That’s it, I’m getting lessons!

[timd77]

I’m a self critic, try to analyse my swing myself, watch YouTube videos, try different things. Some work for a bit, some don’t. I tinker with lofts, tee height, ball position, open/closed stance and often it’ll start working, and then I’ll lose it. But after a terrible round today and weeks of inconsistent driving, I’m biting the bullet and getting lessons.

I can drive great 1 round, terrible the next. My bad shot can be a low whippy slice, a duck hook or skying it. There’s just no consistency in there for me to work with so I need help.

Never had lessons before, do I ask for help with driving or just my swing in general? I hit my irons pretty well (more often than not anyway) but I’m guessing it’s all linked somehow.

Anyway, big of a rant, may even delete this in the morning! ?

 

[SteveW86]

All the lessons I have had have started off with a look at a standard iron swing then as that develops looking at other areas.

Though im sure you can discuss what you want to work on with a coach and they will help you as much as they can

 

[TreeSeeker]

Two things which stick in my mind from lessons are that the changes take ages to work in, and disappear real fast if you stop paying attention, and that a change to any part of the swing (general swing) seems to change everything else so its a whole new fun experience.

hope they work for you, i'm holding off on more until things reach a bit more of normality...

 

[Bunkermagnet]

The swing is the same for all your clubs. Every pro or coach I have had has said exactly that.

 

[bobmac]

The first thing the pro should say is ''how can I help?''
If you tell him/her what you've told us, he/she will have a pretty good idea what the problem is and take it from there.
One thing I will say....if you're not sure of something.....ask.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Find a pro that won’t try and totally rebuild your swing, that takes an awful lot of practice time to install.

There are probably a couple of tweaks that need looking at.

Once the basics have been covered, stance, posture, grip, alignment, they can look at other bits like swing path, weight transfer, to get more consistency.

My downfall is an over swing causing chicken wing in my left arm resulting in casting. Work in progress

 

[IanM]

You don't mention how long you've been playing or handicap level.

But based on what you've said about being analytical, the pro should help you understand your swing better. Then you will be able to improve.

Will just playing better might do it for you unless you know "why? " ?

 

[timd77]

Thanks for the replies, all sounds sensible. The chap I’m looking to have lessons with has been recommended, and apparently tries to work with what you’ve got, which is what appeals. I don’t have the dedication to spend hours grooving in a new swing and so I’m hoping it’s nothing too complex! I can hit the ball so it’s in there somewhere!

I started playing when I was at school, but only very occasionally until last year when I joined a club and now play once or twice a week. Hcp is 20. I don’t have ambitions to get down to single figures, I’d just like to be able to get round the course in under 90 comfortably most times. Short game is pretty decent, but unfortunately I’m too often trying to use that to scramble an up and down for a bogey instead of birdie or par... generally down to a poor drive which either leaves me chipping out or way out of reach of the green.

If it works I’ll gladly accept it without having to know the ‘why’! The fewer thoughts the better!

 

[jmf1488]

Thanks for the replies, all sounds sensible. The chap I’m looking to have lessons with has been recommended, and apparently tries to work with what you’ve got, which is what appeals. I don’t have the dedication to spend hours grooving in a new swing and so I’m hoping it’s nothing too complex! I can hit the ball so it’s in there somewhere!

I started playing when I was at school, but only very occasionally until last year when I joined a club and now play once or twice a week. Hcp is 20. I don’t have ambitions to get down to single figures, I’d just like to be able to get round the course in under 90 comfortably most times. Short game is pretty decent, but unfortunately I’m too often trying to use that to scramble an up and down for a bogey instead of birdie or par... generally down to a poor drive which either leaves me chipping out or way out of reach of the green.

If it works I’ll gladly accept it without having to know the ‘why’! The fewer thoughts the better!

