How much will my game improve from 5 lessons with a pro?

[Egoolps]

Obviously, with practice.

I don't have money to do GolfTech, 30 lessons, etc.

I have the money for 5 lessons. What can I get from a pro in five, 30 minute lessons? Can my swing be corrected that quickly?

[gogolfing]

You can accomplish a lot in five lessons if the pro is decent and you are committed. I would space them out so you have the time to work on things in between them.

[McGolf-Doggie]

  Egoolps; said:

Obviously, with practice.

A lot. But as an earlier poster said, I'd space them out a bit. Here's one approach: After the first lesson, you are probably going to want to work on the stuff for two or three solo sessions at the range and/or at home after each lesson. maybe even much longer. Then you might want to go back for another lesson/check up to make sure you are properly implementing what the instructor said, and haven't introduced any new flaws into your routine/setup/swing in your attempt to make changes. Changes in golf swings can take time to groove, and even longer to feel comfortable with sometimes, if you have some deeply ingrained habits. Some changes you are probably going to have to address one at a time, eg. swingpath, that was a challenging one for me. Personally, I definitely would not do them all in too quick succession.

[flanagan]

Depends on whether you practice what you are told to practice (and how to practice) between lessons. It's up to you, no one here can predict. I've seen people take lesson after lesson and not improve, others the opposite.

[Doctorfro]

It all depends on you. Unless you get the practice in to ingrain the changes, you're just flushing $$ down the commode.

[JonnyGolf]

You know, I'd take them all pretty close together. Maybe within 3 weeks, because here's what happens:

You take lesson and learn stuff
You start practicing on your own and unlearn stuff
You go back to pro and relearn stuff
You start practicing on your own and unlearn stuff
ad infinitum...

Without a coach there helping you (unless you really understand you swing and you have video), you will regress back to doing stuff that helps you hit the ball, but doesn't necessarily help improve your swing.

So, get all the lessons close together so hopefully you make a swing change.

And, 5 lessons can make a HUGE difference to a 30 hdpcr. An unbelievable difference in your game. 5 lessons for a 10hdcpr isn't going to have nearly the same impact.

Finally, times are tough. Tell the pro how much money you have to spend and see if he can cut you a break on the price. And, shop around. Once again, almost any pro can significantly improve someone at your level.

[microcrayfish]

  JonnyGolf said:

You know, I'd take them all pretty close together. Maybe within 3 weeks, because here's what happens:

I disagree with that. You don't want to be trying to work on too many things at once because that will lead to trouble. If you make sure that you understand why your pro has you working on what you're working on and you stick at it you shouldn't unlearn anything. You just have to bear in mind that you're not going to get better immediately and might even get worse for a while so don't be tempted to give up what your pro has you working on.

I think you're better off getting a swing change ingrained before you move on to the next step. If you try a complete overhaul of your swing in just a couple of weeks that is when you unlearn things and fall back into bad habits. Trying to change too many things at once will only mess with your head, you'll forget to do some things and over-emphasize others and end up with a swing that is nothing like what your pro intended you to have. If you only have enough money for a limited number of lessons then what? Play crap golf with a bad swing until you have enough to pay for another round of lessons? In my opinion you're far better off taking your time and getting things right and ingrained before moving on to the next step.

[Egoolps]

Any other opinions on how close/far my lessons should be apart?

I guess I should give a better background.

I'm a beginner golfer by all means, but I'm very athletic. I've played baseball, basketball, football, etc. my entire life. Not sure how much that helps/hurts, but I'd imagine it helps that I'm athletic.

I'm not completely lost, but I know my swing mechanics are not great.

The instructor said:

1) Initial evaluation
2) We'll go from there

He is a NEW golf pro, but I was referred to him by one of my best friends (one of his friends from college). So what should I expect as a layout for these 5 lessons?

