Girlfriend....keep teaching or send her to a pro?

[crissmillputters]

Hi,
sooooooooo ive been teaching my girlfriend golf for 3 years now, this will be the forth...she has been doing pretty good.....am i offending her by sending her to a pro? Im sure she will think im tired of teaching her...any thoughts?

[MasterOfTheBogey]

I am suprised that you wouldnt have sent her sooner.

You can only learn so much from one person before it becomes like beating a dead horse.
Sending her to a pro can only help her game, so I dont believe that she should be offended by this gesture.

[x-forged]

stick with it buddy, keep teaching her!

[crissmillputters]

yeah, i had to teach her rules, etiquette first.........that was a full season.....she may miss the ball once in awhile but she sure keeps pace :)

[Shindig]

Wow. I won't do more than show someone the grip I use (neutral) and suggest half-swings until they make contact with the ball. I'm afraid I'll be hurting more than I help otherwise. Then again, you're a better player than I am.

Showing them these few things tends to keep random people from offering advice. Other than that, yeah, go see a pro. I'm trying to find a pro for a friend who just got started.

[Three Putt]

Dangerous question...if the pro is good looking probably not.

Next lesson you teach her is hitting a 2 iron off a downhill lie, then give her a $100 target card to go shopping, JMHO.....

[thor]

My wife wants to learn. I get impatient to quickly. I am going to send her to a pro

[Avid Golfer]

If you want to have her strengthen her fundamentals and learn how to play different shots you could buy her a book or video by a golfer she likes (if they have one). Annika Sorenstam's book : Golf Annika's Way might be good for her.

If on the other hand you think she needs fault correction (and doesn't need to learn many new shots) then finding her a golf instructor may be a good idea. You may want to check and see if there are any female golf instructors in the area you live. Resent surveys have shown that female golfers seem to be more comfortable learning from other females.

[MrKadash]

I just get her through the part where I "have" to get behind her and help her grip the club. After that she's on her own.

I have tried a few times over the years with varying success, but a couple were crash and burns. It's a slippery slope.

[Big_M]

  crissmillputters said:

Hi,

I am in a similar situation with my wife... this will be her third season. I started her out by taking her to the driving range a few times, showing her grip, stance, etc. and teaching some ettiquite. Then we bought some clubs and a series of 4 private lessons. The lessons gave her a good foundation to start from. We then began playing on the course together and I still give her pointers/lessons here and there. When we have time for the range I have her focus on things I know she needs to improve with. She has trouble with alignment, and this is easy for me to teach her. She has also developed a slice, and I am currently working with her on this. In order to teach you need to understand a golf swing... swing plane, grip, swing path, etc.... but as long as you understand this stuff it IS possible to succesfuly guide someone to a point. I would keep teaching her until her progress stops, or one of you wants to stop... otherwise, why spend money you don't need to.

  MasterOfTheBogey said:

I am suprised that you wouldnt have sent her sooner.

I don't think he's beating a dead horse if she is still improving... when progress stops then it's probably time to send in a pro.

[Wannabe Paper Tiger]

I've found that it depends on what kind of gal she is. If she's super competitive and/or has a thirst for knowledge then yes you will hit your limit soon and should send her to a pro and she would appreciate it. If she is learning to "have fun" and spend time with you then no because her desire to improve is probably limited and she will probably get offended that you would want to spend less time with her...

[nykfan4life]

like others have said- you can only take her so far.

[g-funk13]

I have asked many couples on the course who seem to play well, AND enjoy each other. ALL of them said that 'she' took lessons. I am teaching my wife the basics, and as soon as I can I am sending her to a pro.

[wigolffan]

I tought my wife how to golf a few years ago, or should sy tried too, almost ruined my marage lmao, send her to a pro!!!!!! She thought I was to critical, I could not figure out why I had to tell her the same stuff all the time. I finaly relized it was time for a pro when I was standing behind her trying to help her take away and she took a full swing and cracked me in the skull with a 7 wood. Too my credit I did not yell or cry all I said was wow that was a lousy Fin swing

[crissmillputters]

Thanks for the tips guys, im very patient with her, just she wants to be sooooo good sooooooo quick, teaching patients is another thing

[tsbrewers]

I am trying to get my wife to play more, but it's not going well. She enjoys playing, but gets mad when she plays bad. I generally don't try to help anyone I play with but if I see something very obvious I mention it once and leave it at that. She gets mad at me though for saying anything, so it is a lose-lose. I would send her to a pro, but she wouldn't go anyway.

Brew

[Big_M]

  tsbrewers said:

I am trying to get my wife to play more, but it's not going well. She enjoys playing, but gets mad when she plays bad. I generally don't try to help anyone I play with but if I see something very obvious I mention it once and leave it at that. She gets mad at me though for saying anything, so it is a lose-lose. I would send her to a pro, but she wouldn't go anyway.

My wife gets mad when she plays bad and I like that... it means she wants to do better, and she cares how she plays. I also tought my mother how to play and she could care less how she shoots... she laughs at her bad shots. I like that my wife has a little fire in her as I am a very competitve person and don't really understand not trying to do well. However, she doesn't ever get mad at me for trying to help. I always ask her if she wants help first, sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. She will occaisionally be like "why didn't you tell me that three holes ago" and I'll say "I wanted to make sure," or "I didn't notice it yet." But overall she is pretty good about not getting mad at anyone but the course and herself... although I have heard her tell certain clubs that they are in time-out

as to your situation... If she won't let you help and won't go to a pro... then it could be difficult. I would try to get her into instruction somehow... there are some couples instruction weekend vacation type things, and you could say you want instruction. Maybe just point out casually at the range look how that player does X... and X is something she needs to work on. Or just keep trying different ways to get her to a pro, casually introduce her to a pro, etc.

[crissmillputters]

certain clubs are in a time out........thats hilarious!!.........thanks for the morning laugh, i needed that, great advice too