Are Golf lessons over the winter a waste of money or is it the best time?

[Lizzyboy]

I'm a new player working on the basics.

Living in the Northeast, I guess I can play until Nov

then pick it up in the spring. (golf in freezing weather just doesn't sound fun)

I need lessons but I'm not sure when to take them.

Now when the cold weather is coming and there is limited playing time

or wait until the spring when I'll be able to play and go to the range more often.

I want to get the most bang for my buck as lesson are pricey.

How do experienced golfers treat the winters when they can't play.

Thanks

[mvmac]

I'm biased but yes you can definitely get better in the next month or at least get an idea what you need to work on.  Can do a lot of slow mo swings to ingrain new feels during the winter.  I actually do online lessons through Golf Evolution as well as the Owner/Editor of this site Erik Barzeski (iacas)

We keep it pretty simple and give you one, 2 at the most things to work on between lessons.

Here is some more info

http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/

http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/plans

[tristanhilton85]

Golf lessons are never a waste of money as long as you get the right instructor and are willing/able to put in the time.  For you I would suppose that means having a place to hit balls indoors.

[SAGolfLuvr]

Here's my disclaimer. A few years ago, I had my swing analyzed by GolfTec. I am on camera, I see all the stuff i am doing wrong. I can then work on my swing in their indoor driving range and see the flight of my ball on the simulator. Why would I spend the money to do it?

Because a guy I met on the course, had been golfing for only 18 months, and had a better swing, with better results than I currently had after years of teaching myself thanks to GolfTec. I can't afford GolfTec now, so i use my own net. But the answer is YES, instruction, plus video  of your swing, plus weekly practice during the winter indoors will vastly improve your game by the Spring. Just don't expect to be Rory McIlroy in April, be realistic.

[Bananarama]

Golf lessons are always worth it, the only exception is if you have no hand eye co-ordination or have never hit a ball in any sport then I suggest going and trying to hit balls instead to build up confidence or general co-ordination then get lessons.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Bananarama

Golf lessons are always worth it, the only exception is if you have no hand eye co-ordination or have never hit a ball in any sport then I suggest going and trying to hit balls instead to build up confidence or general co-ordination then get lessons.

Totally disagree. Or 80-90% disagree, and by that I mean this:

80-90% of "golf instructors" sit somewhere on the scale between "meh" and "complete suckitude." They make entire lessons about your grip and setup position. They tell you things like "your tempo was off on that one." They have no coherent plans and are basically grasping at straws. They don't use video, TrackMan, or anything. They rely on age-old "advice" that doesn't make any scientific sense and "feel tips" and quick fixes. They mean well, but they also spend next to no time upgrading their understanding or improving their golf swing education.

A golf lesson with the bulk of that 80-90% hurts everyone involved: the golfer doesn't get better, hates golf and hates golf instruction , his friends see him getting frustrated and they learn not to get golf instruction, and it leads to situations where 14% of golfers have ever taken a lesson.

That said, Golf Evolution is very clearly in the 10-20% (and lest people think that I'm doing this just to pump ourselves up, 20% of 50,000 or so is plenty of people local to virtually everyone here), and Evolvr is a great low-cost way to get some pretty great instruction. Others on the forum can attest to that.

And winter is a great time to improve your swing. I just wrote this article which tells you why: Hitting into a Net .

[nevets88]

Originally Posted by iacas

Totally disagree. Or 80-90% disagree, and by that I mean this:

80-90% of "golf instructors" sit somewhere on the scale between "meh" and "complete suckitude." They make entire lessons about your grip and setup position. They tell you things like "your tempo was off on that one." They have no coherent plans and are basically grasping at straws. They don't use video, TrackMan, or anything. They rely on age-old "advice" that doesn't make any scientific sense and "feel tips" and quick fixes. They mean well, but they also spend next to no time upgrading their understanding or improving their golf swing education.

