Just had first lesson, wow, time to unlearn bad habits

Hello all,

Feeling very excited, just had my first lesson.. It was great, nice instructor ,articulate and enthusiastic.. I learnt a lot within the hour.. So many little pointers that I wrote down when I got home, and now begin the journey of putting them into practise with my net in the backyard...

I have only been playing 1 month, and after first lesson, I cannot help but feel that I should have simply begun with 1 or 2 lessons before playing rounds of golf.. I have to unlearn the many little habits/traits that have developed within a short period of time in my game..

For any "raw" beginner, forget about hitting about  thousands of balls within the first month (I tried it!!), go get a lesson, learn the right way from the beginning..

Any others experienced this..

Already my swing is looking and feeling better, my shots are already improving..

Love this game!

Looseleftie

I just had my first lesson this week as well Looseleftie! I've got some really bad habits ingrained over 10+ years of bad hacking. I started to get serious about the game last year and started working on my swing, but having my first lesson was great and gave me instant feedback.

My instructor gave me two things essentially to work on (get wide and swing left), and also gave me a lot of advice on how to analyze my swing when I'm having trouble. He also flat out told me "I'm giving you the tools so that you can improve without having to always come to me for lessons." Which I appreciate much more than "Please come back in a week."

I wish I could say my shots are improving though, it's going to take me a lot of time to build consistency again. I had always struck the ball fairly well, but could never really get the distance or consistent ball striking. Although I feel like I'm taking a couple steps back, looking at my swing in video, it looks MUCH better.

I was a self-taught golfer for about 8 years, using a book by old-time pro Doug Ford (1950s) and things I observed as a caddie. It took me a long time to recover from this. So, your move to lessons is a good one - there's still time to learn!

Using the practice net in the yard can be a part of learning, but if at all possible get out to the practice range so you can see the full flight of the ball with different clubs. In the early going, work on your short game (duh!) and also getting your tee shots in the fairway. It's easier to learn how to hit irons if your ball is in short grass rather than 6-inch-deep rough.

Hit a bucket of balls a couple of times a week,concentrating on each shot. Ideas situation: hit balls and then play a few holes during twilight specials. Also, par 3 courses are a good place to hone your irons and short game - the emphasis is on precision, not trying to hit a driver 300 yards.

Keep us posted on how you're doing.

I played golf, on and off, for 25 years before ever getting a lesson.  In those 25 years there were a few periods where I tried harder to learn from books or videos.. but mostly I just played occassionally and didn't think much about it.  I hit about 99% slices and was a really terrible golfer.

I am not particularly athletic, never played baseball or other sports.  I don't think I ever would've figured out how not to slice it if I didn't take lessons.  It took 10 or so lessons spread out over 6 months or so just to break most of my bad habits.  Another 8 lessons a year later and I can honestly say I do not slice the ball anymore (hit it left, top it, hit it fat, etc . .but I no longer slice with any regularity).

So, yeah, I wish I had taken lessons sometime when I was just starting out.   I could've gotten so much more enjoyment from the game over the years.

Make sure you have him work on your short game and not just your swing. So many people just want to pound balls but there's a lot more than that. Also realize sometimes it's going to get worse before it gets better and the only way to make it better is to practice it 500+ times (for me at least).

i tell my golfing buddies this all the time, including the newbies who joined our society

"for a £100 worth of lessons will improve your swing to the point you will enjoy the game more ande not loose as many balls"

but they all seem intent on either turning up and just hoping to be good,.....or hitting a million range balls

after multiple lessons i can two-three weeks off from hitting a golf ball and go back to hit decent shots withint 2-3 swings because of what i learnt not just mechanically but mentally,.....

id recommend lessons all day long

They really are almost a prerequisite for golf (Bubba being the exception here lol!).. There are just so many things that go into a golf swing, not to even beginning starting on the other thousand aspects of understanding the finer details of this game...

I remembered my instructor and some of the bits of advice he gave me, and I beat my best score by close to 1 shot per hole..That is a pretty sound improvement for me. To be honest I felt that my short game was pretty poor.. It usually is driving and fairway.. Anyway, I am just feeling really inspired.

I am planning on having another lesson within the next two weeks, just want to put the time into everything I have been taught..

Xmanhockey7, my game couldn't get much worse, I began shooting 75-80 for 9 holes 5 weeks ago, today 62, I started right at the bottom, I have nowhere to go but up lol.. My good luck for being such a poor golfer! You are spot on re working at short game, my putting was poor, with 3 putting on many greens today.. My pitches were too hard, still early days..

Cannot recommend correct tuition highly enough.

WUtiger, 3 par courses, you lucky sod!! That would be a great way to end your working day, just a quick hour or so, destress..