Your story about lessons.

[brn14me]

I had another post about what to spend a Sports Authority gift card on and alot of the answers was: LESSONS. Even take the gift card to a pro and see if he'll trade it for lessons!! Money is tight but I'm not THAT broke, I just wanted to treat myself (which I did). After playing poorly with my new wedge I decided to bite the bullet and spring for lessons.

My question is...... how have lessons improved your game? How many did you take and at what point in your progression did you find them most helpful? Did you get what you wanted out of them?

I'm a 30 handicap. Just started playing regularly a few months ago.

I would like to improve my short game. To be able to hit the green consistently from 150 yards in. I signed up for 4 hour long lessons. We'll see how it goes.

Any input is appreciated.

[kennay92]

trust me, you will definatly benefit from it. especially if the lesson is going to be videoed so that yall can go back and look at it and the pro can draw lines on it and stuff, you will learn a ton of stuff and not want to leave.

[JGus]

I have finished 4 of my 5 lessons, and they have definitely improved my game. I was very hesitant on taking lessons, but I just reached the point where all of my self teaching wasn't working anymore and my only chance to improve was to take lessons.

Halfway into my first lesson the instructor made three changes in my swing, which from that point on I have done nothing but improve on my swing/tempo, contact, and scoring.

I had my first lesson on 17 Sep 09, and have played 6 or 7 rounds since I started, each round I played was the lowest on that specific course, and my handicap has dropped from around 24 down to 18.6.

I actually shot my best round ever on Monday, granted it was on a short par 69 course (61.8/100, 5790 yards), but I shot a 72, +3, it was a great day. Even though shooting a 72 on this course equates to around a 11 handicap index, overall the lessons have been well worth the price.

[uttexas]

Lessons are great--you will learn a lot about your golf swing, but it can be a process. I got worse for about nine months until I got better. I believe, I was initially steered down the wrong path by my instructor.

[zRam]

Take lesson. I was a 30 or worse. I signed up for a series of 8 lessons. I was terrible and had to start over. I got worse for a while and then about a month after the lessons were over (and I wasn't thinking about everything all the time) I started shoooting around 100 and occasionally in the 90's. 6 months later I took a series of 4 more lessons. My Instructor said it was time I'd come a long way but would need more work to get better. Again as I took the lessons I shot worse. about a week after this series I began to shoot real well. From July until now I went from a 27 down to 18.1 last night. It takes a little time for you to see the results and some of your buddies might say your wasting your money, or you have a bad instructor, but have faith.

RR

[jaragon126]

As I mentioned in some of my other posts:
When I first started playing, I got into lessons by one of the golf pros at a course I played at. I had a few lessons with him each year ... and he was awesome! He didn't try to completely change things (I suppose I had a reasonably decent swing), but just gave me simple tweaks to help me out.

I stayed with him for probably 4-5 years, and got down to around a 6 handicap. I would go to him in the spring to work out the cobwebs from me not playing all winter, and also go to him during the season if I had picked up a bad habit somewhere.

I kept asking him how to get lower than a 6 handicap, and basically he told me that he couldn't really help out much more ... and that I would need to go somewhere that they could give me more detailed instruction. Perhaps somewhere that they could video tape me or something like that. He recommended the very expensive Mike McGetrick academy here in Colorado.

Spent the next couple of years struggling, took a lesson by another pro which was horrible. Finally went to GolfTec here in town to get a free analysis. Hadn't ever been there before, but it was free so I decided to go.

They made big changes in my swing, and I spent 2 months trying to dial those changes in. At first, the changes seemed to work out reasonably ok (I could hit a big draw rather than a weak slice most of the time), but more & more I would start hooking the ball.

So I decided against my better judgement to go back to GolfTec, and the same guy that made all the changes to me basically reversed everything he originally told me. I was truly confused, and to make matters worse ... I got roped into buying a series of 10 lessons from them for ALOT of money

I guess I am playing a LITTLE better golf now than before the lessons, but I'm still not happy. I've actually gone back through the notes from my old guy & tried fixing things myself ... keeping my tempo slow & trying not to hit hero shots. I want to go back to my old guy ... but I don't want to feel like he doesn't want to teach me.

[Shindig]

A little over three years ago, I couldn't hit the ball consistently. I don't mean the flight pattern was different, or it wouldn't go in the air. I mean, I would swing, and I wouldn't know until after the swing whether or not I would even make contact.

I took lessons for a year and a half, maybe about 9 or 10 in that time period. I got to the point where I was breaking 90 consistently.

Then I stopped taking lessons. I also, about this time, swapped out parts of my equipment for worse fitting equipment (incorrect shafts, etc. Long story, talked about elsewhere).

At the end of June, I swapped the old equipment back in and went back to taking lessons. Just the other day, I shot an 84 with 10 GIR. It's just a matter of time before I break 80.

In a month or so, I will probably go for another lesson, and this is something I will keep up for some time. Every 2-3 months, even if nothing is wrong.

[WUTiger]

Lessons work if you have a pro with a system you can buy into.

I've had a wild last four years - two major surgeries, with a minor car accident in between which derailed my 2006 season. Also, as I'm well past 50 years old, I switched from stiff to regular shafts.

Along the way, I decided to rebuild my swing. I got a package of lessons from Golf Galaxy. I'm still inconsistent, but some days I hit the ball really well. Just need more grooving.

Anyway, one thing about lessons is timing. If you take a lesson on Monday, you get the most out of it if you can practice what you learned later that day, and hopefully more on Tuesday and Thursday. If you take a lesson, and life won't let you pick up the clubs again for two weeks, it's hard to make progress.

Also, some of the swing drills can be done at home - a few indoors - without hitting a ball. Work on these to get your motion down.

Next, play to test it out. If you have time: Hit some balls, play 9, hit balls to correct.

As others have said: See if you can get the lessons videotaped and sent to you home computer. Then, you can review the lessons before you practice.

Hope this helps.