Lesson or Camera?!!

jp19 · September 23, 2010

have a couple hundred dollars to spare. was wondering what you think would be more beneficial to my game. 2 or 3 lessons or a casio ex-fh100 and work on my swing myself??

**srjorion** · September 23, 2010

I would say lessons. You may be able to see what is wrong in your swing with a camera but unless you know how to fix the faults the correct way it won't do you any good.

**newtogolf** · September 23, 2010

If you're just considering your golf game, I'd borrow a camera and go with golf lessons.

**Stretch** · September 23, 2010

Camera + evolvr subscription?

**chrisronline** · September 23, 2010

Lessons all the way. Find an instructor how uses a camera and you can at least get some video footage.

**Zeph** · September 23, 2010

Some years ago I would probably pick the lessons, but today I would not. The key point in this dilemma is the instructor. I've been to three different instructors, and neither have really told me anything useful. They all made me try to do things at the end of the chain, without looking at the first part of it. At the end of the lesson, I had hardly hit any good shots and had no idea how to proceed.

If you do find a good instructor, lessons are of course useful, but in the long run, I would say a camera is more useful. I'd of course recommend both, but it really depends on the instructor.

Of course, with a camera you can upload videos to the forum, use Evolvr or something similar to it. Regardless of what you pick, you have to do the work yourself, and having a camera makes that easier. Being face on with an instructor is the best way, but if the instructor is no good, you're almost better off without.

**walk18** · September 23, 2010

With a camera you know what you're getting. Instructors, not so much.

**golfro** · September 23, 2010

With a camera you know what you're getting. Instructors, not so much.

yeah with a camera you're getting a camera... not a proper swing. with a good instructor, you're learning how to swing the club properly.

i know plenty of amateurs who can watch their swing 200 times and they still would have no idea whats wrong with their swing.

**jamo** · September 23, 2010

It depends. If you can find an instructor near you who has strong credentials, a good following, and shows good results, go for the lessons. If all you can find is so-so instruction, so for the camera with maybe a so-so lesson every now and then.

jp19 · September 23, 2010

Camera +

this sounds interesting. is this only for the stack and tilt method??

thx for the input guys, im going to check out some instructors and make my decision.

**Hollister** · September 23, 2010

Camera + evolvr subscription. evolvr is only $39 a month for four videos being analyzed. Excellent value. How much would your pro ask for?

Yes, the evolvr guys teach Stack&Tilt.; Don't bother, Tiger is leaning S&T;, too. :D
Just check those guys out - I am on evolvr since April and made good progress. Snoop around their forum, tells you more about the happy subscribers.

There are many offerings on the Internet teaching conventional swing. Guess you have to ask here and other forums.

**walk18** · September 23, 2010

yeah with a camera you're getting a camera... not a proper swing. with a good instructor, you're learning how to swing the club properly.

Yeah but I've also seen instructors offering horrible advice, and players only getting worse. It's a tough call honestly. I'll amend my advice to echo others, camera + evolvr.

**chspeed** · September 23, 2010

$200 to spend on golf? Hmm. How about 18 holes at a top course and then a martini at the 19th hole?

Seriously though, it depends on your goal.

-Trying to find out what's wrong with your swing? Take a lesson.
-Trying to improve your handicap? Buy a short game book and do NOTHING but practice short game. IMHO, lessons almost never substantially improve people's handicap unless they're either a very high handicap or REALLY commited.
-Enjoy gadgets and analyzing things? Get the camera, but don't expect it to help your golf game much.

hat is your goal? If it's to improve your handicap, forget lessonsI think VERY few golfers improve their handicaps from lessons.

**motteler621** · September 23, 2010

well a high speed camera is always needed for lessons IMO. It seems really hard for an instructor to see what position your clubs at during certain points when you are swinging 100mph in front of him. Ive gotten much more substance from my lessons using a good high speed video compared to in person lessons. Now when you combine the two with alot of video analysis and in person instruction, thats the best.

yeah with a camera you're getting a camera... not a proper swing. with a good instructor, you're learning how to swing the club properly.

yea you cant fix your own swing by watching it. Unless you are at an intructors level.

**mdl** · September 23, 2010

I haven't had the money for more than a couple lessons since I got into golf seriously 3-4 years ago. So I can't really comment on the relative worth. But I can say that I got a tripod just a week or two ago (cheap, $25, quite solid) and have started taking my digital camera to the range. It's AWESOME, and very eye-opening. I posted one vid here already and got some very useful advice, and just getting that instant feed back has been super useful. If your swing's all over the place and you don't have a pretty solid understanding of what you're at least supposed to be doing, then it might not be that helpful. But I've seen a bunch of things I thought I wasn't doing that I know are wrong and has given me lots to work on. So I can definitely say that the camera and tripod are worth it.

If you really only have exactly enough to get a camera with decent FPS, so you'll have to choose, I can't say. But digital cameras are pretty cheap these days if you just want something decent, so maybe get the cheapest camera with decent FPS and a tripod and use the remainder on a few lessons?

**srjorion** · September 23, 2010

I will modify my original statement to include finding a good instructor. Don't hesitate to ask for references. I've had one bad instructor before and a couple of good ones. I've had one that was awesome.

**uttexas** · September 23, 2010

I'd spend no more than $150 on a video camera, then get lessons on evolvr. Evolvr teaches the fundamentals of hitting the ball accurately and far. These fundamentals are consistent with what has been labeled Stack and Tilt.

**Zeph** · September 24, 2010

-Trying to find out what's wrong with your swing? Take a lesson.

Depends all on the instructor. Some may not even find the biggest problems with 2-3 lessons.

-Trying to improve your handicap? Buy a short game book and do NOTHING but practice short game. IMHO, lessons almost never substantially improve people's handicap unless they're either a very high handicap or REALLY commited.

Improved short game will only get you so far, becoming a better ballstriker will do more good for your game.

-Enjoy gadgets and analyzing things? Get the camera, but don't expect it to help your golf game much.

I'm using a camera and got an Evolvr account. My swing has improved dramatically since I started this work.

yea you cant fix your own swing by watching it. Unless you are at an intructors level.

That's the point with this forum and sites like Evolvr.

Lessons or a camera will help you achieve two things; find out what is wrong and how to fix it. Which of them works best for you depends on your ability to understand the swing or what the instructor says. With a good instructor, you can get lots of good stuff to work on. With a bad one, you can take 10 lessons and not get anywhere. That's what I like about using a camera and the internet. Posting it on this forum can give you input from 20 different people. Sure, most of us are not instructors, but we got Erik, and some of the lower capped players are knowledgable. Lessons or a camera is for you to understand what is wrong and how to fix it, the real work come afterwards, when you actually have to make changes. When that time arrives, a camera is very useful.

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Lesson or Camera?!!

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