Go to a PGA pro!

[boil3rmak3r]

I have gotten my handicap down with a lot of reading books, looking at videos online, and reading this forum. For the first time in many years, though, I took lessons with a pro. I've had 3 lessons so far and wanted to describe my results. In the first three lessons, I've had three things to work on... 1. Setup - he didn't want me so slouched over and wanted to get my weight away from my heels. Basically what you've all heard before... A straighter back with the arms hanging down naturally. 2. My swing was very flat. He wanted to to get it a bit steeper. The solution was to concentrate on a one piece takeaway. The thought process for me was to turn my shoulders while keeping my right arm straight for as long as possible. This gets my right elbow away from my body in the backswing, as opposed to having it collapse early and hug my right side the entire time. 3. My head was actually moving slightly TOWARD the target on the backswing. It essentially ended up in the same spot when I was at impact. I needed to work to keep my head back (I.e. not move it forward in the backswing) and keep it there. So far, I've seen great results. I've been hitting the ball further (wider arc, I suppose) and have been much, much more accurate. My pushes to the right with the driver have all but disappeared (not getting my head ahead of the ball, I suppose). My last 4 rounds have been 75, 76, 75, and an 81 today. In all those rounds, my ball striking has been much better. For the first time in a while, I can actually envision cutting 2 or 3 strokes off of my 7 hdcp in the next year. My reason for posting this is to encourage anyone who wants to dedicate time to improving to get professional lessons. I know a lot about the golf swing, but couldn't find and correct the faults I had on my own. I needed a pro to tell me what to do... I like my pro (which is very important) and committed to one lesson per month for the next year. I am again excited about my golf game!

[mvmac]

Well it doesn't need to be a PGA pro to get a good lesson I know a lot of good instructors that aren't PGA members.  Golfers looking for an instructor just need to do a little research and maybe ask some questions.