Experience with teaching girlfriends how to golf?

[dsc123]

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

Hey, if all you want your wife/gf to be able to do is whack the ball around and have fun, sure...have a go at it. If you want her to be a good golfer, leave the teaching to someone else.

In most cases, the goal is that she can hit the ball well enough to have fun.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

Just because you weren't selective enough choosing a pro doesn't mean eveyone will be.

I really don't care what other people think about my opinion. It is what it is. No 10+ HC has any business teaching golf swing. Like I said, they wouldn't be 10+ if they knew enough to take a beginner and teach them the fundamentals correctly.

Even a PGA apprentice has to pass the PAT that makes them play to better than a 10. Can a ten+ give another some constructive tips? Of course they can. We're talking about taking a rank beginner and getting them off to the correct start. That's better left to someone BETTER THAN A TEN HANDICAP!

Hey, if all you want your wife/gf to be able to do is whack the ball around and have fun, sure...have a go at it. If you want her to be a good golfer, leave the teaching to someone else. I've seen a dozen guys with their wives on the course giving them advice. It's never pretty. Are they always wrong? No. Should their wives have leaned to play from them? HELL no.....

Again, your logic consists of more holes than the damn movie "Holes"!

I know many people that are self-taught Software Engineers that do not even have college degrees and are currently making 6 figures. You're telling me they're not capable of teaching another individual how to write applications because they do not hold any "formal" degrees or certificates?

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Some people cannot teach, period. Handicap does not determine teaching ability or knowledge of the game's fundamentals and physics. I don't know how many times I can repeat myself, however I do notice that you are responding to all others except for me. If you're going to debate, then please offer me some logical explanations as to why "anyone under a 10 HC can teach", however anyone 10 or over cannot?

I will repeat this once more for you:

You can't look at a generic HC and think that you can size somebody up. I see people all too often that carry that stiff, ridiculous attitude bragging about their HC. Often times, they're playing courses that are barely breaking 6000 yards with average, at best, slopes and ratings with the easiest green stimps accommodating to the weekend hack. (no offense to any hacks here, because I'm one on occasion as well! - just using this individual's terminology so my point is well understood)

If I told my wife I was going to get her professional lessons, she would laugh at me and say "Hell, no!" period. If I invited her out and told her I would work on her game with her ( and yes, I can help any beginner get the ball airborne and help them establish solid contact with the ball, while teaching them the basics and fundamentals of the game of Golf - including etiquette, proper grip, proper stance, proper ball placement, proper swing plane, etc. ) she would definitely be more open-minded to that scenario.

I'm not seeing what you are finding so hard to understand about the concept that "Some people are better teachers than they are 'doers". Those that can, do. Those that can't?.... damn how did that saying go?

[dsc123]

LovinItAll, d id anyone show you how to hold or GASP! even swing a club before you ever took a lesson?

[tiger187126]

Originally Posted by dsc123

In most cases, the goal is that she can hit the ball well enough to have fun.

no, she needs to be at least a 15 handicapper to set foot on a golf course and until then she should be enrolled in a golf academy.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by tiger187126

no, she needs to be at least a 15 handicapper to set foot on a golf course and until then she should be enrolled in a golf academy.

Not only a 15 handicapper, but arrive barefoot and pregnant to meet the standards of the 1947 man!

Besides, how the hell could she possibly swing a club while making a sandwich and pushing a stroller at the same time? They're already allowed to vote, letting them golf is just pushing the envelope too far! (just kidding, obviously, in the context of the ridiculous debate going on! no offense ladies!)

This is the biggest joke in the world that someone who is close to a 5 HC is claiming that a 10+ HC is such an uninformative golfer. This guy shouldn't really invest that much into a Handicap when he is an amateur among amateurs himself.

[tiger187126]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Not only a 15 handicapper, but arrive barefoot and pregnant to meet the standards of the 1947 man!

Besides, how the hell could she possibly swing a club while making a sandwich and pushing a stroller at the same time? They're already allowed to vote, letting them golf is just pushing the envelope too far! (just kidding, obviously, in the context of the ridiculous debate going on! no offense ladies!)

This is the biggest joke in the world that someone who is close to a 5 HC is claiming that a 10+ HC is such an uninformative golfer. This guy shouldn't really invest that much into a Handicap when he is an amateur among amateurs himself.

you're absolutely right about the HC status around here. i could write 2.3 in as mine and somehow that makes me a better teacher and makes it so people should pay attention to what i say.

good teachers are good teachers. sitting in a college lecture is a great example of that. you could listen to a guy drone on for hours on end and not learn a thing, even though he's one of the tops in his field and smarter than anyone he "teaches" could ever pretend to be. meanwhile a guy fresh off his masters and with little experience in the field could teach the crap out of his classes because he is a good teacher and communicates with people on their level instead of throwing his superior knowledge around and expecting everyone else to "get it."

if handicap and pga recognition was all that mattered then why would tiger ever get a lesson? what is a guy that hasn't even sniffed the level that tiger plays at going to teach him?

bubba watson said lessons are overrated and we should find our own ways and not let people shoehorn us into one swing. he's a pro so i'll go along with him.

