Want Golf Lessons, but don't want to spend money

[james_hirshfield]

I haven't been called "MoradMan" for a while. Old School! I love it. Days when I'd make video analyses for people from my dorm room!

Originally Posted by gmbtempe

When I first saw moradman's comment about 50 instructors I thought that was a bit harsh but thinking back on it maybe it is not.

I think golf instruction for the most part is horrible out there.

What should the student get if he pays hard earned money, at a very high rate, works his butt off, yet does not get better?  Should they get a refund?  If they say something to the instructor is the first thing the instructor thinks is "you aint got any talent to hit a ball anyways"?

Its supply and demand to me, its worth whatever someway will pay.  As the student though in the game of golf instruction goes I might have to spend 1500 an hour after you add up all the wasted lessons just to find the right guy who is charging the 100.

As the student its really not that fun and in comparison to other professional industries the variation between individuals is much more extreme.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by iacas

I'm not keen on just making up numbers, but using your numbers, here goes. There are a lot of instructors out there who would rather make $720 and work eight to ten hours a week than make $900 and work 20-25 hours per week. That's $180 a week for an extra 10-17 hours of work?

You didn't mind making up numbers in post #29 . The numbers are irrelevant, but not far off cases I know, but the point I'm making is that it is worth halving your hourly fee if you can more than double your lessons. Obviously, if you can't it's pointless. It also depends on how much you are earning, but I wish I was in a position to scoff at an extra $720 a month. The extra work is on average TWO hours per day (if you work 6 days a week which is normal here, at least) on top of a 1.5-hour day. I don't know, but to me that is not asking a lot of an instructor.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

... the point I'm making is that it is worth halving your hourly fee if you can more than double your lessons.

And as I said, to me, it's not necessarily "worth" doing. It's "only" two hours extra per day? In those two hours I could get in a good run. See a movie with my family. Play nine holes with my family. It's opportunity cost.

I could probably work 60 hours a week if I charged $20/lesson and make even more money! Why I'd want to do that is beyond me.

Everyone will have their sweet spot on their specific supply/demand chart.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

... the point I'm making is that it is worth halving your hourly fee if you can more than double your lessons.

And as I said, to me, it's not necessarily "worth" doing. It's "only" two hours extra per day? In those two hours I could get in a good run. See a movie with my family. Play nine holes with my family. It's opportunity cost.

I could probably work 60 hours a week if I charged $20/lesson and make even more money! Why I'd want to do that is beyond me.

Everyone will have their sweet spot on their specific supply/demand chart.

Kudos on finding a good life/work balance and for seeing the value in something other than just one more dollar of profit. I doubt too many people look back at their childhood and wish their dad had spent more hours at work,

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

... the point I'm making is that it is worth halving your hourly fee if you can more than double your lessons.

And as I said, to me, it's not necessarily "worth" doing. It's "only" two hours extra per day? In those two hours I could get in a good run. See a movie with my family. Play nine holes with my family. It's opportunity cost.

I could probably work 60 hours a week if I charged $20/lesson and make even more money! Why I'd want to do that is beyond me.

Everyone will have their sweet spot on their specific supply/demand chart.

Kudos on finding a good life/work balance and for seeing the value in something other than just one more dollar of profit. I doubt too many people look back at their childhood and wish their dad had spent more hours at work,

This guy's kids probably do.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Kudos on finding a good life/work balance and for seeing the value in something other than just one more dollar of profit. I doubt too many people look back at their childhood and wish their dad had spent more hours at work,

We are talking going from 1.5 hours a day to 3.5 hours a day of work here. And it's to go from around $3,000 to $4,000 a month which is a big difference in my book. If in the other 20.5 hours of free time a day and on your day off you can't find time to spend with your wife and family, you've obviously got other problems.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Kudos on finding a good life/work balance and for seeing the value in something other than just one more dollar of profit. I doubt too many people look back at their childhood and wish their dad had spent more hours at work,

We are talking going from 1.5 hours a day to 3.5 hours a day of work here. And it's to go from around $3,000 to $4,000 a month which is a big difference in my book. If in the other 20.5 hours of free time a day and on your day off you can't find time to spend with your wife and family, you've obviously got other problems.

