Jump to content
IGNORED

Yet another wasted golf lesson


Note: This thread is 3997 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

I suppose I'm the one to blame here: I was on groupon and saw a one-hour lesson on there for 29.00. The instructor was the head pro at a course I've been interested in playing so I figured "why not". I went there yesterday. Long story short, it turned out to be another half interested, cliche laden session where the instructor demonstrated nothing more than a mis-informed knowledge base.

2 days prior to showing up, I sent him an email... giving him my athletic background, my short term/long term goals for golf, a little bit of recent medical background, and links to my swing videos posted on youtube. I was really hoping he would in turn match the enthusiasm for instruction, ask questions, or at least extend the dialogue going into the lesson. Nope, didn't even respond. No sooner than I had arrived did he reveal he barely even skimmed over my email and didn't look at one swing video.

At that point, I was really turned off but proceeded with the "lesson" anyway. It was basically an analysis of my swing in which he observed my ball flight to determine my swing issues. So for an hour, I got to hear what adjustments I needed to make to hit the ball straighter, "ball lands where the face is pointed, path determines starting direction..." blah blah blah. Even the drills he offered were drills I have easily found with 10 seconds of google research. What really did him in (in my mind) was his advice to open my stance relative to the target, especially after I told him that my misses were usually slices.

I dunno, perhaps he was having a bad day (I actually asked him if he was tired because he seemed like he was somewhere else mentally) but I left feeling really disappointed that all he (among the other two "pros" i've taken lessons from) had to offer equates to nothing more than golf jargon without any serious analysis. And perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations... after all, it was a groupon lesson, for cheap.. I'm guessing he was using the groupon offer as bait, but he really failed to set the hook.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

That is frustrating to hear. I've come across a few different types of club pros. There is the one who is enthusiastic and really wants to help you play better golf. It's almost as if they feel bad that you're not striking the ball well. And then there is the one who just does it because its required of his position. He can play solid golf, but has no interest in helping others play well. He's just there to pick up his paycheck, play the skins matches with the members, and talk about the days he "almost made" the Tour. I've been fortunate and the only lessons I've received were from the head pro at the course I worked at. He was the type who would take the time out of his day to just spend 10-15 minutes with me if I mentioned something was wrong. It can be difficult to find an instructor who works well with you. It's almost like a bonding chemistry when you find that right instructor. I feel for you though. Hope you can find a pro that works well with you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Unfortunately there's a lot of bad golf instructors out there.  $29 for an hour lesson reeks at worst case of a desperate act to make some quick cash from one time students, or best case a loss leader campaign that helps him sign up new suckers.   Not reading your e-mail or watching your swing video was probably a good indicator of how the rest of the lesson was going to go.

I think it's great this site is run and moderated by top golf instructors so they can act as the standard for what we should be looking for in a local golf instructor.

Joe Paradiso

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by divot dave

I suppose I'm the one to blame here: I was on groupon and saw a one-hour lesson on there for 29.00. The instructor was the head pro at a course I've been interested in playing so I figured "why not". I went there yesterday. Long story short, it turned out to be another half interested, cliche laden session where the instructor demonstrated nothing more than a mis-informed knowledge base.

2 days prior to showing up, I sent him an email... giving him my athletic background, my short term/long term goals for golf, a little bit of recent medical background, and links to my swing videos posted on youtube. I was really hoping he would in turn match the enthusiasm for instruction, ask questions, or at least extend the dialogue going into the lesson. Nope, didn't even respond. No sooner than I had arrived did he reveal he barely even skimmed over my email and didn't look at one swing video.

At that point, I was really turned off but proceeded with the "lesson" anyway. It was basically an analysis of my swing in which he observed my ball flight to determine my swing issues. So for an hour, I got to hear what adjustments I needed to make to hit the ball straighter, "ball lands where the face is pointed, path determines starting direction..." blah blah blah. Even the drills he offered were drills I have easily found with 10 seconds of google research. What really did him in (in my mind) was his advice to open my stance relative to the target, especially after I told him that my misses were usually slices.

I dunno, perhaps he was having a bad day (I actually asked him if he was tired because he seemed like he was somewhere else mentally) but I left feeling really disappointed that all he (among the other two "pros" i've taken lessons from) had to offer equates to nothing more than golf jargon without any serious analysis. And perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations... after all, it was a groupon lesson, for cheap.. I'm guessing he was using the groupon offer as bait, but he really failed to set the hook.

If he told you the info I set in bold then he is incorrect. The club face determines the start direction and the path determines the curve of the ball.