[Goonsidious]

Some very disappointing personalities on here. Thankfully we have Spyder here to speak for most of us, myself at least.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

The only person that should be teaching anyone about the golf swing is a pro. A 10 HC'er should have zero say re: the golf swing, and that includes grip, posture, setup, etc. The 'right' grip for one player may not be right for another for a number of reasons....let a pro sort it out.

Golf is the only game I've ever played where even rank beginners think they have intimate knowledge of the mechanics of the sport. It's obscenely ridiculous.

If someone at that level wants to coach their wife/gf re: managing the golf course, that may be different (but I doubt it).

*bag

[LovinItAll]

you hold a PGA pro and low cappers in way too high of regard for their ability to teach and obviously miss the point of most of the people who have responded to this thread which is our wives/girlfriends/whomever want to play golf with us. you are the only guy who's partner has taken it seriously enough to invest a good amount of time and money to further their golfing career. most of our wives are quite content with getting cute sticks with a matching bag and being able to get some holes in under double par or duff every single shot. you fire into this thread headfirst with the same old "get lessons or you will never ever be able to play!!!!!" and what is this magical 10 handicap cutoff that you keep on getting worked up about? is an 11 no good? does a 12 capper lack the knowledge of someone 2 points lower? and wanting your wife to be a good golfer says a lot more about you than your wife. most of us are content in letting our wives decide what they want to do when it comes to their hobbies. i agree with what the guy above me keeps saying: too often it is just parrotted "get fitted, see a pro" i'm guessing you've never bought an electronic device without the consent of an "expert" in the field like a best buy employee who is trained with that device. you've also never fixed anything yourself because unless a master technician taught you how to do it, you're utterly incapable and should shovel as much money at someone who is "trained" as you possibly can.

I didn't care where my partner wanted to go with her game - that's the point. If she wanted to be a recreational golfer and just scratch it around with the girls, fine. If she wanted to take the game seriously, like so many people here, she didn't need to start learning the game with a bunch of bad habits. I never tried to steer her one way or another. '10' is not a magical number for a cutoff. There is no number for that. The point is really simple: If someone knows the golf swing well enough to teach it, they can AT LEAST play the game at a reasonably high level, and 10 isn't it. I played to a 3 when my wife decided to learn. Do I think I know as much as many of the people that are arguing with me here? Yes, I do. That doesn't make me a competent teacher, though. Guys, teach your wives and girlfriends...I don't really give a damn. If you think that because you can help her 'get it airborne' or that 'making contact' makes you a legitimate teaching pro, you're beyond anything I can say to you. To the guy that said, "The OP isn't trying to get his wife to join the LPGA tour.": That's the problem with everyone's line of thinking. It should be up to the player to decide how seriously they want to take the game, and they should have a fair shot at deciding by being taught properly in the first place. No, I didn't have professional instruction when I started. I wish my parents had stuck clubs in my hand and gotten me pro instruction as a kid, though. I'd probably be a better golfer today. I'll say this again: There are very, very few people that visit this site that have any business trying to teach a rank beginner the golf swing. Give a few tips? Maybe. Take a player from never having swung a club to a proficient golfer? No effen' way. Hey, ask the swing gurus on this site (Erik, et al) what they think about someone who can't break 80 from 72/1xx rated tees teaching the golf swing to a beginner. I don't even think they'll weigh in. You might get your feelings hurt.

[iacas]

Don't.

One of the funniest things I've read on this site, ever, was in a similar thread and someone wrote something like this. "Don't do it. Really. But if you do, know that any time your girlfriend/wife hits a bad shot, regardless of where you are, where she is, what she's doing, when you last saw her, whether she did what you said or not, whether she's gotten lessons since or not, whether she's drunk, dating another guy by then, or anything - it's your fault. If you can accept that, go ahead. But really, don't do it.

[dsc123]

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

To the guy that said, "The OP isn't trying to get his wife to join the LPGA tour.": That's the problem with everyone's line of thinking. It should be up to the player to decide how seriously they want to take the game

That's a good point.  I just checked with my wife.  She confirmed that she in fact is NOT interested in making the LPGA tour.

[VMAN]

We're getting a little off track here.  thanks for getting us back on the tracks.

caveat emptor is what everyone is trying to say.

I don't care if you're a pga pro, don't teach your significant other how to play golf.  Your kids maybe...your wife...nope.

[kathybhylton]

Well it's up to your girlfriend if she wants to take a lesson or she wants you to teach her. It really depends on the attitude of your girlfriend towards this sport.

