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How much did lessons help you?


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I'm a pretty bad golfer, shooting around 110 +/- a few strokes lately. I haven't really played much in the past few years, about 12 rounds or so. I really want to have a respectable game and have decided to start taking a few lessons(I say a few because they are rather expensive).

I was just wondering about how much I could hope to improve in the next month or so if I take a handful of lessons.

For those that have taken lessons when they weren't very good, roughly how many strokes did you improve after a series of lessons and practice/play?
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I'm in a similar situation, maybe a year further along than you are. At this stage in your progression, you should see huge advances in your game from lessons (with a few relapses thrown in...) I would highly recomend lessons, but spread them out a bit, to give yourself time to apply what you've learned (and mess it up again at times). If you were to hook up with a good instructor with maybe one lesson a week (with some range time and a round thrown in between each lesson), I bet you could drop into the 90's. Not only will you see your score drop, but your ball-striking ability should go up quite a bit, which (at least for me) went a long way to improve my enjoyment of the game. I still have tons to learn, but lessons have easily been the best money I've spent on golf. I've back-slid a few times, but the next lesson gets me back on track, and I now know a LOT more about what it takes to make a good swing and what I specifically do wrong.

Driver: Taylormade Burner 2008 TP
3 Wood: Adams Insight BUL 3W
7 Wood: Callaway Steelhead III 7W
3 Hybrid Cobra Baffler DWS 3H
Irons: Taylormade RAC LT2 3-pw

Wedges: Taylormade RAC 52*, Cleveland CG14 56* Putter: Taylormade Monza Spider Ball TP Red LDP

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I'm in a similar situation, maybe a year further along than you are. At this stage in your progression, you should see huge advances in your game from lessons (with a few relapses thrown in...) I would highly recomend lessons, but spread them out a bit, to give yourself time to apply what you've learned (and mess it up again at times). If you were to hook up with a good instructor with maybe one lesson a week (with some range time and a round thrown in between each lesson), I bet you could drop into the 90's. Not only will you see your score drop,

This is exactly what I'm hoping will happen. This lower scores will come but I feel like I could enjoy the game so much more with consistently decent ball-striking ability.
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I think what lessons help with is not just improving your swing, but improving your ability to be able to know what it is you are doing wrong when the ball isn't going where you want it to go. Being able to hit a ball and analyze why it went wrong is a huge help to improving your game. I started out with lessons this summer and I know for a fact that the game is much more enjoyable now than it would have been if I would have gone at it alone.

Cheers,
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They helped me quite a bit. I had been playing for several years but was stuck in the 80's and lower 90's. After a series of lessons over about a year, then about another year for me to 'get it', I am in the 70's most of the time. For me, it was just about knowing what to do, how to do it, then most importantly, correcting when I did it wrong. Once I figured all that out, the game is much more fun.

One thing to mention, taking a handful of lessons will not get you better in a month or so. It takes time. If the instructor is any good you should be able to hit the ball better and maybe score better as you progress, but improving a golf swing is not an easy process. If you really want to improve, you have to be patient with it.

I will judge my rounds much more by the quality of my best shots than the acceptability of my worse ones.

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They helped me quite a bit. I had been playing for several years but was stuck in the 80's and lower 90's. After a series of lessons over about a year, then about another year for me to 'get it', I am in the 70's most of the time. For me, it was just about knowing what to do, how to do it, then most importantly, correcting when I did it wrong. Once I figured all that out, the game is much more fun.

This will be the biggest challenge for me since I'm notoriously impatient. I suppose I'll be alright if I can feel myself hitting better shots more consistently while knowing what I'm doing right/wrong.

Basically, I'm just tired of taking 5-6 shots to get onto the green on par 4's.
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They helped me a ton!! But I think it's safe to say that the lessons themselves helped me improve about 30%, while the other 70% of improvement came from practicing what I learned alone on the range. Before I took my lessons a couple months ago, I shot in the mid 90s pretty consistently and had never broken 90. After the lessons and a ton of work on the range, I've broken 90 5 of 7 times my last few times out, as low as 85!