And also, how do I introduce "wiggle room" in the pricing, or is that not appropriate? The thing is, I could've chosen from hundreds of instructors, but picked this guy because he was referred by my friend.

Thanks.

[flanagan]

ASK THE PRO! He'll tell you what he thinks based on actually seeing you.


Prices of lessons vary, you'll have to figure out what people are charging where you live.

[becksfan2185]

To directly answer your question, you can improve a lot in just 5 lessons. The trick is spacing them out with the right balance - too close together and you don't have time to build on each lesson, too far apart and your next lesson will just be a refresher of the prior.

My experience with lessons was to take 1-3 specific points away from each session to work on my own. I would practice on my own and focus on these action items until they felt more natural (roughly ~2 weeks), then go back to the pro. The following lesson would be a quick follow-up on my progress from last time, and then an introduction to a new concept/change.

Especially since you have a set number of lessons you can take, give yourself enough time to work out the concepts you learn, so you can get something new out of each session.

[lumpuckeroo]

I think it would, I took lessons several years ago, 6 for the price of 5. Took one a week for 6 weeks. I practiced several times a week and it really helped and for that matter stuck with me for some time. I took the lessons in late summer, went to Palm Springs in the winter and still had the swing. I am sold on taking lessons from time to time. I don't take them every year, seems like the lessons will stick with me from several years.

[Danny Noonan]

I've been working with a pro since August. I met with him every week for one hour for a private lesson for 8 or 10 weeks and I'm now meeting with him every other Sunday. I have an infant and a 5 year old, so I'm quite busy. Much of this time I have been unable to practice much on my own, and the lessons were my practice. I'm now getting at least 9 holes in each week and to the range at least 3 or 4 times a week. We are now tweaking the small stuff.

I am somewhat resolved to the fact that I'm going to be meeting with the pro for the rest of my life, at least once a month to address any issues/concerns I have with my swing / game. I really enjoy the professional help.

I imagine my high handicap (which is not official) will lower dramatically in the near future. I've only gotten into playing a round or half a round once a week this March, and I'm already noticing a big difference. Pars here and there which used to be unheard of, lots of bogeys, and a few double or triple bogeys here and there. I shoot around 100 to 105. I've yet to break 100, but have shot a 100. I blame it all on putting. I really need to work on putting as many of my bogeys and worse are simply because I 3 or 4 putt.

So, to answer your question, I'd do the 5, but also, you will need more. You will not be satisfied with what you get from just 5 lessons. Will you improve? If you listen, do what you are told, and practice, yes, you will improve. How much? Probably not enough. Definitely better than nothing.

[DavidFehertysBike]

  Egoolps said:

Obviously, with practice.

You can learn and drill the proper set up, alignment, and grip. All the fundementals. Which IMO, is 90% of a good golf swing to begin with.

[Chief Broom]

I'm doing exactly what you are doing. 4 weeks ago I paid for 5 lessons with a cetified PGA apprentice pro. The charge is $40 per lesson or 5 lessons for $150. Lessons are basically 30 minutes each and are conducted at the pro's club practice areas (driving range, chipping/putting practice green, and sand practice area). One thing that surprised me is that he isn't making me pay for the range balls we're using. When I arrive for my lesson he gives me a bucket of balls (a small bucket probably 45 balls) to warm up and after about 10-15 minutes he comes down to the range with another bucket for our lesson. So I get 2 small buckets for my lesson at no charge (a $10 saving for me for each lesson). I've been very pleased with the experience overall and hopefully soon my handicap will start dropping.

Opps, I ment to add that I'm taking the lessons at weekly intervals.

[Eeryck]

  Egoolps said:

Any other opinions on how close/far my lessons should be apart?

My current plan is have a lesson on one Saturday, then have the next two Saturdays for practice only without a lesson. I usually practice 2-3 nights per week in addition to the Saturday practice time.