5 Simple Keys® Associate

"Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most accurate misses.

The people who win make the smallest mistakes." - Gene Littler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

It sounds like you were the lady at the driving range in Happy Gilmore and you had Chubs sitting there reading Golf Weekly and mumbling "Thatttt's rightttt.... veryyyy gooooddd.... it's allll in the hips... goooooddd..."

Sorry to hear this in all seriousness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Originally Posted by newtogolf

Unfortunately there's a lot of bad golf instructors out there.  $29 for an hour lesson reeks at worst case of a desperate act to make some quick cash from one time students, or best case a loss leader campaign that helps him sign up new suckers.   Not reading your e-mail or watching your swing video was probably a good indicator of how the rest of the lesson was going to go.

I think it's great this site is run and moderated by top golf instructors so they can act as the standard for what we should be looking for in a local golf instructor.

exactly

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

If he told you the info I set in bold then he is incorrect. The club face determines the start direction and the path determines the curve of the ball.

i know that.... and part of my disappointment was that I've heard that jargon from all of my previous instructors. I just don't understand how someone who makes a living as an instructor of the sport can be so detached from accurate information concerning it.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by Spyder

It sounds like you were the lady at the driving range in Happy Gilmore and you had Chubs sitting there reading Golf Weekly and mumbling "Thatttt's rightttt.... veryyyy gooooddd.... it's allll in the hips... goooooddd..."

Sorry to hear this in all seriousness.

hilarious, that is EXACTLY how i felt... i thought of the same illustration while driving home.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I wish I knew a solid answer to the sort of problem you are describing, and which I have seen a number of times in the short time I've been hanging around this forum.  I feel really blessed that I sort of stumbled right into a pro that I seem to have a pretty good rapport with and who doesn't seem to tell me to do stupid stuff.  However, if at this point I wanted to find another pro I don't think I'd be looking for coupon deals.  (For what it's worth, my current pro's rates are VERY fair, though more than twenty-nine bucks an hour.)

I would go to the club/course/range (whatever) and have a chat with the guy/gal.  Discuss my current game status and what I was hoping to improve and accomplish and count on intuition, if you will, to tell me if I'm talking to someone that is willing and able to help me.  There are a lot of different sort of golfers, and so a lot of different sort of teachers I'm thinking.  I suspect there are quite a few pros out there that make a career of sorts out of helping hackers finally break 110.  That's okay, there are a lot of people that would like to break 110 one day.  I suspect there are others that would be candidates to coach PGA pros if only they had a PGA pro to coach and are deeply frustrated by the parade of hackers they are faced with day after day.

Here's the deal though; after you interview some pros and find one that you feel pretty good about, you need to make a commitment of your own to work with that person for a while.  Taking one lesson and deciding that you didn't get what you wanted may not be indicative of probable future results.  Take the lesson, practice what is suggested, and come back next week.  Next week, tell the pro what you are hoping to accomplish (again, if needed) and how last week's lesson may have helped to get there. (It never hurts to stroke people a bit, even golf pros.)  Be sure to try to focus the next lesson in the direction you want it to go, and if it's not, try to find out why the teacher doesn't think that is the right thing to focus on.  Maybe they are just an idiot.  But there's also a good chance they see things in your swing that are more important to focus on just now.

You may be in a very different place with your game than I was, but the handicap indicated in your profile doesn't show it.  But it is worth keeping in mind that it is unlikely that any teacher will sort out all of your problems and make you a low single digit handicapper after the first hour.  One of the things that has become clear to me on my own road to a decent swing is that things my pro has been telling me to do have built on each other.  I could not have begun trying to practice B without first solving problem A.  Thus, once you find a teacher you feel pretty good about, continue to build that relationship, and take the lessons.  How many lessons?  Who knows.  Tiger still takes lessons.  I took a lesson a week for a while.  Now taking maybe one or two a month.

Good results on the course are, for me, worth the price of lessons.

  • Upvote 1

Driver: Titleist 913 D2 10.5*, Aldila RIP Phenom 50

Fairway 1: Titleist 913F, 17*, Titleist Bassara W55

Fairway 2: Titleist 913F, 21*, Titleist Bassara W55

Irons: Titleist AP1 714 5-PW, Aerotech Steelfiber i95

Wedges: SCOR 4161 48/52/56/60, Genius 9

Grips: GolfPride New Decade Red Mid-size on all of the above.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 - Super Stroke Slim 3.0

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Moderator
Originally Posted by divot dave

I suppose I'm the one to blame here: I was on groupon and saw a one-hour lesson on there for 29.00. The instructor was the head pro at a course I've been interested in playing so I figured "why not". I went there yesterday. Long story short, it turned out to be another half interested, cliche laden session where the instructor demonstrated nothing more than a mis-informed knowledge base.