Take lessons from a good instructor!!

Word of advice: go to the range and start up a conversation with a few of the pros there about your golf game and your struggles, dont mention being interested in lessons. Pay attention to the one that's most eager to help you and go with that person. That way you can be sure he or she has a true interest in your progression and not just making a quick buck. I learned this from experience!

LIVING A DREAM
BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY #56

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I probably wouldn't be playing golf or on this site if it wasn't for lessons. Other than a few weekends and a trip to Myrtle Beach 8 years ago I never played. I started going to the range 3 times a week about a month ago and figure it out on my own, but no matter what I did, I couldn't stop slicing.

Two weeks ago I signed up for 5 lessons. At the end of my first lesson he had me hitting my 7i straight between 125 - 150 yards. I practiced all week with my 7i at the range and got really consistent with it. In my 2nd lesson I hit my 7i so well he said we're jumping ahead to woods and I grabbed my 3w. Swinging the 3w totally messed me up (I was back to slicing like crazy) and we spent the rest of the lesson trying to hit the 7i consistently but didn't. I just got back from the range and because of what I learned in the lessons I'm back to hitting my 7i straight and 150 yds and somewhat consistently hit the 3w straight. If not for the lessons I'd have not probably given up by now just thinking the sport wasn't for me.

I'm obviously way behind you in terms of years playing but I do believe you would get some benefit from lessons.

Joe Paradiso

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I went from a 15 handicap to an 18 handicap after lessons. After a year of trying to implement the new swing (had me taking the club back to a full swing rather than my 3/4 swing) I gave up and have been working towards regaining my old swing on the range. Problem was the full swing never felt natural and I went from having a slight fade to shooting straight, or a draw, or a hook or a fade or a slice. I started aiming straight at the pin and hoped for the best. The great part of the lesson, which I am keeping is the alignment, which I play for my slight natural fade (or draw which I can do 6/10 now with my 3/4 swing) and proper wrist hinge. My handicap is coming back down and I am hoping to be a 14 by the end of the year.

14 at any time: Nike Sumo Sq 10.5 degree, Srixon 12 degree 3 wood, Nike 17 degree 4 wood, Adams 3 hybrid, X-18 irons 3-pw, Callaway 52 degree, Vokey 56 & 60, Taylormade Rossa putter

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Lessons were the best thing I ever did for my golf game. I took a series of lessons from a great teacher while I was in Albuquerque. Dropped my index 10 points virtually overnight. I highly recommend them. If you think about it, Michael Jordon was the best basketball player in the world but he still had a coach.

In my Sasquatch stand bag
Driver: G5 10.5*
Fairway wood: R9 4 wood
Irons: R7 3-PW OR Firesole 3-PW
Wedges: VR 52-10 56-14 & 260-4Putter: TraceyShoe: Powerband 3.0

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Lessons helped a lot ... but the effects were cumulative because they have been combined with more analysis and practice, and lots of it, both at the range and at home.

Sometimes, the best practice has been working on an aspect of swing, grip, stance, body movement, still head, or tempo but swinging WITHOUT the ball. For me this has been true, especially with irons.

My first lesson was kind of informal and I should have paid more attention and retained more. But I went the next two years without a lesson, and the progress was far too slow.

Second through 4th lessons gave me a foundation, a theory, a routine, and a method. And more importantly they accelerated the process of learning dramatically. Subsequent lessons have worked off that foundation.

But sometimes you reach a roadblock with one instructor, and you have to either find a new one, or figure it out yourself — which can be very difficult — if the budget is tight.

Sometimes a needed fix can be subtle, and it seems not all instructors are created equal in diagnosing and fixing the problems — but one set of trained eyes is better than none.