* he / his

[HeadGolfool]

I'm not saying that they don't need good fundamentals with their long game, but most high handicappers hit a driver off every tee even though they can't hit the fairway 40-50% of the time and then when they get close to the green their chipping skills are so bad they usually can't come close to getting up and down.   I have friends that I've worked with on course management and improving their short games that can't hit a driver 200 yards that can shoot in the 80's pretty much on any course.  The've learned to keep the ball in play away from trouble and distance isn't their concern.  Learning course management and spending more time on their short game has them shooting scores they never thought possible.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by HeadGolfool

I'm not saying that they don't need good fundamentals with their long game, but most high handicappers hit a driver off every tee even though they can't hit the fairway 40-50% of the time and then when they get close to the green their chipping skills are so bad they usually can't come close to getting up and down.   I have friends that I've worked with on course management and improving their short games that can't hit a driver 200 yards that can shoot in the 80's pretty much on any course.  The've learned to keep the ball in play away from trouble and distance isn't their concern.  Learning course management and spending more time on their short game has them shooting scores they never thought possible.

I don't know who you're responding to, and I'm fairly certain you're just waiting to spam links again, but that really isn't the topic being discussed.

[bunkerputt]

My favorite part of this whole thread is the OP comment "I don't want to spend a lot of money, is Golftec an option?"

[sk golf]

Originally Posted by HeadGolfool

I'm not saying that they don't need good fundamentals with their long game, but most high handicappers hit a driver off every tee even though they can't hit the fairway 40-50% of the time and then when they get close to the green their chipping skills are so bad they usually can't come close to getting up and down.   I have friends that I've worked with on course management and improving their short games that can't hit a driver 200 yards that can shoot in the 80's pretty much on any course.  The've learned to keep the ball in play away from trouble and distance isn't their concern.  Learning course management and spending more time on their short game has them shooting scores they never thought possible.

I definitely agree that course management is important.  I would also agree that short game is OFTEN over looked.  However, I don't see how hitting drives under 200 yards is a good for anyone.  New golf courses are not getting shorter.

Distance and curve control

[colin007]

Originally Posted by iacas

I give away more good information here most weeks than you'll get from Golf Digest in a year or two. And with that information you should be able to ask an instructor reasonable questions or know enough about the golf swing to know when an instructor is full of crap.

this is the MFing truth right here.

thanks to erik and the other instructors on this site, my Golf Digest and Golf Magazine subscriptions are basically worthless now.

[x129]

See that is an easy question to answer: No. If you don't want to spend a lot of money golftec isn't an option.  It is sort of a shame as I think there instruction setup has some potential particularly for high handicappers. Have a student come in every week or so for 30 mins. Show them a video of what they are doing wrong. Have them do some tweaks until they get a good swing and send them home with a video copy of that swing. Allow them to come back to practice a couple times a week where they can make new videos and see how well they are learning the new motion. But the amount of money they want in my area (and the way they pitch their programs. You really need to buy the 1500 6 month plan) is a real turn off. Maybe it really costs that much to have that technology but I have to feel a good chunk of it goes to advertising on the golf channel (and the like).

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

My favorite part of this whole thread is the OP comment "I don't want to spend a lot of money, is Golftec an option?"

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by colin007

Golf Digest and Golf Magazine subscriptions are basically worthless now.

They were basically worthless to begin with

[colin007]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

They were basically worthless to begin with

lol...i still like some of the articles...

but yeah, youre prolly right.

[mchepp]

Originally Posted by colin007

this is the MFing truth right here.

thanks to erik and the other instructors on this site, my Golf Digest and Golf Magazine subscriptions are basically worthless now.

I second this comment. More info in iacas own swing thread than the last 3 years of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine combined.

Now to the original poster. San Jose is an interesting dynamic right now. Lots of good guys with good intentions but not very good instruction. I think if you are on a tight budget you should first research the internet. Spend 6 months and just absorb everything you can. This site is a wonderful start, and there are tons of others. In the course of your research you will find lots of instructors who post and you will find a style you like. Then you can move in that direction.

I saw someone suggest Paul Gorman, he is a great instructor. Someone who really knows his stuff, but from your picture you look like you are at SJ Muni's range and that is a long ride to see Paul. I have done it a few times and he is pretty far away.

As an additional comment I do feel evolvr for the price is one of the best deals around. It is a great deal.