2 days prior to showing up, I sent him an email... giving him my athletic background, my short term/long term goals for golf, a little bit of recent medical background, and links to my swing videos posted on youtube. I was really hoping he would in turn match the enthusiasm for instruction, ask questions, or at least extend the dialogue going into the lesson. Nope, didn't even respond. No sooner than I had arrived did he reveal he barely even skimmed over my email and didn't look at one swing video.

At that point, I was really turned off but proceeded with the "lesson" anyway. It was basically an analysis of my swing in which he observed my ball flight to determine my swing issues. So for an hour, I got to hear what adjustments I needed to make to hit the ball straighter, "ball lands where the face is pointed, path determines starting direction..." blah blah blah. Even the drills he offered were drills I have easily found with 10 seconds of google research. What really did him in (in my mind) was his advice to open my stance relative to the target, especially after I told him that my misses were usually slices.

I dunno, perhaps he was having a bad day (I actually asked him if he was tired because he seemed like he was somewhere else mentally) but I left feeling really disappointed that all he (among the other two "pros" i've taken lessons from) had to offer equates to nothing more than golf jargon without any serious analysis. And perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations... after all, it was a groupon lesson, for cheap.. I'm guessing he was using the groupon offer as bait, but he really failed to set the hook.

If you want to spend $30 on really good golf instruction, look no further than http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/whatis

or make the trip to Erie http://thegolfevolution.com/locations

Mike McLoughlin

Check out my friends on Evolvr!
Follow The Sand Trap on Twitter!  and on Facebook
Golf Terminology -  Analyzr  -  My FacebookTwitter and Instagram 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by mvmac

If you want to spend $30 on really good golf instruction, look no further than http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/whatis

or make the trip to Erie http://thegolfevolution.com/locations

I grew up just north of Erie in Chautauqua County, NY. Trust me, if I don't make the trip this summer, you'll probably find me on evolvr.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Best $40 bucks I ever spent were for the Evolvr lessons!

Ditto. I just started but it's really nice to have the confidence that you're not wasting your time and that as long as you supply the discipline the lessons will get you there.

Yours in earnest, Jason.
Call me Ernest, or EJ or Ernie.

PSA - "If you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!"

My Whackin' Sticks: :cleveland: 330cc 2003 Launcher 10.5*  :tmade: RBZ HL 3w  :nickent: 3DX DC 3H, 3DX RC 4H  :callaway: X-22 5-AW  :nike:SV tour 56* SW :mizuno: MP-T11 60* LW :bridgestone: customized TD-03 putter :tmade:Penta TP3   :aimpoint:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I am getting back into golf and find lessons a huge help. Granted I asked around for a pro and found one at my local CC who was not only good, but also one of the nicest people I have ever met.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Quote:
And perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations...

Bingo.

I'm not sure its reasonable to expect him to do prep work outside the lesson and so forth for $29.  If you had shown up and he'd handed you a $100 invoice for four hours of prep work, you'd be on here complaining about that.

Finding a teacher is very difficult.  It is not like buying something off a shelf at Wal-Mart.  Some martial arts diciplines consider choice of teacher as important as choice of spouse in one's life.  The relationship has to work.

You had a bad experience.  I will say thank you for not saying his name on the forum because i think that would have been bad form.

I go to a pro I think is great.  I referred a friend there for a lesson and he hated it and the pro.  Its just a total personal connection thing IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Bingo.

I'm not sure its reasonable to expect him to do prep work outside the lesson and so forth for $29.  If you had shown up and he'd handed you a $100 invoice for four hours of prep work, you'd be on here complaining about that.

Finding a teacher is very difficult.  It is not like buying something off a shelf at Wal-Mart.  Some martial arts diciplines consider choice of teacher as important as choice of spouse in one's life.  The relationship has to work.

You had a bad experience.  I will say thank you for not saying his name on the forum because i think that would have been bad form.

I go to a pro I think is great.  I referred a friend there for a lesson and he hated it and the pro.  Its just a total personal connection thing IMO.

I don't consider reading an email and spending 16 seconds looking at a swing video "prep work". His website invites guests to send him correspondence so I wasn't making an inappropriate assumption by sending him an email.

