Want Golf Lessons, but don't want to spend money

Hi Guys,

So I'm at that point where I want someone with a trained eye to see if there is anything that I need to improve my swing, because my swing is getting pretty solid now and I could replicate it pretty much every time. I do not want to introduce any bad habits to my swing.

Here's the problem, (I'm sure must people have this problem) I don't want to spend a fortune on lessons! Most lessons are something like $80 for an hour or something. In your guy's experience, where do you go to find lessons for a good price? Is Craigslist a good place to look? Is Golftec a good option?

Happen to golf a lot at a specific course where the pros know you?  If they can get to know you and observe you at the range, they may offer some free advice if they think you are a "quick fix."

Otherwise, I think the only way you will get discounted but worthwhile lessons is if you happen to know someone that teaches golf and they are willing to cut you a break.  I happen to know someone like this and only pay $40 plus a training bucket of balls for a 1-2 hour session.

This is a tough one.

NORMALLY, you should get value for your money.

If you see an instructor who ACTUALLY knows what they are doing... and I would argue there are less than 50 in the world, yes, I'm honestly saying that, then you should be able to get the IMPORTANT pieces you need to work on in the correct order, and not have to go back for a while until you have pretty well implemented into your swing, and you're motion and pattern has got better.

Now when I say got better, I'm saying, that it doesn't just 'look' prettier... of fit in an 'imaginary cone', but actually produces better results as a biproduct of better geometry.

Of course, you could spend $300 seeing Butch, and he might tell you, 'come back when you're hooking it', with no description of what you need to do to get there.

But I also wouldn't tell you to see someone who is $30 because if they were any good, their expertise and time spent studying the swing PROPERLY, would have more value than that.

Thats just MY opinion.

OR, you could sign up for evolvr, and get the correct information at an affordable price, doing online videos....

I agree with everything James said above.  You got to be careful who get information from because there is way more bad information out there then good information.  I am guessing you are looking for someone in the SF area, I would recommend Paul Gorman.  http://www.youtube.com/user/PGormanator

Are you ever in L.A.?

If you are on a tight budget, then I would definitely evolvr.

http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/

You should always get good value for your money.  Start by asking some of the top players in your area where they get their instruction for recommendations. In this economy most things are negotiable especially if you are a regular customer. I would avoid most recommendations over the Internet from people unless they are a direct student of that teacher and have had success.

I've paid no more than 25 Pounds for a lesson, and this ranged from 45-1Hr of time.

I find the US is overpriced for lessons :)

I agree with a previous post, find a decent local pro to forge a relationship with and build some trust. If you want lessons you won't get everything done in lesson one I can assure you.

I took a free demo at Golftech and loved it.  Then I saw their prices and signed up for Evolvr. Very happy with Evolvr.

I charge anywhere between $75 and $200 an hour for lessons, and I'm worth every penny.

Sometimes golfers strike me as the dumbest chumps in the world. They'll spend $400 for a driver (or $200 if you buy it a year later) but won't go actually get better for a fraction of that price. I teach at a driving range and have seen plenty of chumps spend $10 after $10 after $10 buying range balls to "practice" and not get better.

Butch Harmon ain't worth $1500/hour or whatever he charges, but generally speaking, you get what you pay for. The cheap and lousy instructors are doing my profession a great disservice. You spend $30 and get $2 of information - or worse, $0 and only bad information - and see how you feel about golf instructors.

A single $100 lesson can easily top the information and quality of five $40 lessons if you choose an instructor wisely.

If I pay Harmon $1500 I know that I'm paying for a pro level swing coach.  With range or pro shop instructors (no offense to you or otheres here) there's no way to know if they're good or not unless you get a personal reference from someone who's a good golfer.   You can ask the questions that Erik suggests you ask, but if you're new to the sport and don't know what to ask or what the right answer are to the questions then you're potentially just wasting your money.

I'm curious why you have such a wide variance in what you charge, is it seasonal rates or do you base it on what you think your student can pay?  Are you worth every penny at $75 or $200?

Best way to get value out of golf lessons:

1. Find a good instructor.

2. Pay him or her what he or she is worth.

3. Pay attention during the session.  Make sure you really understand what they're trying to teach you.

4. Practice, practice, practice and practice some more the techniques you're being taught.

5. Follow up with the instructor to check on your progress.

I don't bother with golf instruction anymore, because I don't like to practice.  If you don't, you might as well just buy some whisky--makes every round better with minimal effort.

On the internet there are a lot of free golf video lessons to watch. I know a nice golf channel: just search in youtube: golf video jug and you will find a lot of golf videos! Good luck!

jswang,

One option that you could check out is seeing if any of the municipalities hold free golf clinics at any courses.  My business partner and I do free video analysis at the course we teach at so you can come by there too.

How do you "pay an instructor what they are worth"?  Do you determine that regardless of what they charge?  How does that work?

I've heard nothing but good things from other people who've taken lessons from my instructor. None of us are on the verge of stardom, but we know how to get around the course and he gives us the tools to fix errors when they crop up. I really don't care if he has a different opinion on some abstract concepts, because I'm not looking for miracles. If someone were to suggest he doesn't know what he's talking about, without having met him,  I'd wonder why.

Well, what I meant by that is don't pick someone just because they're the cheapest.  Pick someone who will be able to teach you something, even if they' charge more than you think you want to spend.  The key to getting the most for your buck is not paying the lowest hourly rate, but actually learning something.  That doesn't require a lot of sessions, but it does require a lot of paying attention, thinking, and practice.

I don't necessarily think you need a lot of lessons to improve your golf game, but you do need to understand how the swing works.  I haven't had formal golf instruction since college, but I think about my swing all the time.  I've improved my game just by joining this forum, because it always gives me new things to think about.  Since I read the articles and discussion about club path vs. face angle affecting the starting line of the ball, I've improved my starting lines on cut shots considerably.  I spend a lot of time thinking about different situations I've faced on the course, how I've played those shots, what the results were, and why the results were that way.

Last weekend I faced what I thought was a terribly difficult approach.  175 yards out into the wind.  I was in the right rough, with a decent lie, but blocked out by a tree.  My clear line was about 60 feet left of the green, which would have put me in the middle of a pond.  I ended up hitting a punch-cut with a 3-iron which started out over the middle of the pond and sliced back perfectly onto the left third of the green.

The point is that I had confidence to hit that shot because I understood completely what I needed to do to pull off the shot.  Previously I would have tried to start my line (swing path) very close to the tree, and with an open face I would have hit the ball dead into the tree.  But, because I had really learned something, I hit a great shot that surprised me and my playing partners (it was a really hard shot, but it was easy with the right knowledge).

Learn the information.  Really learn it and understand it.  If you have that, and the physical ability to make your body do what needs to be done (which is acquired through thousands of swings, not lessons), then you will undoubtedly improve.

I see what you mean now k-troop, but it is still difficult to determine the "value" of an instructor, especially for higher cappers.

Especially when someone like James claims there's only about 50 good instructors who actually know what they're doing out there.