Am I going down the right path?

Hi TST

To cut a long story short: I need your help! I have been able to reduce my handicap from 33.9 down to 26.4 over the last 6 months - yet I am not happy with my progress, mainly due to the inconsistency of my game. I am mainly fighting a manageable slice/fade, but unfortunately I am able to hit draws & hooks, fat & thin shots, pulls & pushes as well. I haven't been on the range for 3 months and decided to play 2 more tournaments in 2015 before I focus a lot more on swing changes and the next season.

In 2015 I had 5 lessons with a teaching professional I got on with pretty well. He was able to help me hitting proper draws (even though I would prefer hitting a fade) for a week, before these draws developed into really tough (pull) hooks. To be honest: I let myself down and felt demotivated. At that point I stopped going to the range, I stopped reading my Ben Hogan books - I just hit the course 2-3 times a week and managed to get rid of all the swing thoughts in my head.

My goal is to pick up Ben Hogan's books again, read through the forums here, gain as much knowledge as possible and improve my swing on the range 2-3 times a week  - yet I still like training with a teaching professional once a month.

I was able to book a lesson with a different teaching professional yesterday evening. Both his son and daughter play on the European Tour. His approach was completely different to the one I was used to. Instead of dealing with multiple issues of my swing he asked me to hit a couple of wedge shots, followed by only a few 7 irons. He identified an open club face throughout my takeaway/backswing, a flat backswing and flipping hands. He said that it should be my first goal to hit/compress the ball solid and immediately started showing me a one-handed drill to improve impact/contact. I think I got on pretty well with the drill, so 20 balls later he used a pencil to draw a line through the ground where normally the ball would be sitting. He asked me to swing with both hands and focus onto hitting a divot behind the line. I understood his explanations etc. and again improved immediately. Another 15 swings later (w/o a ball) he finished the lesson, asked me to focus onto the drill and sort of left me in the dark about the "bigger picture" (Where am I going? What is coming next?). I paid the lesson fee and felt a bit .. I don't know ... confused and disorientated? He asked me to come back sometime soon.

What am I supposed to do? Was it a good lesson? How does a good lesson look like?

I thought it might be best to ask you guys for help which is much appreciated!

Cheers

Christian

It sounds as if your instructor is trying to have you focus on one thing.  Master that piece (or at least improve), and then he will have you move on.

It generally doesn't work well if we try to change too many things at once.  As we work on our "priority piece" (best determined by a good instructor), we improve.  Sometimes taking care of one piece may clean up other problems/compensations/adjustments in our swing.  (Some things, like an adjustment in grip or stance, can be done fairly quickly--I'm thinking here mainly of the motions of the swing.)

My take: this instructor may work out well for you.  Work on the drill, and get back to him when you've got it down.  See where it goes from there.

An aside:  Be careful about mixing what you read (Ben Hogan or on this forum or anywhere) with what your instructor is having you work on.  I'm not saying "don't read"; just be careful not to undo what your instructor is working on.

Sounds to like your instructor felt you were not ready for the "bigger picture"yet. You received good instruction for your money I think. I think a lot of times some golfers want everything at once when it comes to swing instruction. To the best of my knowledge, it doesn't work that way. Even with quality instruction, it's going to take  some time before the golfer sees improvement, and understands what is being taught, and is able to put all the pieces together. .

This reminds of that movie The Karate Kid. The youngster was fed up doing the wax on, wax off, paint the fence stuff, and not receiving any actual karate lessons. Then he saw what he had actually learned, while doing the stuff he thought he was wasting his time on.

I would like to thank you guys @mvmac @Patch @Missouri Swede for your responses and input. I just booked the next lesson with him in two weeks' time. I will focus onto the two drills he gave and sit down after work to read the instructional content you linked - great stuff!

I need to learn to be patient and focus onto one thing first before moving on - many thanks for reminding me and sorting me out here.

I will keep you posted about my progress. Perhaps it might be worth starting a blog/diary?

Cheers

Christian