I am taking 1-hour lessons and the plan is to walk away with 1 drill or swing thought per lesson and groove it in the practice sessions and only that for the next two weeks. Since January, I have had 3 lessons with the 4th coming up this weekend. My normal shot shape at the start of the lessons was "???? lets see where this one goes". My new shot shape is a 1-5yard draw, with a miss straight or a 1 yard cut.

  Egoolps said:

The instructor said:

What you should expect is a plan that you develop be executed by your pro based on what he observes from your current swing.

Most folks will tell you here that short game is the most important to scoring and that it will extend to your full game. I had a written plan of what I wanted to accomplish from lessons as well as an honest evaluation of my typical good and bad shots. I also told him I wanted a short game focus on my lessons from 100yards in. I listed my planned time for practice and my goals for how I want to play. How this has worked out is the first 2 lessons I never made more than a 1/2 swing, but in this 1/2 swing we got my swing path sorted out with some proper understanding of some key positions at address and in the back-swing. I grooved those over the first 6-7 weeks of practice and it paid huge dividends. For about 3-weeks I practiced one move, with one thought, with only a 9-iron. Tedious yes, are there results? Absolutely.

  Egoolps said:

And also, how do I introduce "wiggle room" in the pricing, or is that not appropriate? The thing is, I could've chosen from hundreds of instructors, but picked this guy because he was referred by my friend.

IMO, haggling on professional services will hinder the relationship over the benefit that you could get otherwise. I happily pay asking price for my lessons, but my pro is not a huge clock watcher either. I would hate to know I haggled for a price or extra lesson and the pro is thinking "this guy got a deal already so I am going to coast some on what I tell him"

However, I am also the sort of person that will give a year-end bonus to any consistent service I use throughout the year. For my pro since I will be taking lessons in the way I described all year and he has helped me a huge amount and been generous with his time will most likely get how much that I pay for a 5-lesson package as a year end bonus this year. Regards, -E

[Damien45]

I am currently on a 5 lesson plan through my home course. My first lesson was an hour long, which took 2 of the 5 lessons. In that time my driver has become dependable, consistant, and a boomer! I set up the lesson to be "an overall idea of what needs help" with the instructor.

My second lesson, which I scheduled a month later, was about pitching and sand traps. Since that lesson (a week ago), I am out of the sand in a "one and done". My chipping still needs practice since all the lengths and lies one encounters on the course is abundant.

My next lesson will be all about chipping and putting. I want to get that under the microscope to start the improvements.

At this point, I have decided to spend more time practicing and less time playing. I want to get the teachings ingrained into my game. When I run out to play a round, I tend to resort to "what was". So, what everyone has been saying about practice is true. Take what the pro teaches you and practice it. Once it become naturaul, no thought, step and swing with consistant results....that's improvement.

[SubPar]

  Egoolps said:

Obviously, with practice.

You can learn a lot. Take notes.

Don't do them too close together. Take one lesson, work on what you learned for two weeks, then go back. SubPar

[squaddie]

  Egoolps said:

He is a NEW golf pro, but I was referred to him by one of my best friends (one of his friends from college). So what should I expect as a layout for these 5 lessons?Thanks.

Since you are beginner, he will go through all the fundamentals of the golf swing with you. Perhaps identify one fault in first lesson and give you a drill to help correct it. Since you only plan on five lessons I would leave the last lesson open as a review lesson, where you confirm you implemented the swing changes properly, and get an evaluation of what to work on in the future. The reason is that if he teaches you something new in the final lesson, then you run into another fault while practicing it, you may then require another lesson to correct the problem, or just give up recommended changes, which meant the last lesson was wasted. I just took four lessons this past month, and after third lesson I developed a horrible shanking problem while trying the swing changes (shortening my backswing). By the fourth lesson the shanking issue was resolved, but now I have a tendency for a fat shot with the new swing change. If you have no problems with changes made from prior lessons, then go ahead and learn something new in the last lesson, but realize if you have issues with the new change you'll have to work the problem out yourself.