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patricks148

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Well that's what I'm afraid of. As I mentioned I can't afford to throw £50 on one lesson to find the guy is no good, £40 at a different guy who's no good either, etc.

In my usual four ball only one of the guys has had lessons and he still plays off 30, hasn't really seen what I would call dramatic improvement and I didn't like the sound of the guy he used from what he described. I suppose the other issue for me is not being able to drive so I'd have to pick a location I can get myself to anyway. Probably narrows the options a tad.

Sometimes in life you have to take risks.

Also, you see lots of guys take lessons and expect the pro to work miracles in that lesson without them working on what is taught, sometime you only get out what you put in.
 

PJ87

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I've just been having a look, the guy at Bushey Hall which is near me, does a £25 half hour lesson, £45 for an hour, or £60 for on-course lesson over 9 holes. I'm planning to go for a little practise round tonight and if I can't figure it out I think I'm finally going to go for it and book to see this guy.

Excellent! , sometimes you need a few steps back to work forwards

A professional should be able to spot any faults

I was shanking briefly for a while I thought was one thing turned out was completely different reason and if I hadn’t gone to see the pro I would have just got worse and worse

You like to get your moneys worth (like myself) so I’m going to assume you will work hard to make sure what he/ she teaches you starts to bed in

Don’t expect to be instant tiger over night but slow and steady things will get better and better

Also they fix one thing and suddenly another Area will improve without you even trying ..
 

Orikoru

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Went down to the course for a late round, played really well but the shanks returned on the 15th - not just one but three in a row! Unreal. I guess that settles it. On the first one I thought I knew what went wrong, but since I wasn't able to correct it I guess I haven't got a clue.
 

PJ87

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Went down to the course for a late round, played really well but the shanks returned on the 15th - not just one but three in a row! Unreal. I guess that settles it. On the first one I thought I knew what went wrong, but since I wasn't able to correct it I guess I haven't got a clue.

I had a look on the clubs website out of curiosity

The £100 deal seems a bargain if you find the first lesson works well. Never under estimate a playing lesson
 

Orikoru

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I had a look on the clubs website out of curiosity

The £100 deal seems a bargain if you find the first lesson works well. Never under estimate a playing lesson
On-course lesson would probably be preferable for me, I find hitting on the range totally different. Probably better to practise different lies and hitting at a proper target.
 

PJ87

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On-course lesson would probably be preferable for me, I find hitting on the range totally different. Probably better to practise different lies and hitting at a proper target.

The lesson on the mat the actual shot doesn’t matter as such he will teach you something and get you to work on it

My pro yesterday said we are in a safe environment , no danger, open . Just commit to these swing ideas , so I did.. couple shanks, couple duffs but within 10 shots I was hitting straight again with my 7 iron adding 10-15 yards of carry
 

Rlburnside

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I disagree somewhat with most of the advice given regarding lessons for your situation, I helped a friend of mine with a drill that stopped him shanking in 5 minutes, address ball as normal and swing, instead of hitting the ball swing inside it do this twice then 3rd swing hit the ball.

No harm in trying this before you feel compared to get lessons,.
 

HomerJSimpson

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The lesson on the mat the actual shot doesn’t matter as such he will teach you something and get you to work on it

My pro yesterday said we are in a safe environment , no danger, open . Just commit to these swing ideas , so I did.. couple shanks, couple duffs but within 10 shots I was hitting straight again with my 7 iron adding 10-15 yards of carry
I agree and for the benefit of a lesson and to make swing changes the range is a better environment. As you say its safe and nothing like long rough, bunkers, ponds or indeed other people playing up behind to add pressure to a shot on a course with a new technique that may or may not go where you want. Have the lesson, work on the drills at the range and then take it to a course and test it
 

Dan2501

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On-course lesson would probably be preferable for me, I find hitting on the range totally different. Probably better to practise different lies and hitting at a proper target.

Course lessons aren't really proper lessons in my experience, at least I've never had any technical coaching while on a playing lesson, it's more course-management related coaching. I'd say your first few lessons should almost certainly be in a teaching bay - preferably hitting on a launch monitor with high speed cameras, that'll give the coach and you the best idea of what's going on, they're unlikely to be able to give thorough diagnosis and tuition on the course.
 

PJ87

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Course lessons aren't really proper lessons in my experience, at least I've never had any technical coaching while on a playing lesson, it's more course-management related coaching. I'd say your first few lessons should almost certainly be in a teaching bay - preferably hitting on a launch monitor with high speed cameras, that'll give the coach and you the best idea of what's going on, they're unlikely to be able to give thorough diagnosis and tuition on the course.

