Moving on from an instructor ?

I just finished up a "round" of lessons with my current instructor. Overall I have had 8-9 lessons with him. First I want to say I really like him and he definitely cares. Although they are only suppose to be "hour" long lessons he stays at least 90 minutes with me each time. And constantly taking money of the price of the lessons because I have stuck with him. He also has all the latest technology. His intentions are 100% all good and I firmly believe that...

Having said all the above, Im not seeing the progress. And it is not me not putting work in. I put a ton of range time in and constantly working at my game. I have had 9 lessons with him and we haven't advanced past a 6 iron and I am still inconsistent as hell just with the short irons we have been working on for 8-9 lessons.

I don't think hes a bad teacher and I like him personally but for whatever reason I don't think we are mixing together. Am I wrong? Is is possible it is just taking very long? Im currently looking at possibly GOLFTEC but Im nervous as well. I don't want to fire this guy if it means Im really starting completely over.

Im just struggling with this decision right now. Once the spring comes  I want to be able to play decent golf...

What region of the country do you live in?

@lhagsjr Well, you could try a single lesson from someone else in your area. If you're in a club, folks in there usually know the good ones and the not so good ones. Make sure you write down what you're having trouble with and bring that with you to the lesson. Having the latest technology is fine and dandy, but you don't really need that right now. What you need are fundamentals.

Most of the better players and pros I see spend most of their time practicing hitting iron shots. That's typically 9 iron and 6 or 7 irons working on various aspects of their swing. Some will hit a few driver shots, and maybe a few 3W shots. Then will hit some wedge shots and call it a day right now. When the weather gets better they'll be on the putting green.

The technique for hitting a hybrid isn't any different than an iron except it's played more forward in the stance. You hit down on the ball, and take a divot after the ball. So I really wouldn't worry about it.

That was the first thing that popped into my mind..

Could it be that maybe you just need more time vs someone else..?  I know it takes me longer to ingrain something into my swing.

Also, have you talked to any of his other students, and asked them how they are doing with regards to his instruction..?

If you've genuinely lost confidence in him, you should move on because I believe you need to have some degree of faith in your instructor for when he asks you to do or try things that are counterintuitive, take a while to pay off, or are outside of your comfort zone. At that point, if you don't trust that it'll work, you may not be able to commit to trying it as hard as you should, doubt creeps in, and you start trying to go back to old habits. And your doubt in him will be self-fulfilling at that stage. So try someone else. Maybe it's a matter of just hearing someone else present ideas to you in different ways or you just plain need a change of scenery. Or maybe he really does stink as a coach, haha. In any event, I'd at least consider finding someone else more strongly.

I might ask how do you hit the ball when you, and the instructor are together, in lesson mode? Do you hit the ball better when you are with him, and worse when you are on your own? If you are worse when on your own, then for what ever reason, you are leaving his teachings at his practice area.

A new instructor could put a different spin on the same teachings you are getting now, which you would understand better. More understanding "might" mean you could take what is being taught, and use the info on your solo outings. I struggled with lessons when I first started out. I went through a couple of instructors to no avail. Gave up on instructors, and decided to teach myself, and made more progress  Then one day I was on practice range, and met up with the local  (no name/credentials) range pro. 30 minutes, and $15 later, I was a much better golfer just because of one tip, given to me using  baseball terminology.

It's also my opinion that some folks just won't play golf as well as others, all things being equal. Some folks just do not have it in themselves to play better golf than the next guy who is more gifted.

I'll bite, "hit to right field"?

Couple of thoughts.  1) If you are truly a 30 hcp, I think you should see almost immediate improvement with an instructor to get you to be a "bogey golfer," unless you are just absolutely and completely un-athletic, un-coordinated or un-trainable.  2) Whether you stay with this instructor or move to another one, you should spend the first part of your first/next lesson discussing where you are at with your game/swing and setting expectations and goals for what you want to accomplish.  What are your strengths and weaknesses?  What are your misses and tendencies?  What does "improvement" mean quantitatively?  What's the lesson plan as far as range, video, on-course playing lesson, etc.?

Depends what you mean by immediately? I mean I have been with Evolvr for over a year and I'm not a bogy golfer yet.. I'm pretty athletic and coordinated.

Maybe I need to define what I mean by "immediately" and "bogey golfer."  I don't mean you should go out and consistently shoot 90 right away.  But, I believe you should be able to break 100 after a few months of (the right) lessons and consistent practice and play.  I've seen people do it all the time without any lessons at all.

