How to find a teaching pro?

[j_moo]

Took one lesson my entire life years ago. The guy basically just watched the whole time and said: "you have a good swing so I don't want to change it too much." Turned out he didn't change anything. Hence my impression that lessons don't help and teaching pros are either greedy, idiots, or both.

I know this is not entirely true. So any advice on how to find a good teaching pro and what expectations I should have?

[WUTiger]

1. Being you have a 9.7 HDCP, you must know something about the game and have a reasonably stable swing. Look for a pro that talks about "helping you develop your individual swing." These pros follow basic principles of golf, and adapt them to different body builds and personal strengths.

2. You need to "click" personally with the pro. I took three lessons from a capable pro down in Oklahoma many years ago. He helped me somewhat, but he was largely a "feel" player while I'm more of a technician. Also, he seemed to be borderline belligerent toward me during the lessons. Never felt comfortable with him.

3. Find one who can help you further your goals. If you want to have a 2 HDCP by next year, you'll need a pro who can develop some of the finer points of shotmaking. Probably want to avoid a person who specializes in golf clinics for beginners - nothing wrong with such people, they're just not what you need.

4. Find someone who has teaching golf on "page one" of their life's agenda. They may not be a full-time pro, but they should be serious about developing their teaching technique and paying attention to you. If someone constantly cancels lessons, or is a frequent no-show, how serious are they about teaching golf?

[Steve Keeler]

Find out from your friends. Ask around the golf course you frequent who's the best. Ask the pro at your course who they would go to...As for expectations, define your goals and tell the instructor what they are. Then ask how they can help you reach your goals. When I taught, I always asked this question. The more detailed, the better the "depth" of instruction. Or you can just move to Illinois. We have a ton of great instructors!

[j_moo]

Thanks for the replies, especially about specific goals. Always figured the goals is always to get better and it's the pro's job to understand what can be improved for the best result.

Being the cheap skate that I am, the idea of paying someone $40 before I know what's going to be delievered doesn't quite sit well with me. I've asked pros if they'll give me a free quick 5 min lesson so I know if I like them, kind of an interview, but that never happened.

Use to live in St. Louis but got tired of playing golf on snow covered courses with gloves and a coat on during the winters.

[Aceboympk]

Go to pga.com and look up pros in your area.

Find out from your friends. Ask around the golf course you frequent who's the best. Ask the pro at your course who they would go to...As for expectations, define your goals and tell the instructor what they are. Then ask how they can help you reach your goals. When I taught, I always asked this question. The more detailed, the better the "depth" of instruction. Or you can just move to Illinois. We have a ton of great instructors!

Couldn't agree more. Connie DeMattia at Cantigny is really good and he's helped me a lot.

[ProStuart]

If you do find a good pro, get them to register on www.findyourgolfpro.com then other golfers will be able to locate them based on your feedback. The PGA search is OK, but it won't tell you others feedback on the pros, how much they cost or a link to the pro's own website where you might find other useful information about them.

Good luck!!

Stuart

[j_moo]

Went to a local pro who is offering free 30 min lessons Friday afternoons as an incentive to take his regular lesson. Very nice guy and helpful and also doesn't mind if I kept coming back for the free lessons. Can't ask for much more than that. Just need to convince my boss that there is a good reason why I'm out of the office every Friday afternoon for a couple of hours.