tyres marked out at 10 yard intervals to 100 yards out, on the course, and on a tee box when I was struggling with the driver.
My last lesson was out on a bit of grass working on iron strikes and using the bounce through the turf, whilst having a video taken and later sent to me on hudl.

 

[Alex1975]

That is in direct contrast to my recent lessons/experience! My coach sent me off with a yardage chart so I can work on full swing and 9 o'clock swing yardages between now and next lesson. At that we'll see where we need to go in terms of fine tuning - he's not over keen on the full clock method which suits me (Dave Pelz booked just removed feel for me).

At my new course I'm struggling with the slopes as I'm used to flatter than flat! Booked an hour on course with the teaching pro there. He was keen and enthused to get a lesson booked in and we flitted around in a buggy finding the most awkward of the four lies (uphill, downhill, above feet, below feet). He then followed the lesson up with an email of notes regarding technique on all four which was very personalised to why I struggle rather than a copy/paste of some resource or another. He also uploaded my swing and said advice to "Edulfi" (I think it's called) and has since sent a couple of messages to see how things are going.

Sounds ideal!!! As it should be done!

 

[Rough and ready]

Spoke to the young pro at my club who I get on really well with took me out for half an hour before my round turns out I was sitting the ball to far forward in my stance off the tee , drove it well all round after that so money well spent hopefully . He actually said I have a pretty good swing but need some tweaking decided together to let me enjoy my golf this summer and start some real work in lessons in the autum thanks for the advice everyone .