lesson quesetion for golfers who take it serious/compete/NCAA

[golf55]

For someone like me who take golf very serious how many times should I get lessons from PGA instructors? Money is an issue. $75 hr or $40 for 30minutes is too expensive, how often do pros, college, amature take lessons?

[LovinItAll]

For someone like me who take golf very serious how many times should I get lessons from PGA instructors? Money is an issue. $75 hr or $40 for 30minutes is too expensive, how often do pros, college, amature take lessons?

It runs the gamut from players taking very few, if any, lessons to some pros having their coach by their side seemingly all the time. Not really sure that 'you get what you pay for' applies across the board for instructors, but certainly instructors that are in demand can (and usually do) charge more. With that said, I think you'd be better off finding an A-1 instructor and paying a little more, even if it means that you'll be able to take fewer lessons overall. You can also take advantage of all the free stuff available on the web, in books, etc. You're playing to an 11, so there are probably still some fundamentals that need improving. Post your swing here and on other sites and get some feedback from better players/pros, take that advice to the range, and see how it works out for you. It's fast, easy, and free. Another thing about lessons: If you follow golf, you've seen how long pros take for swing changes to really settle in. Using Tiger as an example, when he makes a change, he says it takes a couple of years for the change to become natural. That's coming from someone who hits an astonishing number of golf balls and is arguably the best player to ever swing a club. At your level, there may be some changes that are easy to implement and that can be incorporated into your game immediately, but the better you get, the longer the smaller refinements to your swing will take.

[iacas]

When evaluating cost I can tell you from personal experience seeing people that this happens.

A guy who taught at the same range as us for a few years would have guys come in and pay $30 for an hour long lesson, $40 tops. Another guy (not me) would charge $90 to $120 an hour, depending on a few things.

The guy who charged less stunk. His students would eventually hit the ball better during their lesson because they'd been swinging a 7-iron for an hour. They'd leave, suck again, and think "I was hitting it better during my lesson - I must be doing something else now - I'll go back and get another lesson."

The guy who charged more was great. He gave the students their top priority piece, made sure they understood it, and told them how to practice it and work on it. Some of his students would come once a month, some would come once every two to three months.

Who spent more on lessons over a six-month period of time?

$35 * 18 > $105 * 4

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by golf55

For someone like me who take golf very serious how many times should I get lessons from PGA instructors? Money is an issue. $75 hr or $40 for 30minutes is too expensive, how often do pros, college, amature take lessons?

Times have really changed since I played college golf. Back then (early 80s), well-off kids were the only ones who had steady instruction and it wasn't in the form of a coach, just occasional lessons at their parents' country club. The rest of us went to clinics and read books to learn the swing. But, it was more grip, stance, alignment and feel back then, rather than positions in the swing. I took a few lessons to learn the basics and that was it.

I knew I lot of good golfers who had very little in the way of formal intruction and there was a self-taught PGA pro, Larry Nelson, who was winning multiple majors at the time.

The most inexpensive way to get multiple lessons is to by them in a bundle of like 6 lesson an hour each for $200. Many driving ranges offer deals like than.