GolfTec Golf Lessons - Feedback, Discussion

[uttexas]

I am currently a student at GolfTec. I played golf for 20 years and grooved a repeatable swing that I could draw/fade hit low hit high etc. I plateud after focusing on my short game for the last year---dropped to a ten handicap and felt I couldn't improve without full swing lessons. My friend started taking Golf Tec lessons and I could see immediate improvements in his swing aesthetics.

Pros
The instructors are good.
Golf Tec does get you into better positions
Golf Tec does teach you better tempo
GT does teach you proper weight transfer sequence
Can view swing anytime and anywhere you have an internet connection
Price-I got eval+10 lessons for $540 (after negotiations)

I agree with other posters, it does feel like starting over. You get much worse before improving. Other teachers might "work with what you have" instead of building from the ground up which might produce more immediate scoring improvement.
I wish I had gone to GT the first time I picked up a club as a teenager so I could learn all the proper movements before ingraining incorrect ones.

[divottool]

They are having some specials for the month of Aug.

I have had about 8 lessons and am pleased with the results. I have had a personal best 37 for nine, and then I can blow up and shoot 43.

I have a better understanding of the golf swing, and am able to fix issues when they come up. I understand my own bad habits better, and am able to get things back on track.

[Motley01]

I just got a free 30 min. evaluation lesson from golftec, because I just spent alot of money at golfsmith.

So my eval is during lunch today, I'll report back with how everything goes.

[enduro]

I just got a free 30 min. evaluation lesson from golftec, because I just spent alot of money at golfsmith.

Ha, so weird, I just went there too. Please do tell me what you think of it. Their facility is very impressive and high end. And because of that, it's pricey. I could get the evaluation, fitting (which I already have but w.e), lessons x 10, and use of the video room for around $1000.00. 3 month plan. $333.00 a month. Need to think about this, that's a lot of scratch.

[Motley01]

Ha, so weird, I just went there too. Please do tell me what you think of it. Their facility is very impressive and high end. And because of that, it's pricey. I could get the evaluation, fitting (which I already have but w.e), lessons x 10, and use of the video room for around $1000.00. 3 month plan. $333.00 a month. Need to think about this, that's a lot of scratch.

I just got back from golftec. It went really well, he actually gave me a full 1hr lesson! First he hooked me up to the computer, and then I made some swings with my 7 iron. Right away he showed me I'm bring the club way too much on the inside at take-away.

Also, we worked on keeping the 90 degree angle of my wrist-cock ..later in my swing, I was almost casting the club, and I had too much daylight in between my hands and hips. He gave me a few drills to use a the range. The guy was really good, and I think I can learn alot of things with them, the instant feedback with the video/computer system they use is excellent. I think I might sign up for 3-month (10) 30 minute lessons.

[enduro]

I just got back from golftec. It went really well, he actually gave me a full 1hr lesson! First he hooked me up to the computer, and then I made some swings with my 7 iron. Right away he showed me I'm bring the club way too much on the inside at take-away.

Yeah, the pitch was good. I really went in there just to get some brochures and next thing I know the guy is giving me a tour, hooking me up to things and showing me video. Obviously, giving me a taste of their high end facilities. I'm strongly considering it too. He said overall my swing was really good, but the main flaw is having an open club face at the top a bit and through the down swing making it harder to get a full release and thus that's why I tend to push when I miss.

He wasn't hurrying me at all and actually encouraged me to hit more. He was able to show more stuff off. Then we talked about prices and things. He gave me some times that they have available and sent me on my way. It was pretty low pressure. I'm going to think about it a few days and figure it out. I know I want instruction and good instruction, just don't know if I want to spend that much for it. I have the money, but I don't like to waste it either.

[Motley01]

Yeah, the pitch was good. I really went in there just to get some brochures and next thing I know the guy is giving me a tour, hooking me up to things and showing me video. Obviously, giving me a taste of their high end facilities. I'm strongly considering it too. He said overall my swing was really good, but the main flaw is having an open club face at the top a bit and through the down swing making it harder to get a full release and thus that's why I tend to push when I miss.

Ya sounds like me and you are in the same decision making process.

Btw, he told me for Aug. specials, so for the 3-month 10 lesson deal, was gonna be about $776 They quoted you a $1000 for 10 lessons?

[enduro]

Ya sounds like me and you are in the same decision making process.

Oh, I was just looking at the procure and you're right, it's like 950 minus the August discounted price, so yeah, 776 sounds right. That makes it more worth it. You figure the the 2 hour swing analysis and fitting alone are worth a couple hundred and it's about 600 for 10 lessons and access to swing room. That becomes a lot more reasonable for sure...