It triggers me when people look for a coach that works with what they have got. You have a low whippy slice, a duck hook and you sky it. You don't want that worked with. You need to forget most of the things you have self taught youself and go in there prepared to start again. If you want to improve you got to be prepared for the new swing to feel weird, restrictive, youll probably lack a lot of confidence that you can swing this way because it will be so alien to you. You just got to suck it up and fight through.

My first 3 coaches changed most things with me. I would get 5 lessons hit the ball well then stop and slip into old ways and get a new coach and repeat the process. I don't this 3 times. Each time my handicap came down. My current coach though because my I have seen so many coaches before and have a textbookish type swing when I got my current coach it was just a case of him putting me back on line. For example my swing got a bit to long on the back swing, grip went a bit week and I found myself flipping at the ball. My coach fixed that with stronger grip and a drill to stop the club at the top of the back swing and it was fixed.

Working with what you have got is good if you have a swing and your just offline a touch. Prepare yourself for change if you want to get better.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Find a pro that won’t try and totally rebuild your swing, that takes an awful lot of practice time to install.

There are probably a couple of tweaks that need looking at.

Once the basics have been covered, stance, posture, grip, alignment, they can look at other bits like swing path, weight transfer, to get more consistency.

My downfall is an over swing causing chicken wing in my left arm resulting in casting. Work in progress

Hi Phil - I had an issue with overswinging that I could not crack, the feeling that fixed it for me was feeling like I did not cock my wrists at all (think early dechambeau). Feel free to disregard this of course, but I thought I'd share something that had worked for me! It was such a strange feeling, but the results were undeniable.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I’m a self critic, try to analyse my swing myself, watch YouTube videos, try different things. Some work for a bit, some don’t. I tinker with lofts, tee height, ball position, open/closed stance and often it’ll start working, and then I’ll lose it. But after a terrible round today and weeks of inconsistent driving, I’m biting the bullet and getting lessons.

I can drive great 1 round, terrible the next. My bad shot can be a low whippy slice, a duck hook or skying it. There’s just no consistency in there for me to work with so I need help.

Never had lessons before, do I ask for help with driving or just my swing in general? I hit my irons pretty well (more often than not anyway) but I’m guessing it’s all linked somehow.

Anyway, big of a rant, may even delete this in the morning! ?

I think a combo of lessons and looking at online stuff is a good option. My approach is to have a lesson and understand the fault that I need to address, and then watch videos from a select group of online coaches that I like on that specific point.

My logic is that everyone learns in a different way and listening to an explanation of the same thing from lots of different people helps find the feeling that works for me.

The in person lesson is key though, because that's what gives me the direction I need to avoid endlessly tinkering with lots of different things.

Good luck!

 

[bobmac]

I don’t have the dedication to spend hours grooving in a new swing and so I’m hoping it’s nothing too complex!

Please please make sure you tell the pro that first off, that will help.
Just out of interest, do you occasionally take divots with your driver?

 

[Orikoru]

It triggers me when people look for a coach that works with what they have got. You have a low whippy slice, a duck hook and you sky it. You don't want that worked with. You need to forget most of the things you have self taught youself and go in there prepared to start again. If you want to improve you got to be prepared for the new swing to feel weird, restrictive, youll probably lack a lot of confidence that you can swing this way because it will be so alien to you. You just got to suck it up and fight through.

My first 3 coaches changed most things with me. I would get 5 lessons hit the ball well then stop and slip into old ways and get a new coach and repeat the process. I don't this 3 times. Each time my handicap came down. My current coach though because my I have seen so many coaches before and have a textbookish type swing when I got my current coach it was just a case of him putting me back on line. For example my swing got a bit to long on the back swing, grip went a bit week and I found myself flipping at the ball. My coach fixed that with stronger grip and a drill to stop the club at the top of the back swing and it was fixed.

Working with what you have got is good if you have a swing and your just offline a touch. Prepare yourself for change if you want to get better.

Some people actually want the game to be fun, not hard work. I can't imagine anything more likely to completely ruin golf for me as an activity than what you described there. If I ever decided to get a lesson I would want what OP wanted, a small change I can work on in my own time, nothing wholesale changes that turn it into a part-time job.

