If you can afford it...

[RS22]

plain and simple its just better to get lessons than fix your own problems unless you know the golf swing really well and have access to a camera. I had been fighting a big pull hook or push slice for a few weeks now and finally gave in and went to see my swing coach for a tune up.

Within 20 mins we fixed the problem and had me hitting a sweet power cut again. My swing was perfectly on plane and the club face was right where it should be at the top but I was getting too quick w/ my hips (hence the push slice) and I was flipping my hands at impact (hence the over corrected pull hook).

He gave me some drills to work on to get my chest/arms/hips in sync and now I'm hitting the ball great again. If you can afford it, get a lesson when you are having swing problems. Heck, even get one from time to time when you are hitting fairly well. Having that extra set of eyes to look at your swing can make a world of difference with the smallest adjustments.

/end rant

[MrKadash]

Can't argue with getting lessons. Had a bad case of the pulls at a point over the summer and a 15 minute session had me corrected for the rest of the year. I needed the sensation of brushing my thighs on the downswing with my hands.

[HoosierGolfer]

I have always carried the thought that it is never the arrow and always the indian. I spend time each month with my PGA Pro if for nothing else but to have him watch me hit a little through my bag and see if he can see something he doesn't like. Nine times out of ten he corrects me somewhere along the line. I also get the chance once in a great while to play a round with him and this is a great way to get problems nipped quickly.
I think every lesson I have ever had made a difference.

[murph182]

Lessons have helped me greatly. I spent ten years teaching myself how to play. I suck, but it was still fun to play and I slowly but surely developed a good swing. But I had no idea WHY I hit the ball well or poorly and when a problem developed it would take weeks or months and hundreds of range balls to correct...and the correction was just by accident.

I started taking lessons with a PGA pro recently. In a few weeks I've learned more about the golf swing than I have in ten years, and am hitting the ball better than ever. Oh, and when the ball does something I don't like I can almost immediately identify what I did wrong and correct it, or at least get back on track within a few swings and actually enjoy playing until I can get some help from him instead of putting the sticks away for a few months because I can't take it anymore.

I should have taken lessons years ago.

[MikeLowry5]

Lessons have helped me greatly. I spent ten years teaching myself how to play. I suck, but it was still fun to play and I slowly but surely developed a good swing. But I had no idea WHY I hit the ball well or poorly and when a problem developed it would take weeks or months and hundreds of range balls to correct...and the correction was just by accident.

I'm pretty new to golf (started September 08) and coming from baseball I have felt the swing is completely different as well as the terms used to describe the swing. To complicate all of that I found that golfers are biggots, you discriminate against lefties when describing the swing! I spent the entire summer working with a Class A professional who taught me nothing but a strong grip, told me my shanks were coming off of the toe rather than the hosel, and to shorten my swing and try a "hockey swing". He couldn't explain to me how the swing worked, only, "try this." As a keen study to the baseball swing all of my life I had got away from lessons for the most part and did things on my own through study and videotape. I would go back occasionally as a crutch when I was going really bad. The instructor would tell me things I already knew but would prop me up a bit and give me the confidence to get out of the slump. Fast forward to golf and it is my opinion that golfers rely too much on instructors fixing all of their problems without understanding the cause/effect of the swing themselves. I am all for going to an instructor and after much searching I finally found one to explain a few things to me so that I have a base knowledge to study on. What I would say as an outsider is PLEASE do yourself justice and ask why when an instructor fixes something or suggests a change. I promise all of you that once you start understanding the cause/effect in the swing you can make adjustments yourself. After all of my time working on my baseball swing I found out that I was my best instructor and I knew my swing better than anyone else. Get lessons but make them a study session, understand why you are doing what you are doing.

[kevin.chan]

I would like the PROs to spend some time on the range ( the basics ) , the putting green and on the course with me ( Course Management ).

[PrairieParson]

I've been poor most of my life, so I tend to be thrifty, so that means very few golf lessons. I've had lessons, but I was never satisfied, they just didn't help much. So I've learned to teach myself, and I think its a long run benefit. I've tried all kinds of different things and found by trial and error, what works and what doesn't. In so doing this, and reading books, I've found errors, someone looking at your swing might never find, like grip preasure mistakes.