This ^^

The package I saw was 5 x 30 min lessons plus 1 on course playing lesson £100

To me that’s a bargain

You have 5 lessons for the pro to work you through your paces @Orikoru , discover and correct your swing faults and then have a playing lesson where he can get you to apply these practices and see how you play out of what situations

Might see club selection costs you 2 shots a round or something
 

Rlburnside

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I think most that are saying having lessons would be the way to go which ideally would be best , but not taking onboard that the O/P says money is tight.

The two ball tip that Dan 2501 gave or my own tip which are basically the same would be well worth a try before having to shell out on lessons.
 

Orikoru

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I disagree somewhat with most of the advice given regarding lessons for your situation, I helped a friend of mine with a drill that stopped him shanking in 5 minutes, address ball as normal and swing, instead of hitting the ball swing inside it do this twice then 3rd swing hit the ball.

No harm in trying this before you feel compared to get lessons,.
That's fair enough. As people know from my previous postings, I've not had lessons up to now as I've been happy enough with slow progress while enjoying my golf. We have our Club Champs in a few weeks (8/9 June) so I probably wouldn't have the lessons until after that, just in case I'm making wholesale swing changes that I don't want to be bedding in during the biggest comp in the calendar. :LOL: So I still have a few weeks of trying to work it out I guess. I have tried a few things to fix it though - perhaps similar to what you say - and nothing seems to eradicate them permanently. As I said, last night I was hitting the ball great until the wheels fell off on the 15th.

The package I saw was 5 x 30 min lessons plus 1 on course playing lesson £100

To me that’s a bargain

You have 5 lessons for the pro to work you through your paces @Orikoru , discover and correct your swing faults and then have a playing lesson where he can get you to apply these practices and see how you play out of what situations

Might see club selection costs you 2 shots a round or something
Yeah that makes sense. I have about £80 coming in for Fantasy Football League winnings so I can treat myself to that. :D
 

Orikoru

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I think most that are saying having lessons would be the way to go which ideally would be best , but not taking onboard that the O/P says money is tight.

The two ball tip that Dan 2501 gave or my own tip which are basically the same would be well worth a try before having to shell out on lessons.
Yea as I say, I'll try something along those lines for a couple of weeks until after Club Champs and see where I stand then.
 

Dan2501

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A decent coach is unlikely to start suggesting wholesale swing changes in the middle of the golf season. He'll likely analyse your game, give you some small pointers that will get you hitting the ball better with a plan for major swing changes at the end of the season, so if anything lessons could help you play better at the Club champs. I personally always improve quickly after having a mid-season lesson, have never gone the other way and had my game go to pot.
 

Orikoru

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A decent coach is unlikely to start suggesting wholesale swing changes in the middle of the golf season. He'll likely analyse your game, give you some small pointers that will get you hitting the ball better with a plan for major swing changes at the end of the season, so if anything lessons could help you play better at the Club champs. I personally always improve quickly after having a mid-season lesson, have never gone the other way and had my game go to pot.
The thing is, I have this feeling that the first thing any pro would do is change my grip. My grip is really strong and also a kind of weird reverse overlap, so I imagine he'll take one look at it and tell me it's a total mess.
 

patricks148

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as i said in post 16, we don't know whats causing them and many of these tips can sometimes have a knock on effect on something else and sometimes make it even worse.

make a video of you doing it and post it to Bob or on here, he will be able to see whats actually wrong and advise
 
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Orikoru

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as i said in post 16, we don't know whats causing them and many of these tips can sometimes have a knock on effect on something else and sometimes make it even worse.

make a video of you doing it and post it to Bob or one here, he will be able to see whats actually wrong and advise
I meant to do a video or two last night but I completely forgot, doh.
 

PJ87

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That's fair enough. As people know from my previous postings, I've not had lessons up to now as I've been happy enough with slow progress while enjoying my golf. We have our Club Champs in a few weeks (8/9 June) so I probably wouldn't have the lessons until after that, just in case I'm making wholesale swing changes that I don't want to be bedding in during the biggest comp in the calendar. :LOL: So I still have a few weeks of trying to work it out I guess. I have tried a few things to fix it though - perhaps similar to what you say - and nothing seems to eradicate them permanently. As I said, last night I was hitting the ball great until the wheels fell off on the 15th.


Yeah that makes sense. I have about £80 coming in for Fantasy Football League winnings so I can treat myself to that. :D

That’s exactly what fantasy football winnings should be for!! Lol imagine if your knowledge of football improves your game!

I faded poorly in the fantasy football so no wins lol I’ll just have to do a city and throw cash at the problem 😂

In seriousness the 5 x 30 mins might not change it all st once I’ll be surprised if he did

My pro does stages , atm we on one bit that he said is a huge step and once this is done things will be smaller

Was grip at first the foundation, too weak , now stronger

Last lesson before Monday was a wider take away, did the drills, improved my strike

Monday he got me to start the swing with the handle moving down and away from me.. doesn’t result in that obvs just feel. Results were outstanding

Slow and steady progress

Unpicking bad habits
 
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