........................................
McGolf-Doggie's stand bag & new and used club emporium:
Putter :ping: 1/2Craz-e | Irons :TaylorMade: RAC MB, 4i-PW (DG S300) |Wedges :Cleveland: SW&LW 56*DSG+RTG; 60*/4* DSG+RTG |Woods :Cobra: S1 5W; Adams TIght Lies 3W |Driver :TaylorMade: Burner 9.5 Fujikura Reax S | Maxfli Practice

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I'm a pretty bad golfer, shooting around 110 +/- a few strokes lately. I haven't really played much in the past few years, about 12 rounds or so. I really want to have a respectable game and have decided to start taking a few lessons(I say a few because they are rather expensive).

I improved by no more than 2-3 strokes on average. I haven't shot low scores any lower than my low scores were before the lessons. BUT, my higher rounds are much lower and that's the payoff for me - knowing I'll be no worse than ~ 84 when all is said and done. I did shoot an 89 a couple weeks ago, but that was a fluke, and the next evening shot a two-lost-balls 80.

I'm glad I had the lessons. If nothing else, the short videos he sent me are a good snapshot of my 2010 swing.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Not much as I'd hope, to tell you the truth.

But I never stuck with one instructor for long, because I never really thought any of them were that great. I learned alot from them, but didn't get great results and most of the breakthroughs I made were through hard work on the range, video, reading, watching good swings and figuring things out on my own. I've must have gone through I'm guessing 25 instructors? Some were on TGC, one was top 10 in most of the golf magazine rankings. Some charged a ton, some were very affordable.

I'd still highly recommend lessons, as it's better than learning without any assistance at all. Based on my little keyhole of experience, finding a good instructor is hard.

Steve

Kill slow play. Allow walking. Reduce ineffective golf instruction. Use environmentally friendly course maintenance.

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I had my first lesson today. We worked a little on my 8 iron but mostly on my driver. With the 8 iron, I was reaching too much for the ball and often times hitting on the heel of the club or even the hosel. The other problem I was having was topping the ball. He showed me a little drill to help with the reaching. With driver, I was failing to close the club face and rotate my hands on the downswing.

Surprisingly enough, he said my swing was very good for someone of my experience level. I liked the fact that he didn't work on changing my entire swing around and instead focused on working with what I have.
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i took about a 8-9 year hiatus, started playin again just about 2 months ago, been taking lessons the past few weeks, and i must say my ball striking has improved quite a bit from 2 moths ago, in fact i am striking the ball the best that i have ever struck it.

my approach is alot different this go around, like when i practice on the range, in the pass i would pretty much bash away on the range, now, i spend mayb 15-20 minutes on range tops, 30-45 on the putting green/ chipping green

and even with that 15-20 minutes, on the range now, its about the quality of the shot, not quantity, i focus on the things i learned from the lesson (spine angle, tension in grip, alignment,etc....)

i find that i get alot more productivity now from my practice with this approach, so the lessons have helped me a ton
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I had about 2 hours of lessons last year. I full hour early in the spring. . .completely screwed me up for a few weeks! I worked things out, hit a spot later in the year where I simply could NOT hit a straight shot. SO, I had 2 separate 1/2 hour lessons. I was averagely driving the ball, before my lessons last year, approximately 220 to 240. And 240 was long.

NOW, ALL of my clubs are longer. I'm averagely driving the ball 260 yards with more than a few a round pushing 280, and some getting close to 300 depending on conditions. I HAVE NEVER DRIVEN THE BALL THIS WELL!!! Sorry to yell, lol.

Now, my scores haven't exactly improved this year. I was already scoring in the mid-70's last year before my lessons, but now, I'm hitting many more wedges and 9's, 8's into greens instead of longer clubs.

I guess my point is, I'm hitting the ball longer now than I ever have. Somedays I'm working a great little draw, I've lost my fade almost entirely. . . etc, etc.

Heck Yeah, get some lessons. Make sure the guy isn't a waste of time or money though.
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I got lessons last year and still I can refer back to things I was taught to help my game, really helps to point you in the right direction. I would really recommend it
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