Am I the only one who doesn't believe in golf lessons?

[Harry Longshanks]

A common problem with the typical golfer and lessons is this:

Could not agree more. If you don't commit to regular lessons, I think you are more likely to revert to your old habits because you don't trust what you should be working on. Whereas, if you know you have another lesson coming up, you trust that you can continue working on the technique and then go to the next lesson and get feedback to make sure you are making the changes correctly.

Personally, I always get worse right after a lesson until I groove the new move(s). Now that I have been working with the same pro for several years, I instantly trust what he tells me and I integrate it a lot faster. Now my problem is over-integrating. That is, even after I incorporate the change into my swing, I keep looking for that "awkward" feeling I had when I first started trying to make the change. For some reason, I feel like I'm reverting unless it continues to feel weird. Of course, that's not the case - I'm just learning to incorporate things faster and more efficiently now. One step backward, two steps forward.

[mirv]

i went to a guy for a handful of lessons and basically lost my game for a solid six months. he was trying to recreate the wheel, as someone previously put it. the day before i went to him, i'd shot a 79 on my home course. i was lucky to get below 90 in the months after i went to him. finally one day i just told myself, okay, stop trying to do what he taught you to do and rebuild your swing from the ground up. now i'm back into the low 80s on average.

anyway, point of the story is that i became very defensive against the idea of lessons. my dad would see me have a bad day (by which i mean i'd shoot 89 or 90) and would say "maybe you need to find someone for some lessons," and i'd immediately whirl and point at him and say "no, don't even suggest such a thing, it's not going to happen - you saw what happened to my game after tommy got ahold of it."

however, i've recently realized that i've got some posture/alignment issues. just a small adjustment here or there, except i'm not entirely sure what those adjustments need to be, so i've been shopping around for a pro who will just f'n tell me what i need to know and won't try to restructure my entire game.


...in other words, what everyone's already said here - that it's all about finding the right person for you and what you need.

[phxgolfer]

Personally, I think someone should have a Pro when they are first taking up the game to understand the basic dynamics of a swing, but then just start playing on their own to find their own swing.

[CUREESE07]

I've personally only had one lesson and didn't practice it enough to keep the knowledge he gave me. They aren't a waste of time....i plan on startin with a pro in the spring because i'm gonna try to qualify for the knoxville open or monday in at the chattanooga classic. you don't know everything instantly

[Guest]

I took 6 lessons 6 years ago. It was great.

[Ben]

I only took them to start, about 8 or so. But haven't taken one since (21 years now). I read books from people I admire for the talents. Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, and Power Golf, two of Bob Rotella's, and I'll often read the tips in GOlf Digest, again, so long as it is from a PGA Tour playing professional. If what they are saying works for them, it's sure bound to work for me.

Now, I am a professional and as of recently I really dove into giving lessons. It has made me realize the value in having a live person there to fine tune.

[case31]

Personally, I

Me too. Last year I got to a point where I felt I was losing considerable distance despite making good contact with the ball. I took a lesson to get some advice and the pro said I wasn't getting enough torso turn throughout the swing. I followed the advice and spent about 2-3 weeks getting the timing down. During that time, I was hitting the ball ALL over the place. Once I got the change in rhythm down, bam...got an extra 15-20 yards from my swing without exerting any more effort than before. But there were plenty of growing pains (and long sessions at the range) getting to that point.