 

[jmf1488]

Some people actually want the game to be fun, not hard work. I can't imagine anything more likely to completely ruin golf for me as an activity than what you described there. If I ever decided to get a lesson I would want what OP wanted, a small change I can work on in my own time, nothing wholesale changes that turn it into a part-time job.

Horses for courses mate. If your happy at what your doing you go for it. It just triggers me when people say they want to change their results but don't want to change what they are doing.

 

[Orikoru]

Horses for courses mate. If your happy at what your doing you go for it. It just triggers me when people say they want to change their results but don't want to change what they are doing.

I don't think he wants no changes at all otherwise what would be the point of paying for a lesson? It's just minor vs wholesale changes, and is dependant on how much time and willingness people have to practise.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I don't think he wants no changes at all otherwise what would be the point of paying for a lesson? It's just minor vs wholesale changes, and is dependant on how much time and willingness people have to practise.

Absolutely, and expectations as to what degree of improvement that can be achieved should be proportionate to time/willingness to practice. Lessons aren't a silver bullet in themselves.

I think a lesson that tweaks what you've already got can yield improvement, there's no doubt about it. As you say, depends what you're after.

 

[ScienceBoy]

One persons minor change is another’s complete swing overhaul.

Set out at the beginning how many lessons and the goal. If you can fit in a playing lesson at the end, they are usually very expensive but have alwasys proven their worth to me. It is always nice to birdie a hole when your pro makes par too!

 

[Swinglowandslow]

What sticks out is that you say your irons are ok, but it's the driver causing problems.
A driver swing is different from an iron swing in some respects.
The position of the ball at setup.
In the stance for the driver, you need to have it so that the sternum is at the right angle to promote hitting the ball on the upswing..
If your irons are ok, then keep what you are doing there.
Ensure you let the pro know that, and that your main problem is the driver and that's what you want fixed in the first instance.
Of course, the pro may see a situation where his advice will help all of your game.
Best of luck

 

[timd77]

Please please make sure you tell the pro that first off, that will help.
Just out of interest, do you occasionally take divots with your driver?

When I sky it (the rarest of my bad drives by the way, maybe 1 in 10 of the bad ones), I’ll often have taken a divot. I’m drawing my own conclusion there that I’m somehow hitting down on the ball, even though in my mind I’ve set up my posture and ball position for that to be scientifically impossible! ?

 

[timd77]

It triggers me when people look for a coach that works with what they have got. You have a low whippy slice, a duck hook and you sky it. You don't want that worked with. You need to forget most of the things you have self taught youself and go in there prepared to start again. If you want to improve you got to be prepared for the new swing to feel weird, restrictive, youll probably lack a lot of confidence that you can swing this way because it will be so alien to you. You just got to suck it up and fight through.

My first 3 coaches changed most things with me. I would get 5 lessons hit the ball well then stop and slip into old ways and get a new coach and repeat the process. I don't this 3 times. Each time my handicap came down. My current coach though because my I have seen so many coaches before and have a textbookish type swing when I got my current coach it was just a case of him putting me back on line. For example my swing got a bit to long on the back swing, grip went a bit week and I found myself flipping at the ball. My coach fixed that with stronger grip and a drill to stop the club at the top of the back swing and it was fixed.

Working with what you have got is good if you have a swing and your just offline a touch. Prepare yourself for change if you want to get better.

I know what you’re saying and I’m not ruling out a big change which needs a lot of work. However, I hope that it’s the case of an expert looking at my swing, seeing what would cut out those stupid shots and then me understanding how to do that. If I’m already able to hit 240 yard straight drives maybe 1 in 5, it’s got to be in there already, I just need him to go ‘what you did there was this compared to this that you did in that bad one’ or something along those lines!

But as I say, if there’s no helping my current swing then I’ll have to accept I need to graft over winter!