GolfTec Golf Lessons - Feedback, Discussion

[uttexas]

I did the eval about one month ago, and have done one lesson since then (signed up for ten lessons). This was my first long/full swing lesson ever in twenty years of playing golf (previous lessons have been putting and short game)

It has been painful. I have no feel with my new swing. The long term benefits will outweigh the short term set back.

Prior to the Golf Tech eval and lesson, I played in the low-mid 80s with a once in a blue moon high 70. I've played twice since my eval and lessons started. 135 (that was right after my eval, and had no time to practice the new swing) and then a 93. Its like starting over. My swing and angles look and compute better, but still with zero feel.

[Incognito]

So I decided to take advantage of the $25 30 min swing evaluation promotion at Golftec today. I hadn't seen my swing on video since last summer so I was pretty excited.

I reserved my appointment online through their website. After I clicked 'reserve' the website told me I'd receive an email confirmation, which I never received. My eval. was at 2pm, so I started calling the Golftec location I was going to at around noon to confirm that I was in their system. No one picked up. I left a message on their voicemail, but no one called me back. I just showed up at 2, only to find two Golftec employees sitting around next to the phone. Why didnt they pick up?

The website made it seem as though they were booked up and I took the only remaining spot. However, I realized I was the only one there. I got there promptly at 2, but I started at 2:30.

The "instructor" asked me some basic questions about my game and proceeded to strap me in. I took a couple warm up swings and then he proceeded to tape me. After one swing, he asked me to come over and look at the screen with him.

"As you can see, you are swaying a little bit and you look like you release a little early. Any questions? Try to keep your lower body a bit more quiet."

I hit a few more balls. Then he went into his sales pitch. About how he can't properly evaluate my swing in 30 min. That improving your swing is a process that takes time and dedication. That there are many flaws that he feels he can improve. And that there instructions packages are competitive.

3 month. 10 30 min lessons. Around $1200.

Uh...no thanks...

Basically he looked at one swing, stated to me the most obvious things on the screen, compared my swing to Stuart Appleby, and then gave me a lengthy sales pitch. I felt like I was on a timeshare "marketing" vacation.

What a waste of time! I'm sure there are those of you out there that have had good experiences with Golftec...but not me. I'll take a camcorder and swing academy over these guys any day...

sorry bout my ramble..I knew I should've just went out to the field today instead...



and anyone know the reasoning for them not letting me keep a copy of my swing?

[Big_M]

I have been debating doing this for a few weeks now... seems like I always end up playing instead... now at least I know that I'm not really missing anything and that my apprehension may have been for good reason.

Still, I almost want to hear it for myself... $1200

I could take 20-40 lessons from a few local pros for that price. Maybe a couple less if I wanted a few on video.

Makes you wonder how so many Golftecs are still in business.

[goblue107501]

3 month. 10 30 min lessons. Around $1200.

That is freaking crazy!! I took some lessons a few years ago with a Top 100 teaching pro in the U.S. and the top in my state and he was $50 for a full hour (gotta love that midwest pricing). He had an indoor range if the weather was bad and did video the first time I went. After a few lessons he did video again so I could see how I was improving. It wasn't an extra cost by any means, just part of the hour. I could get a full 24 hours worth of lessons for $1200 from him. Much better than 10, 30 min lessons. That is $240 an hour. You could take lessons from probably much better teachers for that price.

I agree with Big_M, how do they stay in business?

[kfowler]

Wow. I've been thinking about doing it for fun as well. Guess I'll keep my $25. On a side note, I took about 10-15 lessons from a local place. Great facility that uses video. Lessons lasted an hour and were around $90 each. It helped my swing a lot but I was still struggling with consistency.

Fas forward to this year. I took four lessons from this old PGA teaching pro at this run down driving range. He uses no video. His lessons are 1/2 hour but usually go 45 min without charging anything extra. Price was $130 for four lessons plus range balls. Came out to be about $35 per lesson. Let me tell you it was the best $130 I ever spent. I'm hitting the ball better than I ever had. My only regret is I easily spent a $1000 at the other place on lessons.

[Mr3Putt]

My friend signed up for the Golftec package. I think he still has a lesson or two remaining.

They totally revamped his swing, he had an ugly but very functional swing prior to the lessons. His handicap floated between 7-11. Now, his swing looks much more traditional.

I play a non-handicapped Nassau bet with him weekly, I used to win many, but certainly not all of the sides. We had a few rounds where the entire bet was a tie.

At the end of last year, while in the heart of his lessons, I was beating him religiously.

We've been out 3 times this year, he's swept every bet. When the handicaps get adjusted, I'm gonna renegotiate the bet.

His swing and setup looks so much better, and his ball striking has improved immensely. He's probably knocked 1-2 shots off per side.

He didn't mind the cost, especially now. If this keeps up, I'm going to end up paying for his lessons anyway!

[HytrewQasdfg]

I inquired about cost while inside a Golfsmith one time. The wouldn't tell me the price until they gave the entire sales pitch. I kept stopping the guy and saying I was just inquiring about the price, and he would keep dodging the question and continuing on with the sales pitch.

A classic sales technique for something overpriced. Make them desire it so much so when you get to the end the price doesn't seem so bad in comparison.

[BigDaddy_Sean]

yup.. I tried it and it sounded about the same.

[Eeryck]

I went in one day just to see what they were about over the winter and since I had time to kill I was happy to hear about what they will selling. It filled my golfing addiction when there was 3 feet of snow on the ground.

