Why is "Get a lesson" Always the answer?

[Airlie_Andy]

You dont have a lesson about ball position anyway. You get a "swing" lesson to improve your swing and ultimately hit better more repeatable shots. Something like playing with ball position is exactly what practicing on the range is for and is something you should practice anyway surely? Trying to hit a low punch shot for instance? Unless you are grooving a swing change then trying different things is part of the reason for practice on the range isn't it? If you think you have a swing fault that you want to identify and correct then get a lesson. If your happy with your swing then by all means experiment with things like ball position or opening/closing your stance etc.

 

[john0]

Personally I think that lessons and practice are over-rated

 

[Deleted member 1147]

You dont have a lesson about ball position anyway. You get a "swing" lesson to improve your swing and ultimately hit better more repeatable shots. Something like playing with ball position is exactly what practicing on the range is for and is something you should practice anyway surely?

I'd have thought that the correct ball position is the very thing to be taught during a lesson. It's pretty fundamental stuff for a pro to advise on.

 

[One Planer]

I'd have thought that the correct ball position is the very thing to be taught during a lesson. It's pretty fundamental stuff for a pro to advise on.

Actually, it was the 1st thing my pro picked up on!

 

[Airlie_Andy]

I'd have thought that the correct ball position is the very thing to be taught during a lesson. It's pretty fundamental stuff for a pro to advise on.

Ball position is a 10 second piece of advice which might come up in a first lesson or if you have got into bad habbits with it and it's completely wrong but I would not be happy paying £25 to just be told my ball position needs moving by an inch.

 

[patricks148]

Personally I think that lessons and practice are over-rated

i sort of agree, but then i am the worst 6 handicap in Scotland

 

[Snelly]

I'd have thought that the correct ball position is the very thing to be taught during a lesson. It's pretty fundamental stuff for a pro to advise on.

I would go further and say that you should not need a pro to be telling you that your golf ball is in the right spot if you have played golf for a while. Surely you know where it needs to be in relation to your feet? And how much difference does an inch or two either way make anyway? Not much I would suggest. It is like paying £20 to be told your shoelace is untied or something.

Apologies if it seems like I am being critical Gareth. Just giving my honest view and not attempting to win anyone up.

 

[One Planer]

I would go further and say that you should not need a pro to be telling you that your golf ball is in the right spot if you have played golf for a while. Surely you know where it needs to be in relation to your feet? And how much difference does an inch or two either way make anyway? Not much I would suggest. It is like paying £20 to be told your shoelace is untied or something.

Apologies if it seems like I am being critical Gareth. Just giving my honest view and not attempting to win anyone up.

Far from it Snelly :thup:

That was only one of the things he picked up on. The other being a hooded clubface through the swing.

Moving the ball forward (... As demonstrated) alongside the drill to get the club face in to a better position through the swing have delivered great results so far. Less duff contacts, better launch, higher flight and more carry.

 

[Snelly]

Far from it Snelly :thup:

That was only one of the things he picked up on. The other being a hooded clubface through the swing.

Moving the ball forward (... As demonstrated) alongside the drill to get the club face in to a better position through the swing have delivered great results so far. Less duff contacts, better launch, higher flight and more carry.

Hooded face is not good! Glad it is sorted.

I knew a guy in my junior days who was a county player for Yorkshire and he played every single shot aligned with his left heel at address. His wedge play was amongst the best I have ever seen in terms of consistency and quality too.

Lots of ways to skin a cat......

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I would go further and say that you should not need a pro to be telling you that your golf ball is in the right spot if you have played golf for a while. Surely you know where it needs to be in relation to your feet? And how much difference does an inch or two either way make anyway? Not much I would suggest. It is like paying £20 to be told your shoelace is untied or something.

Apologies if it seems like I am being critical Gareth. Just giving my honest view and not attempting to win anyone up.

What I meant was that if you are having a lesson, then you would expect the pro to advise if the ball is in the wrong place. It's not the sort of thing that will need to be focussed on every time, but things can creep into & out of the swing, and, set-up & alignment can need correcting occasionally.

Ball position is a 10 second piece of advice which might come up in a first lesson or if you have got into bad habbits with it and it's completely wrong but I would not be happy paying £25 to just be told my ball position needs moving by an inch.

I'd expect it to be part of a lesson, not the whole thing.

 

[duncan mackie]

Far from it Snelly :thup:

That was only one of the things he picked up on. The other being a hooded clubface through the swing.

Moving the ball forward (... As demonstrated) alongside the drill to get the club face in to a better position through the swing have delivered great results so far. Less duff contacts, better launch, higher flight and more carry.

for me this is a good illustration of why 'see a pro' is the right things to do most of the time.