A golf lesson with the bulk of that 80-90% hurts everyone involved: the golfer doesn't get better, hates golf and hates golf instruction, his friends see him getting frustrated and they learn not to get golf instruction, and it leads to situations where 14% of golfers have ever taken a lesson.

+1!!!!!!!!

[GaijinGolfer]

IMO its the best time because it allows you to improve your swing without letting your scores get in your head.  When remaking your swing, you are likely going to get worse before you get better and that causes a lot of people to give up on swing changes before they really have a chance to get ingrained into their swing.

Also, lessons in the winter will allow you to keep your game tuned up instead of not picking up a club all winter and having your game get rusty.

[rustyredcab]

Last few posts are right on the money. Video rules. I;m so glad I have a model to follow -- mine is Moe Norman -- and a plan. And practicing for a while without worrying about how well you're playing is the best way to make hard changes.

BUT, you need to practice what you are being taught. For those of us in cold weather, that means indoor practice facilities. For me it is a dome. Back wall is 83 yards and I pay by the hour instead of the bucket.

[Bananarama]

It appears you missed my point, but am I correct in my understanding that you dont think lessons are worth it unless they use video, a holistic approach or are from golf evolution?  But in a whole you think golf lessons are still worth it which makes me wonder why you totally disagree - It appears you are against bad golf lessons/pros rather than golf lessons in general.

Anyway, my point was for someone such as my girlfriend who has never hit anything (apart from me) with a stick, except for the rare game of back yard cricket or softball about 10 years ago.  The first steps for her was to get used to hitting a ball in any form, having lessons didnt matter, once she got used to hitting a ball the lessons showed her parts of the correct form (dont pick on this statement as I dont want to go into any depth on it).

I think we got off topic here, winter lessons are good imho.

Originally Posted by iacas

Totally disagree. Or 80-90% disagree, and by that I mean this:

80-90% of "golf instructors" sit somewhere on the scale between "meh" and "complete suckitude." They make entire lessons about your grip and setup position. They tell you things like "your tempo was off on that one." They have no coherent plans and are basically grasping at straws. They don't use video, TrackMan, or anything. They rely on age-old "advice" that doesn't make any scientific sense and "feel tips" and quick fixes. They mean well, but they also spend next to no time upgrading their understanding or improving their golf swing education.

A golf lesson with the bulk of that 80-90% hurts everyone involved: the golfer doesn't get better, hates golf and hates golf instruction, his friends see him getting frustrated and they learn not to get golf instruction, and it leads to situations where 14% of golfers have ever taken a lesson.

That said, Golf Evolution is very clearly in the 10-20% (and lest people think that I'm doing this just to pump ourselves up, 20% of 50,000 or so is plenty of people local to virtually everyone here), and Evolvr is a great low-cost way to get some pretty great instruction. Others on the forum can attest to that.

And winter is a great time to improve your swing. I just wrote this article which tells you why: Hitting into a Net .

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Bananarama

It appears you missed my point, but am I correct in my understanding that you dont think lessons are worth it unless they use video, a holistic approach or are from golf evolution?  But in a whole you think golf lessons are still worth it which makes me wonder why you totally disagree - It appears you are against bad golf lessons/pros rather than golf lessons in general.

I can't really elaborate any more - I feel I already did - but I was responding to you saying "Golf lessons are always worth it, the only exception is if you have no hand eye co-ordination or have never hit a ball in any sport..."

Golf lessons are by no means "always worth it." Too many lousy instructors out there.

[robinoso]

Originally Posted by rustyredcab

Last few posts are right on the money. Video rules. I;m so glad I have a model to follow -- mine is Moe Norman -- and a plan. And practicing for a while without worrying about how well you're playing is the best way to make hard changes.

BUT, you need to practice what you are being taught. For those of us in cold weather, that means indoor practice facilities. For me it is a dome. Back wall is 83 yards and I pay by the hour instead of the bucket.

Did you choose your model, or did a professional help you decide that.  That would be great to have a model to look at and compare as changes take place.