I have no final answer for you, but a suggestion.  Start a My Swing thread here with video of your swing.  See what the experts say about your swing and what you should be working on and then compare that to what your current instructor is telling you.  Then re-evaluate.

Noticed you created another thread with a similar message not too long ago. http://thesandtrap.com/t/77831/my-golf-experience#post_1069652 How many lessons/instructors have you gone through in total? How often do you practice versus play? Seems like you may have become a bit of a range rat. Working on the range is one thing but the handicap won't drop until you get a lot of rounds under your belt.

Also update your my swing thread

So if you're that frustrated with instruction, just play and have fun. So you shoot 100? So what.

Here's my suggestion - practice your swing and groove it. If someone keeps changing your swing you'll never get consistent at doing anything. You know the drills you need to practice. Start with your Pitching Wedge, then your 8 iron, then your 6 iron. Don't change anything. Go to the range with a purpose. Your hybrid swing isn't anything more than a 6 iron swing except with a longer club. That's all. The driver is another beast altogether. If you can't keep it in the fairway, don't use it - that's my advice. Use a 3W off the tee, or hell even a 5 iron. If you get proficient with a 7 iron you can easily break 100.

I'm not all that fired up on taking lessons at the moment either. It seems like I get something going well. I get into a groove, then I want to learn something with a particular club and an instructor starts changing everything. Well, I've gone from two weeks of near perfect center contact, to taking a lesson Thursday, to wanting to throw my clubs on the side of the road today. I'm done with lessons. I'm going back to what was working before I took my lesson on Thursday. I'm going to groove my swing and get ready for spring.

I did not play golf until my late 20's.  Did not get a lesson until I was around 32.  I got a few lessons from different instructors and I just did not like them. Cocky, said dumb things, late, would cancel on me, etc.   I then met a group of instructors who ran their own "academy".  I started out with one of the instructors for a few years. He was the first to show me my swing on video.  I had no clue how bad my swing was until I worked with him.  More of a "feel" instructor. I got much better with him.  I decided to switch to his partner who is more analytical which is more of my style.  The basic parts of my swing were built. I wanted to take it to the next level so I worked with the second instructor for a few years.  We dove even deeper into my swing and short game.

I got much better but I was very inconsistent (shoot an 82 one day and a 95 the next).  I would hit the ball like a pro during instruction and then resort back to old habits afterwards.

What I learned and what I think could help the OP who is having issues.

- I spent wayyyyyyy too much time at the range.  I would hit buckets upon buckets of balls and then spend a lot of time around the practice greens putting and chipping.  Practice is great and necessary, but when you practice too much those old habits are going to start showing up slowly and will eventually build itself back into your game.  I started to question my instructor as well.  I was getting better but then started to play bad again.  It was his instruction, not me.  Wrong.

What I finally decided to do is get on the course more.  Not rocket science, but if you are ever going to improve you have to put yourself in more stressful situations.  I started to play in tournaments, dogfights, etc.  Best advice I got was if you want to get better you need to lose some money.  Eventually you are going to get tired of giving your money to others on the course and have no choice but to get better and perform when it counts.  When I finally got the nerves out of my system, not afraid to play with strangers, get a swagger into my game, and most important hit a lot of great shots on the course and make crucial putts when I had to my game really became much more consistent and I enjoyed playing on the course.

Other piece of advice is find some guys who are good golfers. I am talking legit single digit players who do not mind you playing with them.  Keep up with their pace even if it means picking up your ball, but watch how they play, their mannerisms, etc. Those rounds were just as valuable as any lesson I had with my teacher, but you absolutely have to keep working on what your pro is teaching you and not what others on the course think you should be doing.

In a nutshell.  Any teacher is an contractor of lhagsjr! If you are not happy get another contractor.

Outside the nutshell....I have been there.  I was loyal to my first teacher and rightly so.  But at some point I needed a metaphorical kick to the head!  So I went to a pro at another course and had a 6 lesson series.  My original pro saw me on the range getting a lesson one afternoon and was a little surprised but he understood.  We talked about what I learned and made great strides from there.

I also chuckle at those who say a lesson will screw up their swing.  Yeah that's the point.  I certainly don't go out and get a major swing change lesson before the club championship but if I want to improve then I will have to blow up my game every once in a while.  Anyone who is coachable understands this and the difference between a tune up and a rebuild.

Somebody else mentioned too much practice.  Yeah, I agree with that as I was in that trap for the last two seasons beating balls until my hands bleed.  Toward the end of last summer I broke that habit.  My pro blew up my swing again but I resisted too much range time.  Hit a few balls then go play.  I am now out of a 2 year slump and am on the verge of another handicap drop.