Back From New Instructor and ....

[collegefbfan]

So, I was looking for a golf instructor that was a bit closer to me.  I made a couple of calls and was in touch with a guy about an hour from me.  I call, and he says that he is a club fitter, club restorer, and instructor.  I asked what technology he has and teaching area.  He replies that he has a big front yard, a big backyard, and a net in the backyard.  The good news, he charges $50 an hour.  I said heck, why not.  Didn't know what to expect.  By far the best lesson I have had.  We started out with short pitch shots.  I had been shanking, hooking, slicing, and all the bad stuff.  He wants to work on short stuff first.  He says that if you can't hit it straight from 40 yards, how successful will you be hitting it straight from 140 yards.  He tweaked my grip and worked on some swing mechanics, and I was hitting 20-40 yard pitch shots pretty straight.  He also gave me a tour of his shop where he restores old clubs.

[klineka]

10 hours ago, collegefbfan said:

 I call, and he says that he is a club fitter, club restorer, and instructor.  I asked what technology he has and teaching area.  He replies that he has a big front yard, a big backyard, and a net in the backyard.  

How does he fit for clubs with that setup? 

10 hours ago, collegefbfan said:

He says that if you can't hit it straight from 40 yards, how successful will you be hitting it straight from 140 yards. 

I get this to an extent, but plenty of players have slightly different patterns with different clubs throughout their bag, but using that logic why not start with 3 foot putts or 5yd chip shots?

I have quite different feels for a 20-40yd pitch shot than I do for a 140yd shot. Loft presentation at setup and impact, ground contact, weight transfer (or lackthereof), etc are all different on a 20-40yd shot vs a full iron shot. 

If you enjoyed the lesson and found value in it that's great, personally I'd be a bit annoyed if I went in and wanted to work on full swing stuff and this guy has me doing 20-40yd pitch shots for an hour with my lob wedge.

[billchao]

22 minutes ago, klineka said:

I have quite different feels for a 20-40yd pitch shot than I do for a 140yd shot. Loft presentation at setup and impact, ground contact, weight transfer (or lackthereof), etc are all different on a 20-40yd shot vs a full iron shot. 

^ right here. A short game pitching motion is not the same as a full swing in feel nor intent. It’s just not a mini-swing at all.

Now if the instructor said to make slow full swings with a 6i and try to hit them only 100 yards, that would be more in line with what I view full swing instruction to be.

[iacas]

The Golfing Machine calls a shorter full swing motion “pitching” IIRC but I don’t think that’s what was going on here.

Did you get video or anything? Launch monitor data?

[snapfade]

Is the guy a PGA professional or a USGTF professional, or just a guy that tinkers in a shop and has a pretty good golf game? Not knocking you in any way, just curios. Did he take a look at your clubs and take any measurements to see if your clubs length/ lie were OK for you? If you are hitting on a full size range then the launch monitor isn't 100% necessary, ball flight will tell you a lot along with some foot powder on the club face. If all he has is a net then yes a launch monitor is needed.  50 bucks an hour seems like a good deal. I pay 50 for a 1/2 hour. 30 mins is about all my mind will absorb and I leave with one solid thing to practice and a few drills to last to next time. Keep us posted on your journey. 

[collegefbfan]

He does club fitting at another location.  I thought there were a lot of people that were fans of learning from the hole outwards.  When you are a 50 year old beginner like me, making contact and making it go pretty straight is a far different side of the spectrum that fatting it, thinning it, whiffing it, etc.  He has been instructing for 30 years.  I have been to 4 PGA teaching professionals.  Not a single one of them looked at me gripping the club, saying it was fine, etc.  Isn't the grip the only thing that connects the player to the club?  I don't even have a consistent full swing yet, not sure measuring for lie angle and that stuff would matter at this point.  Thanks you all.

[retoid]

Those old club restorations looks beautiful!