[bogdan101]

Originally Posted by iacas

Don't.

What he said.

[scottyjoe145]

To all women: Men dream about a woman that simply enjoys the game of golf and is a pleasure to play with (I know I've had this dream ).  Its not even about how well you learn to play the game (because we all know the last reason we brought you was for competition).  The reason men want to share their interests in golf is because of the joys, heartaches, frustrations, and rewards that sadly bring us satisfaction.  All men ask is that you come, you participate, you give it your best effort, and try to have fun. We are letting you peek into our adolescent minds and see what makes us tick.  We want you to somehow get a better understanding of how we enjoy ourselves outside of your "death gripping" boundaries.  Seriously, I think every guy on this forum can agree with that.

To all men: The reality however is, if your wife/girlfriend/female is learning this game because of your interest in golf and not hers, IT WILL NEVER WORK.  I can assure you, your significant other will only compound your frustrations on the course.  It is not possible for a female to enjoy you, while you engage in something you enjoy.  They see it as competition for your time, attention, and money they could otherwise be spending on themselves.  They will sabotage this wonderful day you have planned, and attempt to create all manner of confusion inside your head full of mush.  You see, women are selfish to the core.  It is fantasy to think you can teach a woman anything about what this game means to you.

The outcome: After you attempt this dreadfully unnecessary process of teaching a female anything , there are two possible outcomes. 1) The lesser men will be convinced by their significant other that this time bandit of a game should be categorized as "less important than she is."  He will unwillingly have to lay down his hobby to pursue her interests, and reluctantly begin hanging his nuts on the door when he enters his home from that point forward. 2) The men with more testicular fortitude will begin to understand their mistake early in the first hole, and will not be able to un-say those harsh (but true) words of "this was a mistake."  That will lead all manner of hell being unleashed upon him for the remaining 17 holes.  As you can see, neither outcomes are the least bit appealing, leading me to my conclusion below...

Conclusion: Golf is a game that is meant to be enjoyed.  To further complicate an already complicated game is not only foolish, it is unnecessary.  Please do not attempt to include your female companion in this part of your life's journey, unless you are a glutton for punishment.

[Domenic]

so I should give up on my dreams of a pretty, well rounded girl who can sing, act, is successful, and can ejoy golfing and jam with me? Shit, man, that hurts.

[Goonsidious]

My fiancee just enjoys going to the course with me. Actually enjoys it..yes. Sure I pay the extra fee..but it's worth it..she's a good spectator.

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

No, it's absurd to think a 15 HC is qualified to teach ANYONE how to swing a golf club.

Everyone's a teacher........

And everyone who posts on an internet forum thinks he's an expert on pretty nearly every subject.

I've broken 90 once in my life.  I don't profess to be a good golfer or to be terribly knowledgeable about the intricate details of the golf swing.  I tend to dig an iron into the ground behind the ball at least a few times every round, I suspect that culprit is that I'm dropping my shoulder, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to eliminate the problem:  I clearly need a lesson or two from a pro.  However, my ignorance of the finer points of correcting golf swing errors does not render me (or someone similarly situated) altogether unfit to teach a beginner some basics.

I started to teach my 6 year-old daughter the fundamentals this spring but then we enrolled her in a kids golf class taught at the local municipal center by some assistant pros from a local country club and I stuck around to watch what they were teaching.  Guess what?  Almost every significant error I saw her make, one of the pros corrected it about the same that I would have, with references to the fundamentals.  When we practice together and she listens to me (not always the case), she has a round swing that looks great and usually hits the ball very nicely; when she ignores what I'm saying, rises up on her toes, has a vertical lift to her swing, she doesn't hit it so well.

I don't think there's a huge difference between teaching a beginning child and a beginning adult in terms of the technique (swing mechanics, not teaching style) - the basic fundamentals are about the same.  I am confident that I (and most similarly experienced and skilled golfers) can teach an absolute beginner the fundamentals sufficient for them to get significantly better results than they would get just wacking at 500 balls on their own with no guidance.  However, there is a difference between trying to teach the basics to a random beginner and teaching one's signifcant other, who may be more sensitive and touchier about instruction, particularly critical comments that are a part of getting lessons on any difficult activity requiring coordination, than most other people.  Odds are pretty good that a beginner will listen better and be more accepting of instruction from a pro than from an amateur.

Golf instruction is not an all-or-nothing endeavor, worthwhile only if taught from the very first lesson by an expert.  Of course the better a player gets, the better a pro instructor will be at fine-tuning his/her game and there clearly will be a level beyond which even an average lower handicapped amateur would be unable to provide useful guidance.  But to say that an amateur golfer cannot privide any successful, correct instruction to a beginner is asinine.  The bottom line answer to the question in the original post is "It depends on her personality and learning style and your personality and teaching style."