I've worked as a coach before, both as a volunteer and as a paid assistant (different sport). I have also been coached by many different instructors spanning several disciplines over the years. The good ones have certain qualities in common, namely an evident excitement for teaching their craft, and an enthusiasm for students who demonstrate a similar passion to learn the craft. This guy demonstrated neither, and my disappointment was a compounding one based on previous experiences with PGA certified pros.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Bingo.

I'm not sure its reasonable to expect him to do prep work outside the lesson and so forth for $29.

I have to disagree with you regarding this statement. While I don't necessarily think the instructor had to look at the videos atleast reading the e-mail description of what the OP is looking to accomplish and a bit of his background should have been expected. I mean how is reading that e-mail different then talking with someone before they get the lesson. It give the instructor and idea of where the client is so they can have a plan of attack going on.

Regardless of the cost showing interest in your students shouldnt be out of the question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Note: This thread is 3997 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Posts

    • @boogielicious and I are definitely in for the Stay & Play and will need the extra night's stay on Friday. I don't know what the plans are for our group on Friday but even if we don't make it for dinner with the rest of the Friday arrivals, I'll be more than happy to meet up somewhere for a beer or something.
    • Taking your dispersion and distance in consideration I analyzed the 4 posible ways to play the hole, or at least the ones that were listed here. I took the brown grass on the left as fescue were you need to punch out sideways to the fairway and rigth of the car path to be fescue too.  Driver "going for the green"  You have to aim more rigth, to the bunker in order to center your shotzone in between the fescue.  Wood of 240 over the bunkers I already like this one more for you. More room to land between the fescue. Balls in the fescue 11% down from 30% with driver. Improve of score from 4.55 to 4.40. 4 iron 210 yards besides the bunkers.    Also a wide area and your shot zone is better than previous ones. This makes almost the fescue dissapear. You really need to hit a bad one (sometimes shit happens). Because of that and only having 120 yards in this is the best choice so far. Down to 4.32 from 4.40. Finally the 6 Iron 180 yards to avoid all trouble.    Wide area an narrow dispersion for almost been in the fairway all the time. Similar than the previous one but 25 yards farther for the hole to avoid been in the bunkers. Average remains the same, 4.33 to 4.32.  Conclusion is easy. Either your 4iron or 6 iron of the tee are equaly good for you. Glad that you made par!
    • Wish I could have spent 5 minutes in the middle of the morning round to hit some balls at the range. Just did much more of right side through with keeping the shoulders feeling level (not dipping), and I was flushing them. Lol. Maybe too much focus on hands stuff while playing.
    • Last year I made an excel that can easily measure with my own SG data the average score for each club of the tee. Even the difference in score if you aim more left or right with the same club. I like it because it can be tweaked to account for different kind of rough, trees, hazards, greens etc.     As an example, On Par 5's that you have fescue on both sides were you can count them as a water hazard (penalty or punch out sideways), unless 3 wood or hybrid lands in a wider area between the fescue you should always hit driver. With a shorter club you are going to hit a couple less balls in the fescue than driver but you are not going to offset the fact that 100% of the shots are going to be played 30 or more yards longer. Here is a 560 par 5. Driver distance 280 yards total, 3 wood 250, hybrid 220. Distance between fescue is 30 yards (pretty tight). Dispersion for Driver is 62 yards. 56 for 3 wood and 49 for hybrid. Aiming of course at the middle of the fairway (20 yards wide) with driver you are going to hit 34% of balls on the fescue (17% left/17% right). 48% to the fairway and the rest to the rough.  The average score is going to be around 5.14. Looking at the result with 3 wood and hybrid you are going to hit less balls in the fescue but because of having longer 2nd shots you are going to score slightly worst. 5.17 and 5.25 respectively.    Things changes when the fescue is taller and you are probably going to loose the ball so changing the penalty of hitting there playing a 3 wood or hybrid gives a better score in the hole.  Off course 30 yards between penalty hazards is way to small. You normally have 60 or more, in that cases the score is going to be more close to 5 and been the Driver the weapon of choice.  The point is to see that no matter how tight the hole is, depending on the hole sometimes Driver is the play and sometimes 6 irons is the play. Is easy to see that on easy holes, but holes like this:  you need to crunch the numbers to find the best strategy.     
    • Very much so. I think the intimidation factor that a lot of people feel playing against someone who's actually very good is significant. I know that Winged Foot pride themselves on the strength of the club. I think they have something like 40-50 players who are plus something. Club championships there are pretty competitive. Can't imagine Oakmont isn't similar. The more I think about this, the more likely it seems that this club is legit. Winning also breeds confidence and I'm sure the other clubs when they play this one are expecting to lose - that can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...