How Often Do You Take a Lesson?

[clearwaterms]

I am curious. I took a few lessons over the winter, and originally had committed to taking 1 a month or so, but stopped as money got tight during the early parts of the summer. I took another one last thursday with a new pro (30 minute lesson, a little more resonable price) and am going to *try* to take one over 2-3 weeks as time allows. This new pro works on only 1 thing every lesson, which I like. He gives me a few tips, a video of my swing doing it right and wrong, and a video of a pro to compare it against. I figure if I break the game down into 6 or 7 pieces, I can review the entire game every quarter and hopefully widdle down my handicap slowly.

So my question to masses is, how often do you personally take a lesson? Do you find that more lessons equals better playing? Controversly, is there a point where too many lessons becomes counter productive? I guess it would help to know how many lesson you play and how often you play the game. Finally, any thoughts on the correlation between lessons taken and handicap?

[Cussin hacker]

Never have. I've played about 30 years off and on. More off than on. Self taught. But have resently started playing a lot more and have though about taking a few lesson's. Prolly do me some good for sure.

[laxbballgolf]

Never. But one of my golfing buddies used to be a PGA Apprentice and he helps me a ton (when I think about it, I've probably gotten the equivalent of 20 or more lessons from him, haha), and I read golf books, swing theory, forums, and things like that obsessively. And I've been known to make my girlfriend or mom videotape my swing so I can check up on what it looks like. I might get lessons some day, once I have some more money.

[enis750]

not one for me
a few looks at my swing from my old golf coach, but never a formal lesson that I paid for
100% self taught

[CG031]

About once every ten days...Really started working with my instuctor last month...Starting to see a little bit of an improvement in my ball striking, but nothing incredible so far...Have taken about 5 lessons now.

[Prairie Golfer]

I think the last time I took a lesson Mary Lou Retton was winning her gold medal.

[RCF]

My handicap is shown below. I restarted playing in August of 2008.

Last summer I took one lesson every 8 weeks and that was way too long between sessions for me. I have a budget of two lessons per month.

Assuming I play one 18 hole round and one trip to the driving range per week, should I take a lesson every week or two weeks or .....? Stated differently, how many trips to the driving range should I do between lessons?

[squaddie]

Just my 2 cents: The frequency of lessons depends on your golfing objectives and what issues you discover while playing on the course or at the range that you cannot resolve.

If you take a lesson and want to practice before playing, then do a few range sessions, working on what you learned during the lesson, until you are confident you can take it to the course.

If you are playing a round a recognize a few problems you can't resolve, like constant pushes or slices off the tee, then that's the sign it's time for another lesson to determine the source of the swing problem and the resolution to work on.

[Fastrack]

When I was serious to lower my handicap (from 35 to 20), I took lessons once a week, frequent to driving range at least five times a week, and one 18 hole and one 9 hole a week.

For me, driving range is the place to work on my shot and course is the place where to learn how to manage shot.
Make sure to bring your teaching pro questions and problems you are working on, and bring the feedback to your driving range and golf course.
I still manage to practice on driving range 2-3 times a week. I do practice swing every night in my living room.

[canadianpro]

Having taught the game for many years, it is different with each player. The most important thing to remember is a lesson is only as good as the practice sessions put in after it. I have students who want a lesson booked every day for a week and that really doesn't accomplish a lot. I try to back them off to every other day (they usually are on vacation) and insist on practice and playing on the off days. The other thing to remember is to forget "instant gratification"...it rarely happens.

[steve8820]

Your frequency of lessons should be how long it takes you to learn what was covered in the previous lessons. Some parts of the swing will take longer to get the feel for. Don't just keep taking lessons for the sake of taking lessons. Make sure you fully understand the previous lesson and work the drills to solidify the particular change your pro is trying to make. I have found that a lot of people buy a lesson package and the instructor wants to do a lesson every week. I can only assume this is to burn through the lesson package as soon as possible...........

[luckyluke699]

Personally I think lessons any closer together than once per week is ludicrous. If you are actually learning anything in the lessons there's no way you can truely have time to "absorb" the swing changes being advocated by the pro into muscle memory (so they become almost automatic) in only a few days. Personally I've found a lesson every 2 to 3 weeks or so to be optimum for myself...

Plus as mentioned above the frequency of lessons depends on your objectives at the time. At your kind of handicap, I would imagine there are a few different things you need to work on (same as me) which you can't address all at the same time. I find/found it easiest to work on one thing for a couple of weeks, then move to the next problem after... (just my 2 cents as to speak)

[brn14me]

i've got a similar handicap and am taking a lesson package right now

previous to the lessons i was playing about twice a month, sometimes weekly

my mother booked the lessons as a pair and she paid for them - she set them up every week
this forced me to start going to the range and playing more often because I actually want to get something out of the lessons
lesson 1 i learned how to swing - i was doing nearly everything wrong
lesson 2 - i was corrected on some thing - learned some basics on chipping (8 iron and pw distance in air vs roll, etc)
lesson 3 - corrections on my swing again - a putting technique

after each lesson we played 18 and between each week i hit the range twice

after lesson 3 at the range i had the worst day EVER
my thoughts.........i was thinking waay too much - too much crammed in my head at one time
more golf than i've ever had forced too quickly
i called to postpone lesson 4
took the weekend off and went to the range today........not sure what happened but i was hitting great!
i cannot wait to get back out to the range - i'm hoping it wasn't a fluke
i am definitely getting addicted to this sport but at least for me that was too much to learn at one time

if i ever book a set of lessons again (cheaper by the package) i'll definitely space mine out every 2 to 3 weeks
the best benefit i've found here is that i'm playing more than ever and enjoying the crap out of it

[canes113]

What works for me are lessons every two weeks. It gives me time to work on my drills before the next lesson. As a working professional and father, I need that weekend in between lessons to really work on my game. It's almost impossible on a weeknight to hit the range, but if you can, I'd recommend at least twice a week. It also helps to stay away from the course for a couple months to really work on those drills.

Also, ask your instructor for a discounted package deal with the lessons. In today's economy, I've saved a few hundred bucks buying lessons in sets of 4. Good Luck!

[bananas]

I've been going about every 10-14 days. With about 5 range sessions and a round of 18 and round of 9.... Seems to be about perfect for me. Then every night I work on the drills he gave me.

[RCF]

I've been going about every 10-14 days. With about 5 range sessions and a round of 18 and round of 9.... Seems to be about perfect for me. Then every night I work on the drills he gave me.

Thanks bananas. You're doing some serious work. Do you make / write notes after a lesson?

I appreciate all of the feedback. I think I'll do one lesson every two weeks and see how it goes.

[bananas]

Thanks bananas. You're doing some serious work. Do you make / write notes after a lesson?

Yeah on my iphone under notepad I write down everything I should remember. Then I review it before I go to the range and practice. This is my first true season of golf and i'm going to make the best of it! I love everything about this silly game!

[Deryck Griffith]

Thanks bananas. You're doing some serious work. Do you make / write notes after a lesson?

Taking notes during a lesson is a great thing. It allows you to "go back" to the lession session and review what was worked on when you practice on your own and is a great reminder book before you step on the first tee of your round.