Took my first lesson today.......

[ScottL]

...that actually went well. Iv taken a few lessons at the local golf store, but I always left there wondering if the guys were telling me the right things. Seemed like the 2 guys always contradicted themselves. And really all they did was video my swing, then compare me to Tiger and say... this is what your doing wrong

so I figured Id give this lesson thing one last chance. Id book a lesson with a real instructor and if it doesnt go well, Im on my own from here on out.

So i booked a 1 hour lesson at the Jim McClean golf school in Ft. Worth with a master instructor. It felt so good, we were on the right page the entire time. we actually went over our time and was watching a timer counting down til my time was up!

Basically my club is doing all the right things. swing plane, face, etc... its my body thats a little off. I dont rotate my hips, but rather slide them back. Gave me some drills and went back outside and was hitting a pretty little draw.

I have some work to do on the range to practice this, but for the first time I left actually encouraged and understood what he was telling me....

THERE IS SOME HOPE!!!!

[enduro]

A few good lessons can prove invaluable. I would advise anyone looking to do things the right way to book 4 lessons, about 10 days apart or so (a months worth) to build the swing correctly.

I had a lessons once because I was pushing so many things. Got my stance a little closer with a good drill to learn the feel of where my stance should be as well as a very slight grip modification and a nice little toe-up drill and within 10 minutes I was hitting everything straight.

But you need to practice what they teach and take it on faith if it isn't working right away or doesn't feel perfect right away. And you need to take some follow up lessons to correct the new bad habits you may have learned and to reinforce previous things.

Honestly, I'd recommend to very serious golfers to have a lesson from your favorite PGA pro every month or 2 from there on out. It prevents things from coming in and you can slowly add new tricks to your bag.

[ScottL]

Well I spent about 4 hours on the range last night hitting only irons. I was really working on the shoulder/hip turn I learned from this lesson.

WOW, what a huge difference. I think most of all, its mental. Something has finally clicked and the swing is starting to actually make sense.

I have realized that before, I really swung the club with my arms. Really the hips/shoulders never even was a thought of mine and the only shoulder/hip rotation I had was just whatever I did because of pulling arms back.

Now I am working on making a big shoulder/hip turn and really not thinking about arms. This is really giving me a better ball flight and more consistent ball striking!

Im really excited. I cannot wait to go back to range

[bunkerputt]

Well I spent about 4 hours on the range last night hitting only irons. I was really working on the shoulder/hip turn I learned from this lesson.

Congrats. One note: bookmark this thread so that you can come back and re-read it 6 months from now. Try to record the feels that you had before and after the change. That will help you if things get off track.

[TN94z]

Lessons are a great thing!! I was doing the same thing as you. I didn't have as much hip movement as I should. The hip and shoulder turn make the swing effortless and basically pull the club on plane.

Another thing I found I was doing yesterday was that I was rotating back too far. I would go further than my flexibility would allow and this was causing my left arm to break down. I am going to work on that now and this should also help.

[ScottL]

i do notice that I am not quite as flexible as tour players are... lol, what a surprise. on my backswing, my hands are about level with my shoulders, causing my arms to be basically straight out... i look at pictures of tiger, etc with their arms almost pointing to the sky and im like WOW

[Adumb]

That's also a different issue. The bigger the backswing, the harder it is to control. Actually if you look at Camilo Villegas, he can really pound a golfball. But his club doesn't even quite get to parallel in reference to the ground.