Lessons, Lessons and more lessons

[Gerardv]

Like most of us my game is really inconsistent. One day, I hit every green and the next day I don't hit any. So, this winter I've decided, one way or another, I am going to work on my game to make it more consistent.

To that end, I finished out my bag yesterday with a new TaylorMade Burner driver and matching 3 wood and now all I am going to do is pay for lessons.

No more money on clubs - lessons only all of next year. The only money I'm considering spending on clubs is getting my current set of irons custom fit for shafts, etc. Golfsmith said my X-18s can be bent to customize them for me as well.

There is a golf dome not far from the house so I can work all winter long on my game. They have several pros to chose from there.

I am also going to try Golftec to see if their teaching jives with my learning curve (this is not a question about golftec and not intended to turn it into a discussion about them). Plus, I am going to visit the pro at my home course and see if he can find a way for us to continue lessons over the winter if I choose to go that route instead of golftec.

I need a checklist or something to work on each day to get myself into the right set-up position and check my swing to make sure the fundamentals from my lessons aren't leaking away.

Basically, I am interested in hearing from people who made a commitment to a teacher or a golf school and worked with him/her/them long term and how it worked out.

[unoiron]

I highly recommend committing yourself to lessons. What might take you years to figure out a golf pro can tell you in two minutes. I would suggest you find a pro you trust and do pretty much anything he/she says, no matter how strange or awkward it feels. Pretty soon it will start feeling "normal" and you'll be hitting it better than ever.

I'm working with a pro right now and seeing lots of improvement. There are days when my swing seems to fall apart, but after some time on the range the pro will get me straightening back out and my understanding of the golf swing only strengthens. A one step back, two steps forward process.

[Gerardv]

I highly recommend committing yourself to lessons. What might take you years to figure out a golf pro can tell you in two minutes. I would suggest you find a pro you trust and do pretty much anything he/she says, no matter how strange or awkward it feels. Pretty soon it will start feeling "normal" and you'll be hitting it better than ever.

I have to admit I put it off for years because the changes are often painful. Now I'm committed to it.

Thanks for the advice.

[MiniMoe]

Lessons are a great idea. Don't let the Pro try to band aid fix your swing. Start at the beginning with the basics and build a solid swing from there. It's going to take a little while, but in the long run it will be better.

[Gerardv]

Finally got my first lesson tonight and although I hit the ball straight, it's clear I stand too close to the ball and don't use my legs at all during the downswing.
After a few drills, I still can't get the feeling of sliding the hips and then turning through.

No big deal though since it's winter, I can work on it and not hurt myself on the course. My plan is to continue my lessons with the pro I saw tonight.

That was the only change he made - making me stand farther from the ball. Plus, working on the weight shift. Everything else was left alone. He said I was one of the rare golfers that gets the club in the right position at the top and then blows it a little from there.

Basically, my hands get ahead of my body which causes me to never finish turning my hips. Which is also the reason I hit the ball so short - my average drive is 235ish.

So, it's now in my daily routine to work on the drill where you step into the ball as it's hit. My timing on it is way off since my body has been lagging behind my hands for so long.

This is going to be hard, but it's going to be a lot of fun too. Nothing like working to build something like this.

I wish I could get the feeling of pushing off with the right foot, or sliding the hips..........................I know I need to do it, but just can't seem to get it.

Oh well, if I keep doing the drills it will eventually click. Nothing replaces hard work, so that is it, I'm giong to work hard on it.

[tm22721]

Lessons should be limited to learning how to setup, ie the critical angles.

The swing is dynamic. It cannot be taught. As I have painfully learned after 300+ hours of lessons.

Even practice is limited. Because feel and muscle memory do not provide repeatability and automation of dynamics.

Dynamics are dictated by the laws of momentum. The laws repeat exactly every day.

Throw the club forcefully down the straight plane line. If I maintain all of the setup angles, the club does exactly the same thing, every time.

Now all I need is a signal to start my hip turn. Inventors, get busy.

[Gerardv]

We spent most of the time on set-up because I was standing so close to the ball. The thought is my hips didn't have time to clear since my hands and arms were in the way.

Once I got the proper distance from the ball, I could then turn my hips. But, since I've been so close to the ball for so long, we need to work on making my hips work properly. One of my jobs is as a handgun shooting instructor and I always tell my students I can't teach them to shoot in a weekend, all I can do is lay the groundwork and set them up to do the work to ingrain muscle memory. I expect my golf instructors to say the same thing since we have a 1/2 hour once a month or once a week. If I was spending hours and hours with him then that's different. My pro gave me a couple of nice drills to get my weight shifting properly.

Lessons should be limited to learning how to setup, ie the critical angles.

[WUTiger]

One thing: Double-check with your pro on "sliding the hips." Sliding has been identified as a swing flaw in numerous instruction books, playing tips and lessons.

Classic form: It's more of a matter of rotating the hips through the ball in timing with the arms on downswing.

[dietz]

One thing: Double-check with your pro on "sliding the hips." Sliding has been identified as a swing flaw in numerous instruction books, playing tips and lessons. Classic form: It's more of a matter of rotating the hips through the ball in timing with the arms on downswing.

Please be careful of statements on hip slide, check previous threads for PROOF of hip slide. NOT trying to start something here, but choose your words carefully.

[Gerardv]

I've read the threads on hip-slide and understand when it's a problem, and when it isn't. The problem I have is I stand way too close to the ball so my hips don't move at all and my weight doesn't transfer.

[dozu]

after seeing so-called pros teaching some junior golfers for the past 4 years, I just don't have a good feel about them in general. These people teach too many artificial stuff.

golf may feel difficult and complicated, but it's completely natural if you know what the intent should be.

get a 5lb dumb bell, go out to an open field, make sure there is nobody around.

now swing that mother into a back swing, and toss it as far and high as you can down the target line.

you will naturally -

use your hips/legs
have the optimal swing plane, because the mother is so heavy it doesnt allow you to swing along any 'artificial' plane
swing from the inside if you toss it high.

what's so damn difficult about it? I see all these people on the driving range, trying to check if back swing is on plane etc..... all this bull shit taught by the so called pros..

laughable at best.

[Gerardv]

I'm not a mumbo-jumbo type of guy. The pro I'm working with is very down to earth, otherwise I wouldn't bother. I don't want to look like Kevin Costner from Tin Cup when he has all the gadgets on after losing his swing.