[nevets88]

Originally Posted by Bananarama

Anyway, my point was for someone such as my girlfriend who has never hit anything (apart from me) with a stick, except for the rare game of back yard cricket or softball about 10 years ago.  The first steps for her was to get used to hitting a ball in any form, having lessons didnt matter, once she got used to hitting a ball the lessons showed her parts of the correct form (dont pick on this statement as I dont want to go into any depth on it).

I respectfully disagree. If you know an effective instructor, I'd put someone I know who never played in front of that instructor from day one. If it's some random instructor, then I'd be wary. I can see some people are embarrassed or shy about lessons on the first get go - if that's the case than I'd let that person go off on his own until confidence is gained.

[rustyredcab]

Quote:

Did you choose your model, or did a professional help you decide that.  That would be great to have a model to look at and compare as changes take place.

I found Natural Golf because of their TV ads and found Moe Norman from NG. I needed something to change and I had met a guy that found the NG swing helped his back pain after he had a car accident. I have my own back issues so this seemed like one reason to investigate further. I found an instructor and he taught me some Natural Golf ideas but it was like other lessons I'd taken years ago -- some fixes to improve a little but no real long-term plan. Except his plan was to sell me golf clubs at every lesson. After three lessons, and lots of new clubs, I went on-line to find a different Natural Golf instructor and found Graves Golf who did not push clubs sales. I dove in and enrolled in a 5-day school. When I got there, I learned that they did not teach "Natural Golf." They taught Moe Norman's swing before he became a NG paid endorsor (close but not the same). I became committed to learning Moe's swing day one in school and have be a student of Grave Golf ever since. Handicap dropped from 18.0 to as low as 6.1 (currently 6.6).

I think having a model swing that I am trying to mimic has been a great help. I can watch video of Moe, see his positions at points in the swing, and see if I'm hitting those points or need to make changes. It is also great that after several years, I'm not being told to modify my model by my pros. So, I suggest you uncover the swing you want, and stick to it. You could do a lot worse than trying to model Moe. :)

[robinoso]

Originally Posted by rustyredcab

I found Natural Golf because of their TV ads and found Moe Norman from NG. I needed something to change and I had met a guy that found the NG swing helped his back pain after he had a car accident. I have my own back issues so this seemed like one reason to investigate further. I found an instructor and he taught me some Natural Golf ideas but it was like other lessons I'd taken years ago -- some fixes to improve a little but no real long-term plan. Except his plan was to sell me golf clubs at every lesson. After three lessons, and lots of new clubs, I went on-line to find a different Natural Golf instructor and found Graves Golf who did not push clubs sales. I dove in and enrolled in a 5-day school. When I got there, I learned that they did not teach "Natural Golf." They taught Moe Norman's swing before he became a NG paid endorsor (close but not the same). I became committed to learning Moe's swing day one in school and have be a student of Grave Golf ever since. Handicap dropped from 18.0 to as low as 6.1 (currently 6.6).

I think having a model swing that I am trying to mimic has been a great help. I can watch video of Moe, see his positions at points in the swing, and see if I'm hitting those points or need to make changes. It is also great that after several years, I'm not being told to modify my model by my pros. So, I suggest you uncover the swing you want, and stick to it. You could do a lot worse than trying to model Moe. :)

Thanks, I'll take a peek at that.  Looking at mine all the time, helps, but not if I were looking at a pro.  Ha, each of my lessons they have my side by side of Tiger.  Good luck on that I say.

[rustyredcab]

Originally Posted by robinoso

...  Ha, each of my lessons they have my side by side of Tiger. ...

Maybe your pro has a deal with an orthopedic surgeon.

[Lizzyboy]

I can see lessons/and indoor ranges over the winter sounds like a great way to focus on your swing.

The problem I have with the range is I hit the ball very well at the range and on the coarse I am much more inconsistent.

The range is gives me a  false sense of confidence.

I shoot in the high 90's but my range play would put me in the mid 80's.

I wish I could hit the ball the same on the coarse.