Lessons?

[GoingfortheGreen]

I'm new to this site, but I have been browsing for the past month -- I impressed by the advice and tips given by members.

I have been playing for about five years, and am going nowhere fast. The more I play, the worse it gets. The newer the equipment I buy, the more inconsistent I am. I started maintaining a handicap around 1/1/06, and it is currently at 22. The trend I notice is that I keep making the same mistakes again and again. Slice of the tee, iron play is inconsistent, etc., etc. Up until now, instruction has consisted of the Golf channel, Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, fellow golfers, etc.

I am seriously considering getting lessons to overhaul my swing (a la Tiger after the 1997 Masters!). I need help to make sure my grip, address, swing, etc. is correct. I need a repeatable swing - now when I step up to the ball, I'm not sure which swing is going to show up.

Can anyone please share their thoughts regarding lessons, how it helped them, what to look for in a quality instructor, what to focus on, etc.

I'm addicted to this game - I don't think I can give it up.

[FAHooGolfs]

Lessons are a tricky thing because it all really depends on two things - your relationship with the instructor, and your willingness to stick with the things he shows you even when it seems like you can't hit the green from 20 yards away.

I personally think the relationship with the instructor is the most important thing because if you don't have a good relationship, the minute things start to go wrong, it'll be that much easier for you to dismiss his advice and go back to your old way of doing things.

I've had 3 different instructors. The first guy was an old fellow who simply just stood there and pointed at me with his club telling me to "feel the swing" and "rotate my hips" and that didn't really help me at all because I wasn't advanced enough to understand what any of that really meant. Up until then, my swing was basically just a modified baseball swing and I new next to nothing about the inner workings of a golf swing.

The second guy was great because he was very hands on (putting me in the proper positions so I could feel what it should feel like, etc) and he had a dedicated approach to teaching people (first lesson was setup, 2nd was longer clubs, 3rd was short-mid irons, and 4th was short game / putting). I really liked it because the lessons were at a driving range and they had a short course that I could practice on. That being said, he was fairly difficult to schedule continued lessons with (after the 4) and so I dropped him to go somewhere else.

The last guy (and this is who I'm still with now) actually does his lessons indoors at the store he owns here in town. Don't shy away from someone who teaches indoors just because you can't see where the ball goes - truthfully, you really don't need to see what the ball does. He's also very hands on and does a lot of video work with me, plus he's gotten to know me very well and what my tendencies are (I can get way overly technical with myself or try to skip steps so he knows not to tell me necessarily what it is he's trying to get me to do - just focus on the individual steps in the process). The best part about this instructor is that I can call him up whenever I want and ask him questions about my swing and he'll either walk through it with me over the phone (if I'm on the range and can't figure it out by myself) or he'll set up an appointment around my schedule so I can come in and have a lesson with him to get things worked out in the store.

You'll hear people say "find an instructor who works with your swing and not a model swing" and I don't necesarily agree with that. At a 22 handicap, you truthfully don't have "your swing" yet and you need to focus more on the fundamentals. A long-term instructor will help you find your swing but it probably won't be until you get down to the mid single digits in handicap.

Overall, just try to find someone with whom you feel comfortable and confident that their approach is one that matches what you want to get out of your lessons. From that point on, just listen to what they have to say and trust it. After all, they are the pro and there is a reason why you are taking lessons from them.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions as (evidently) this is a topic I'm fairly passionate about.

[Old Tom]

I have nothing to say against lessons...in fact, I need to sign up for some myself as my last one was about 35 years ago. BUT...if you aren't willing to log some serious practice time, you could go to David Leadbetter and he wouldn't be able to help you.

That having been said, on the other hand practicing the wrong thing is likely worse than no practice at all. So I guess what I'm saying is, before you drop a couple of bills on a series of lessons, decide if you're willing to invest the time and effort to reap the benefit.

[GoingfortheGreen]

Thank you both for your advice. I have been recommended an instructor, and I'll let you know how it pans out.

[sungho_kr]

one thing about lessons - you have to know what you want out of the lesson and you have to be goal oriented.

also to help you lessons, i reccomend you purchase the book "swing like the pros", this book takes a unbiased and scientific approach to the game, one of the most solid books period. Also you should try to get a copy of "tour tempo", this book will build you a solid tempo and help you with your mechanics, trust me, with these 2 books and lessons, your handicap will drop like 10 strokes atleast. One more thing, if you can get the books before the lessons that would be better but its going to be very helpful even if you don't. Also if you do buy the books early, and you think the books will help you enough, don't elminate the thought of lessons because when your instructor/coach helps and teaches you, you will have to be on the same page as he is and if you can improve the game a lot if only the books, the combination will help you even more, i really reccomend it.

[iacas]

Tour Tempo may be the biggest waste of money ever. Basically, the whole book is about the tempo of the backswing to the downswing. It should be 3:1.

That's it.

So film yourself and count the frames in your backswing. If it takes you 24 frames and from there it takes you 8 to make contact with the ball, congratulations, you're set.

If you're way off, buy a metronome and find a rate that fits your internal clock. Three clicks back, one down.

How they got a whole book out of "3:1 ratio is ideal" is beyond me.