Going to Golftec tonight......

I've read many threads on this and other websites regarding lessons and Golftec.  I am going to Golftec tonight for my swing evaluation.  At this point that is all that I am committed to.

I have read good and bad things regarding the packages and follow up lessons.  Not sure if I will go that route or not.  I did want to at least go in for an initial swing evaluation because I have never had my swing video taped before and have never gotten any numbers for my golf swing.  Thus I figured it would be good to get a baseline on my numbers so that I would know what my swing speed is and numbers on some other stats as well.

Depending on how it goes I will then decide if I purchase lessons or anything like that.  I will be sure to post after the session so that those who are considering can have even more information before making their decision.  Also I will try to post the videos as well as I myself and axious to get some feedback from some of the experienced people of this great site.

Just so you know they do not do swing speed in the eval only in the club fitting. At least in Vegas.

I you read the thread on here you know I am in the middle of Lessons with Golf Tec.  I have managed to make some very major changes.

The lessons are good but for me the most valuable thing is the practice sessions in the bay with the cameras and sensors.  These have allowed me to make the changes and turn them into habits.

Good Luck

According to their website you can do either the club fitting or the initial swing evaluation and I was under the impression that doing the latter gets video of your swing with some tips and that they also monitor your numbers?

That's going to suck if I do not find out my swing speed and other numbers!  Oh well, at least if I get some video then I can have some people critique it and it will be a starting point.

They measure hip and shoulder turn and tilt things like that. You were a harness that puts those numbers up on the screen. But you are not on a launch monitor so none of those numbers.  If you are looking to improve your swing then you will get what you need. If you have never seen you swing you will get your eyes opened.  They will go over what is good and what needs to be fixed  and let you know how the will go about fixing it and how many lessons and how much time it will take.

I took the video and put it on the swing academy and a pretty good teacher took a look and offered to do video lessons with me for free.  However I knew that I was going to need the video feed back during practice sessions to improve so paid the money.

They done a swing evaluation for me for free,It was right at an hour long..He got my speed and compared my swings side by side to tiger woods and luke donald.They get some great video but wont let you access it until you pay for lessons .BUT for free is was WELL WORTH IT!He actually told me what my problem was.I am trying to correct it on my own but havent had no luck yet.

They also compare how much hip turn and shoulder turn/degrees you have and compare it to what the pros average which was pretty kool.If the lessons wasnt so high I would jump on it.$360 for 5 30 minute lessons is pretty steep for me.

At Carl's Golfland here in Michigan I got 4 30 minutes lessons for $160.

Here in my area about 10 miles away I found a local pro that does $40 lessons.I googled his name and he seems to be pretty decent.I hate how you have to pay for all 5 lessons up front at golftec.At least if I dont like this guy I will be out $40 instead of $360.

It doesn't seem to me that Golftec attempts to compete on price.  They have the most bells and whistles--I haven't seen another place that has hip and shoulder sensors.  They also seem to suggest fairly frequent lessons, which really is only geared to someone who practices every day.

Anyway, if you want to look for price, look at the PGA Superstore.  I bought a group of six one-hour lessons for $99, although that was a sale.  Their normal price is $200, which is still good.  I can schedule them as I need.  I usually schedule them when I think I'm doing well, so he can show me something new to work on.  The teacher I've been connected with has been great--he knows his stuff and is very easy to talk to.

In addition to this, their practice facility is also the best priced location I've ever heard of.  It is unlimited play for the entire year for $100.  Granted, if the place gets full, they limit you to 30 minutes per person, but this is to be fair.  They have two cameras per person and a launch monitor with all the high-tech metrics such as swing speed, ball speed, rotation, smash factor, etc.

The only down side is that it is a turf hitting ground and I have become very accustomed to it.  Getting more comfortable off of grass will be a transition.

I don't work for the company nor do I work in the industry... but they treat me well there so they've earned a loyal customer.  I'm "that guy" that comes in every day.