I have watched many people apply sticking plaster to fundamental faults until everything falls apart and they really do have to make some huge changes.

I've also watched many higher handicaps have the sticking plaster applied for them by 'good golfers'!

So, IMO, when things start to go wrong is the time to invest in a quick swing check by a professional who will be able to draw you attention to anything that's slipped, and pick up on anything that you have introduced to resolve it!

 

[the_coach]

To be able to successfully contact the ball correctly & consistently you have to have a good grip, aim, alignment address position relative to good ball position, good posture & an understanding of the complete swing motion etc.
Very few folks able to do all of the above on their own.

Lessons right at the beginning of a player taking up the game is worth it's weight in gold, as bad habits picked up and ingrained over time are extremely hard & take a long time to try to change for the better. Lessons at any time better than none at all.

Most folks will need and should have through the year their 'fundamentals' & swing checked over to keep everything in order as slips in posture, aim, ball position can happen very easily leading to lots of frustration, even folks trying to change technique sometimes unnecessarily when it's set-up faults that have caused the problems.

Ball position slipping into a bad place can & will lead to different swing paths, different AoA's, different face alignment through impact causing all kinds of direction & distance problems. Getting set-up right is the fix often.

You have to be absolutely precise to get set-up right, you see Tour Pro's constantly work on this, & for good reason.

Good lessons essential for most, too many don't bother of these folks who don't not many are Cat 1 golfers.

Very good players with good knowledge of the game can help others, players who don't play so well because their understanding of the game isn't well formed can give out misinformation that won't help.
Visit to a PGA Pro always a good idea.

But that said, the Pro knows how to play, it's something he has got through his own ''learned experience" of how a good swing feels and then the experience of how to keep repeating it.

To swing well consistently and hit good shots consistently ultimately has to be a players own "learned experience", as is then also going to be to go on to learn how to play well & score out on the course, something different again to just learning to swing well!

 

[Coatsy79]

I had a course of lessons when I first took up golf, as I was all over the place and had no idea what I was doing wrong, 6/7 lessons later, never straying off a 7 iron and my grip was sorted and I had the basis of "how I should be swinging"

Now it's a case of olaying as much as I can to groove in everything, I may not see a pro again but then again I might if I feel like something's going wrong again (and playing/practicing isn't improving it)

 

[kid2]

Well most on here know my exploits as i had everyones head melted with them for ages Sorry :lol:

Anyway... Iv since stopped with the lessons... I had a block of 8 in October 2012 and worked my backside off with the drills i was given but even though i went from a 14 to a 9 handicap in 2013 im not sure if i could put it all down to the lessons.... I know that i can definitely say that practicing my short game while i was going through the swing changes helped no end as i didnt care whether i missed greens or not as i was confident in my level of skill around the greens....
I got a really good understanding of my swing.... What worked and what didnt work for me and somehow i managed to find a way that gets the clubface back squarer at impact than when i first took the game up.....

Iv got my swing.... Its a swing that has flaws but i manage to balance them out with some good stuff.... Tempo for me is the big thing.... If m tempo is nice and deliberate then ill swing lovely... If i get quick then that when the wheels fall off...

I went back for a driver lesson at the end of last year and to be honest what my Pro wanted me doing was exactly what he told me to be doing with the irons... Swing down the target line after the ball so you can see your hands much longer from the down the line view...... Aaaaaaa.... No thank.... I cant do it.... Spent the best part of 18 months trying to learn it and i just cant do it...

I will say my swing is a hell of a lot shallower than it was when i started the lessons and this is a good thing... Iv got a few little movements that work for me and their the little swing thoughts i think of to stay in check.....

The things i work on now are a little hip tilt towards the target at address.... Head behind the ball.... Good posture so that i dont Early Extend....
My grip and my stance and all these are topped off with good rhythm..... I f i can merge all these together which usually isnt an issue then ill hit the ball well.....

I think that going through lessons there is a period of self doubt and also a lack of confidence..... I know for me i always second guessed my Pro's changes... I think its just my nature and knowing my own swing the one thing i heard from my Pro was to swing down the line.....
When i went seaching for info about similar swings to mine ( One Planers ) a common thing that kept popping up was that the " Worst piece of information that a one plane swinger can be told is to swing DTL" apparently its detrimental to this type of swing....
So when i stopped doing this,my shanks stopped, my thins stopped, my pushes stopped, i stopped blocking the ball....