Overall, their plan was not too bad, though a bit spendy. The thing about it is you can go there and practice and tape your swing at anytime in the package deal, unlimited in addition to the lessons. There is some value to the practice bit if you are in a cold weather state, plus IIRC it was a full year of free practice.

Ultimately, I was not looking for such a technical approach to the golf swing. I have also come to speculate that they are fairly scripted when it comes to their teaching method. My speculation is based on discussions with several people that have bought packages and they have all said exactly the same thing about the swing mods using almost exactly the same words.

FWIW,
-E

[HytrewQasdfg]

"3 month. 10 30 min lessons. Around $1200."

That's a rate of $240 an hour.

I expect the cost of golf lessons to be going down in the near future. As can bee seen from the story on the front page, golf purchases are down (26% for Callaway.) Lower demand = lower price.

I expect to see more people jumping in to give lessons. If you are out of work or having a hard time financially, you look for things you can do on the side to pick up some extra cash (I had a guy recently offer to trade me golf lessons for some business services.) Higher supply (golf teachers) = lower price.

The old law of supply and demand is working against high priced golf lessons at the moment. Less demand and a higher supply of teachers will push the price down.

[billm408]

Well it was a learning experience at least!

... he can't properly evaluate my swing in 30 min.

BS! Any decent teaching pro can evaluate your swing and identify at least a couple of swing faults (assuming you have any) in about 3-5 swings. These guys sound no more qualified than the kid selling memberships at 24 hour fitness.

[tjy355]

3 month. 10 30 min lessons. Around $1200.

That's a rate of $240 an hour.

Exactly. You can visit the TOP teaching pros in your area for that kind of money.

[Incognito]

I'd rather buy a nice digital camcorder instead...

[jaragon126]

I too recently took the 30 minute swing analysis at Golftec. I didn't go to one inside a Golfsmith ... I found one closer to me that was it's own separate building.

I made a reservation online, got an email reply promptly ... and showed up at my time.

When I got there, the lesson bays were full ... with some younger golfers & their parents (that seemed to be regulars there).

The young guy took me in, explained the process, strapped me in & made me hit a few balls. Similarly to Incognito, he asked me to come over and look at the screen with him; told me my hand position was off & my backswing was too far; gave me drills to work on; compared my swing to Tiger & others.

I really liked the computerized & video aspects of it. Could show exactly the positions I was in & where I needed to be.

At the end of the lesson, he did ask if I wanted to schedule another lesson with him ... but I said I needed time to work on what he just told me. I didn't feel like it was a sales pitch. He didn't pressure me.

I have a regular pro that I took lessons with in the past and as I was looking to get my handicap lower & lower into the single digits, my regular lesson guy told me to look into the video stuff or go to someone like the Mike McGetrick academy here in town that would focus on more of the details.

I was kinda bummed that he told me to basically go somewhere else ... because I really liked my regular guy.

So my GolfTec lesson was probably a month or so ago ... my handicap has gone from 8.9 to 9.3 due to the changes the guy made. I wouldn't say the changes were drastic, but definitely enough of a change that the ball flight & swing positions have changed a bit. (Gotta get used to the draws & sometimes severe hooks rather than the weak slices)

Unfortunately it's hard to tell if a lesson you get is something that's going to eventually be GOOD for you or just some hack that's going through the motions to take your money.

[antney79]

Anyone do this? Is it worth the money? I am thinking of doing this, but just was curious if anyone had some thoughts on their experience on this.

[Joejoe26]

Hey Antney, I actually get lessons from Golftec. I personally feel that Golftec is a great place to get lessons. The best part is being able to use their equipment to analyze your swing. I've never done the $99 swing evaluation but I'm sure it is something similar to one of my lessons. I've told some of my friends about Golftec and my instructor has agreed to give them a free lesson to see if they like it. Do you have a friend that is doing Golftec right now? If so, ask him/her to pass the word along to their golf instructor at Golftec and see if the instructor will give you a free lesson to see if you like it or not.
Because of the economy and what not, I think Golftec is trying to get more clients so they are doing whatever they can to promote sales.

Basically, in the 99 evaluation, you can expect to see your swing on their camera and screen. They'll probably analyze the basics such as swing plane, swing speed, impact position, and they'll have you wear their vest or whatever to see how you compare with the tour averages. I believe if you go with the evaluation and decide to buy more lessons, they will drop the $99 dollar fee or apply it towards your lesson package.

[antney79]

Thanks Joe, I have heard nothing but good things from golftec, I know they are expensive. I might give it a try here.

[squaddie]

Anyone do this? Is it worth the money? I am thinking of doing this, but just was curious if anyone had some thoughts on their experience on this.

For $100 the evaluation is not bad, as they hook up sensors to you and compare your swing to tour pro averages, which is interesting if you like numbers and that type of analysis. Probably best you get the swing evaluation from their most senior instructor - you can check the local website to see who their top pro is at a particular location. For my session I had to pay $10 more for their top pro (which isn't a bad deal). I think the GolfTec programs are good for players who have _terrible_ swing mechanics (like me), or who have an ongoing issue or competency threshold they have not been able to pass on their own or with training from other instructors. From my few lessons so far I learned I didn't have enough separation between my hips and shoulder turn, which contributes to having a tough time keeping my downswing on plane. There is no way I would have determined I had flexibility issues on my own (or from the other people I took lessons from).