My local pro has a deal called Winter Tune UP with 8 1/2 hour lessons and 10 separate trips to the indoor practice facility for $300.   I'm going to sign up today.

I'd like to hear from other about their experience at Golfsmith.   The ones around me seem to be pretty good.   The people are friendly and they encourage use of their launch monitors freely.

i think Golf Tec only makes sense if you are doing a big swing make over.  I signed up for 25 lessons ad spread them out over 9 months  the cost then was 50 per which is the going rate for most of the local pros.  The good thing beside the lesson and practice is that i have learned a lot about what my swing should look like. So i think i will be able to do a lot of the ongoing work on my own or maybe with some online lessons.

Let me first say that this post is in no way "dissing" Golftec or anything like that.  I went there Friday night and the guy that I met with was very nice and friendly.  The facility was clean and very nice as well.  I could tell that they had a lot of great equipment.  My initial swing evaluation cost me $195 and lasted 1 hour. It was nice to have video of my swing finally.  I kept asking questions about my swing to get as much as I could out of the lesson.  The instructor was definitely not used to someone like me that has a good idea of how their own swing operates.  I was looking for several things to improve my swing that I already had and left with basically one, and that was to make sure that I keep my left wrist flat or bowed instead of being cupped.

It was basically a sales session for additional lessons.  Golftec gives their "initial swing eval" and shoes their great equipment and then wants you to purchase a package.  The packages are not for me as I do not think it's good for me to go in every week to get on something different.  My idea was once every 3 weeks or 4 weeks or more to come in.  I have a practice area at home that I am comfy with.  The argument that I got from the instructor was that since I did not have video at home that I would not know if I am practicing the right way.  My response was that there may be some truth to this but I am not paying $1500 or more just so I can see if I am practicing right.  I'll know if I am improving if my game improves when I play and that's most important.  To me this is more important then knowing if I am practicing right.

In total I ended up hitting about 50 balls and that was it.  I also wonder how they can do a thorough initial swing eval with just such a small sample?  I did not have that much time to warm up and in addition it was a bit odd being indoors.  I'm using the tip that I got in my practice and am grateful for it as I know that it's toing to help me transition to my desired swingpatch coming from the inside to draw the ball.

I guess my final conclusion is that if you are really new to the game or are looking for a complete over-haul then this may be for you.  For me I just need to tweak some things here and there.  My situation is different though so for some it may be great and for others like myself it may not be the right fit.  Everyone was very nice though and the place was clean and interesting.

My plan when I complete my lessons is to set up a practice area complete with video.  I think that after 9 months I will have a good handle on what I want my swing to look like and if not I will be much better prepared to get online lessons.

I don't know how I'd feel about a full swing evaluation. I've just restarted with a local teaching pro. First lesson was half an hour. We talked about my ballflight and miss patterns, he watched me hit a few balls and gave me a couple of things to work on: one static and one movement. We spent the rest of the time making sure that I had really grasped what he wanted. One week of pretty solid practice later I can really tell the difference in my ballstriking. I know there's more to do, and will definitely schedule more lessons through the year, but I got enough from the first lesson to see a difference and not so much that I was in any way confused. [Price? £25 per half-hour lesson - which tends to stretch a bit]

For me GolfTEC has been very worthwhile.  I signed up for a 25 lesson pack becuase of the % savings/lesson.  Back when I played routinely, I historically experienced flaws in my mechanics that would come and go and seeing them again last summer after a long layoff I knew I wanted something other than a couple of lessons (which worked short term in the past).

What I have developed at GolfTEC is a relationship in that my coach knows my mechanics now and that has helped me tremendously.  And as VegasRenegade pointed out, the practice sessions with video is essential to break bad habits; at least in my case.

All that being said I understand the price barrier for most; self included.  But I knew that I would probably quit golf completely if I didn't get past the problems I had that made the game miserable more often than not.