[jaragon126]

Well I've had it ... went out to play 9 holes today and I had 2 double bogeys and a triple bogey.

I was playing crappy all spring so I took a lesson at GolfTec a couple of months ago and things seemed to be getting better ... but I'm still not satisfied. The lesson I had at GT was one of their introductory swing analysis lessons.

My regular instructor doesn't get very detailed with me, so that's why I turned to GT. I know the lessons are expensive, and from what I've read you have to sign up for a series of lessons rather than just going whenever you want to.

I used to be a 6 handicap a couple of years ago and now I'm about double that. Arghhhhhhhh

Unfortunately playing here in Colorado you can't play much during the winter so I usually forget everything I've learned each year & start over in the spring. But doubling my handicap in a couple of years is embarrassing!

I send them an email today to contact me about lessons, and hopefully I can get into one of the smaller packages because there's only really 2-3 months left of playing season here before the snow comes.

[jaragon126]

Had my GolfTec lesson last night after work ... this was my 2nd lesson with them. My first lesson was about 2 months ago and I hadn't been playing very well since then. I originally went to GolfTec because I couldn't get my draw back ... I had been stuck with fading the ball which wasn't any fun because I used to be able to move the ball both directions.

They did help me get the draw back ... but most of the time I had been hooking the ball severely (especially with the driver).

Last night I go in, and the same guy I had before was my instructor. They are really super nice there, offered me some water & allowed me to go into one of the instruction rooms to warm up & hit balls.

My first lesson with them was a one time deal ... I didn't sign up for any additional lessons. As such, I didn't get a copy of the video or any online access to that lesson. This time he gave me the info on a lesson package & all the benefits ... so I crumbled & bought the 10 lesson package ($580).

In my first lesson, he had me change my hand position & swing so as to shut the club face more & promote a draw.

This time, he told me I was too shut & had too strong of a grip and to go back to something closer to neutral which would allow me to work the ball left & right much easier. I explained to him that in my first lesson he had told me the exact opposite, but he seemed to know what he was doing and he's the professional so I listened.

He gave me some good drills, and I plan to spend alot of time at the range working things out. As I mentioned I got the 10 lesson package (which was the smallest one they have), because here in Colorado there's only about 2-3 months left of golf season before the snow comes. He's got me coming back about every week for a lesson, but I'm wondering if that's a bit too soon. He's not making HUGE adjustments in my swing so far, so maybe going every week is ok since I'm just working on 1-2 things at a time.

Unfortunately I have a tournament in about 3 weeks so I'm hoping that I'll be closer to shooting in the 70s since I know I can.

[Nayfac]

I went to Golftec when they had their $25 swing evaluation. All he told me was you need to keep on plane, that's why your slicing. I asked "extra" questions and he said that's for lessons. Personally, I think that the course is better for lessons because you can see where your ball actually goes. When the net is 10 feet away your slice or hook won't show and you will go to the course wondering what happened.

[jaragon126]

Ya I agree Nayfac, hitting into a net doesn't really tell you how the ball moved. But in my lesson my guy told me that we could go to a course to hit balls & even play together, which is great. He even said he could give me some short game instruction if I needed it. So that's why I bought the lessons ... I probably wouldn't have paid for the lessons if all we did was hit into a net.

[jaragon126]

Well it's been a few weeks & I'm still not very happy. I really don't know what to do at this point as my handicap keeps going up.

A couple of years ago I was down to about a 6 handicap ... and now I'm pretty much double that.

I live & work close to several golf courses ... so I'm either playing or practicing almost every day. I even go to the course on my lunch hour from work to hit balls or practice short game.

According to the GolfDigest website Make Me Better program, my weakness is short game (chipping & putting), so I do spend 90% of my time practicing those areas.

It's frustrating ... sometimes I don't even feel like I'm having fun on the course ... I'm just scrambling to shoot an 85 when I used to be able to shoot in the mid to high 70s regularly.

Before GolfTech, I took lessons from a golf pro at a course here in town on many occasions. I would usually take 2-3 lessons from him per season. One lesson at the beginning of the season to get rid of any bad habits I picked up over the winter season. And a couple more lessons throughout the season whenever I couldn't fix something that was going wrong.

I stopped taking lessons from him probably around the time I was down to my lowest handicap (a 6) because he told me there wasn't much more he could do for me at that point. He said that for me to become a scratch golfer, I would need to take lessons from someone that could go into more detail with my swing. Perhaps video analysis & the like.