I began hitting the ball more solidly again.....Im not saying that lessons are bad.....Like i said they helped me understand My Swing..
Everyones swing is their swing.... Not someone elses.... Body shapes, flexibility, health , height, weight, they all play their own part in making up Your Swing.... And thats what most people need to know i think...

I now just absorb myself in watching videos of Jason Dufner every day as im the same height as him and i have a flat swing like him as well... Iv adopted his pre shot routine and his little swing keys and they've really helped my over the last few months....

My struggles are always with the driver and iv since changed my 910's to a 10.5 Ping K15 Stiff and also a K15 3 wood..... Iv got more confidence now off the tee.... Ok its not the prettiest of clubs but it goes where my swing wants it to and thats all that matters.....:lol:

This year will be all about my wedges and my putter...... Im hell bent on dropping another stroke or 2 for this season......

 

[Twin Lakes]

Each to their own I say. I had two lessons when I started golf in 2009 and one about 2 years ago for putting.
For me I'd say I'm better off just trying to hit the ball and not filling my head with too many if any thoughts!

 

[Scrindle]

I think it comes down to who you are, really.

There's a young lad at my club who plays off 4; never had a lesson. Then there's a lad who goes round in 105/106 and has lessons every couple of weeks but doesn't improve (I suspect this isn't down to the pro, but other factors).

I, personally, used to watch a lot of instructional videos on Youtube and try to apply them to my game. However, having watched more over the Winter without playing I blame this on the systemic disintegration of my entire swing. When I started playing again a few weeks ago I literally couldn't hit a ball properly and it was depressing. Quick emergency visit to the pro and 2 lessons later my grip has been sorted out, backswing sorted out and now working on a decent swing patht through the ball to promote a lovely draw.

I have learnt not to try and tinker with my swing because, for me at least, it simply doesn't work. If I was qualified to diagnose it with messing everything up, I would be teaching others how to play.

 

[CMAC]

I learned by myself (and the excellent John Jacobs book as a kid).

Now I'm older and when the wheels come off I've sought lessons to glean an insight I can't see, or don't know how to fix.

However, the best years I've had in golf came from just playing and practicing to see what worked and what didnt. I could literally do whatever I wanted with a ball and I'm not just bragging, duck hooking a 9 iron to get out trouble, flop shots of bare lies, high low, fades, draws, hooks and slices to order- game was a piece of cake - but I played and practiced everyday for hours, even in the rain! hands had plasters on for the constant blisters.

Take a few years off for work- women -life in general, and now play once a week if I'm lucky (nothing all winter). So when a problem arises a quick pro eye to get a quick fix is required as I dont have the time to do all the trial and error that ultimately works.


So at OP, we need both, the key is knowing when for each.

 

[pokerjoke]

I learned by myself (and the excellent John Jacobs book as a kid).

Now I'm older and when the wheels come off I've sought lessons to glean an insight I can't see, or don't know how to fix.

However, the best years I've had in golf came from just playing and practicing to see what worked and what didnt. I could literally do whatever I wanted with a ball and I'm not just bragging, duck hooking a 9 iron to get out trouble, flop shots of bare lies, high low, fades, draws, hooks and slices to order- game was a piece of cake - but I played and practiced everyday for hours, even in the rain! hands had plasters on for the constant blisters.

Take a few years off for work- women -life in general, and now play once a week if I'm lucky (nothing all winter). So when a problem arises a quick pro eye to get a quick fix is required as I dont have the time to do all the trial and error that ultimately works.


So at OP, we need both, the key is knowing when for each.

Whats the lowest handicap you got to.
Sounds like you were really commited

 

[CMAC]

Whats the lowest handicap you got to.
Sounds like you were really commited

lol, I should have been

2.7 that year, thought I was the dogs ballearics and entered everything expecting to win and break par.

Golfing gods saw that and bestowed upon me a case of shermans from wedge to 3 iron- especially in front of crowds- even did one on the first tee of a comp in front of Charlie Green (Top Scottish Amateur at that time and he won that comp). These things mess with your head and bring you down to earth. So the mental side of the game did for me, useless under 'that' kind of golf pressure unfortunately.

 

[pokerjoke]

lol, I should have been

2.7 that year, thought I was the dogs ballearics and entered everything expecting to win and break par.

Golfing gods saw that and bestowed upon me a case of shermans from wedge to 3 iron- especially in front of crowds- even did one on the first tee of a comp in front of Charlie Green (Top Scottish Amateur at that time and he won that comp). These things mess with your head and bring you down to earth. So the mental side of the game did for me, useless under 'that' kind of golf pressure unfortunately.

I think that the mental side seperates the men from the boys.
Im sure 1000s of talented golfers have fallen by the wayside purely
down to the mental side.