One of the big instruction programs here in Colorado is the Mike McGetrick academy. But that isn't cheap. So, I got turned on to GolfTec which is another big academy-like instruction system here in town. They do video & keep track of your lessons & compare you to pros & all that stuff. Which is nice ... but it doesn't seem like that's working for me.

The hitting into the net thing is odd ... the instructors tell me that the swing was excellent based on the video & ball positions & their "tracking" software ... but you really don't know how good the shot was without seeing the ball do you?

These are some questions I've asked in another thread:
Should I try going back to my regular guy even though it seems like he's expressed to me that there's not much more he can do?
Should I stop practicing with my iPod?
Should I play less & practice more?

ARGH! ... frustrated.

[mrt10x]

I have a 75 minute driver eval with the Honolulu GT this afternoon. I am trying to figure out some differences between an old driver and a new driver shaft. I have taken lessons in several states (military) including some dual camera lessons from a top 100 teacher in San Diego. I will let you all know what I think after the lesson.

[jaragon126]

Had another one of my lessons at GolfTec last night ... it's already snowing & too cold to play here in Colorado much now. I haven't actually played a round in 3 months, but I have gotten out to the range about 3-5 times in that 3 month span since the season ended. I have about 4 lessons left in my GolfTec lesson package, and they are expiring in a month so I'm just getting them over with.

When I went in last night, I got to hit a bunch of balls to warm up in on of their practice bays. My instructor came in & recorded a few swings, pointed out some faults (identical to the stuff he's told me previously), and then had me make adjustments similar to the ones he told me in my initial evaluation with them.

Short history: in my first evaluation with them, they made me try to hold the club face shut and keep my left wrist flat during my swing. Then, after I started severely hooking the ball left and agreed to buy a lesson package from them, they told me I was incorrectly holding the club face shut and keeping my left wrist flat. (I know, this is exactly the opposite of what they originally told me.) Then last night, they again told me I needed to hold the club face shut & try keeping my left wrist flat.

It's impossible to tell how the ball is flying since you are hitting into a net. I mean, hitting into a net is better than nothing in the winter months since I can't be outside ... but I have to trust the instructor when he does some mental calculation in his head comparing my swing path position in degrees and my open/shut clubface position degrees to tell me if I just hit a draw/fade/hook/slice. You just can't tell how you are hitting the ball when you hit the net.

Another annoying thing is that as I was practicing I was hitting my normal smooth tempo shots, and the video feedback told me my swing speed was averaging around 75mph. So I knew I was nice & smooth.

In the lesson though, the instructor told me that was too slow & that he wanted me to try to get up over 80mph ... closer to 85mph.

So in doing that, everything is out of whack. My contact is horrible, my body position is awful, today my back hurts, my legs are sore ... I can't play golf every day if I'm going to be trying to kill the ball all the time ... much less be consistent in my ball striking. Do you think that's good advice from the instructor? To be clear, he didn't tell me to try to kill the ball or swing as hard as I could. He told me to try to get my swing speed up to 80-85mph from averaging a nice 75mph, but to me that DOES feel like I'm having to kill the ball ... lurching at the ground during contact, getting into bad positions, lunging forward, trying to release my hands so fast that my wrists also hurt.

Seriously thinking of going back to my regular Pro after these GolfTec lessons are done. My regular Pro doesn't have all the fancy video & computerized equipment ... but he is able to make me FEEL the positions better and actually see the ball flight since we actually hit balls on the range. He doesn't get technical like "your hands needs to be ahead of the ball when you make contact" or "your butt is lunging at the ball when you make contact" ... but for some reason my handicap was half what it is now when I went to him. And again, he used to give me an hour lesson for less than the price of a half hour lesson.

Should I stick with GolfTec even though I'm getting uncomfortable with them and not satisfied with their results?

[Shindig]

Should I stick with GolfTec even though I'm getting uncomfortable with them and not satisfied with their results?

From your description, they sound worse than the guys who come to me on the range trying to give everyone advice on curing their slice/hook/high ball flight/low ball flight. If I were in your shoes, I'd go back to the instructor and not even finish the lesson package.

[jaragon126]

Ya Shindig, ya know out of the multiple pages of replies on the subject you are the first person to bring that up ... was hoping to get more feedback from other people that their GolfTec experience wasn't that great. But it seems like no one else has had as difficult of a time as me. Wondering if it's me and not GolfTec

[granitegolf]

Jaragon-

I have been taking my lessons from Gabe(golftec) in Westminster. He has been great and communicates well about what he wants me to try. I have no complaints and have seen significant improvement in my ball striking.
Mabye it is just your particular instructor that is not working. I have tried folks before and not been happy and switched to someone new and had great results. Don't feel like you have to continue with the same instructor.