I stink. How to find instructor

[StefanUrkel]

How do you find an instructor that best suits your game, and how do you know how many lessons to order(or go 1 by one).  I swing worse than Jim Furyk without the results. I'm just extremely athletic. 

[phillyk]

It's tough, no doubt, to find the right person.  Your personality has to blend and you want to walk away after one lesson thinking, I will get better with this guy.  If you are done after one lesson and not hit one shot that was "better", then this person might not work.

[CarlSpackler]

Here...

http://5sk.com/index.php/site/find

There is a guy here in Orlando that I plan to see once our house back in Dayton sells.

[Odogesq]

11 hours ago, StefanUrkel said:

How do you find an instructor that best suits your game, and how do you know how many lessons to order(or go 1 by one).  I swing worse than Jim Furyk without the results. I'm just extremely athletic. 

Hi! Finding a good instructor can be difficult. If you have never taken lessons before, it probably does not matter much who you go with as you will receive tremendous benefits from just about any instructor. Just make sure they are pga certified (or credentialed in some other reputable program, e.g. 5sk). That said, for a beginner you will benefit the most from purchasing at least 4-5 hours of time at once. Most instructors will let you break up that time as you see fit, in 30 min or 1 hour increments. You will most likely get the best results with the first couple lessons being an hour long, and tapering off into 30 min lessons with the rest. If you buy your lessons up front you will be able to negotiate a better rate. For reference I live in So Cal and pay about $80-$120 per hour for the local pros, or $40-$60 per 30 min.

My advice would be to seek out the local pros at your local course and just chat with them. You definitely want to make sure they don't have a crazy methedology, or teach only one kind of swing. As long as they believe in focusing on the fundamental (grip, stance, weight shift, body turn) you should be fine. Ask around when you play golf, usually the locals will tell you if the local course has a good pro.

Good luck!

[TripleEagle]

I used to have a lot of trouble finding an instructor before I started getting lessons from a friends dad (former PGA tour player and former PING Swing Coach) for only $40/session (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Before I found out about him, though, I went through several coaches. I used to ask instructors the same questions via email and it helped weed them out: 1- What are your credentials as a coach/player? 2- What success have your students had in the past? 3- Where do you succeed the most on the course (compare to what you need the most help on)? 4- Could we do a short free/discounted introductory lesson (I've found that many coaches are willing to do these intro lessons for free/cheap)? On occasion I'd throw in some other questions. Since you're probably a newer player almost all instructors who are credible (not just the guy who shoots in the low 70's) should be able to give you some tremendous strides forward. Also what you may look into is clinics, most coaches typically have regular clinics of several people that are pretty cheap (I usually find em around $25-$40/hour). These clinics allow you to see how well the coach can communicate to you and what type of teaching style he has and if you think he'd make a goof private coach. Best of luck to you, finding a coach is a tough but important part of golf that will really take your game to the next level. Remember though, not every good instructor is a PGA affiliate or has been playing for a century; when I was a new golfer I found a coach (through a clinic) that was fresh out of college, he was 23, played golf at an FBS school, and worked in the pro shop while doing amateur tournaments for extra cash. He was easily one of the best coaches I've ever met and even now (years later) I still use and remember what he taught me to get out of the bunker, and i'm one of the best of the sand that I know. I got lessons from him years ago for $45/hour, $75 for a playing session, today he's the head pro at a course an hour away and he charges $75/hour and $130/playing session- ya never know.

Additional question: Your index says 6.5? I wouldn't say thats junk and how did you get so low without a coach in the first place? thats a tough accomplishment.

26 minutes ago, Odogesq said:

Hi! Finding a good instructor can be difficult. If you have never taken lessons before, it probably does not matter much who you go with as you will receive tremendous benefits from just about any instructor. Just make sure they are pga certified (or credentialed in some other reputable program, e.g. 5sk). That said, for a beginner you will benefit the most from purchasing at least 4-5 hours of time at once. Most instructors will let you break up that time as you see fit, in 30 min or 1 hour increments. You will most likely get the best results with the first couple lessons being an hour long, and tapering off into 30 min lessons with the rest. If you buy your lessons up front you will be able to negotiate a better rate. For reference I live in So Cal and pay about $80-$120 per hour for the local pros, or $40-$60 per 30 min.

My advice would be to seek out the local pros at your local course and just chat with them. You definitely want to make sure they don't have a crazy methedology, or teach only one kind of swing. As long as they believe in focusing on the fundamental (grip, stance, weight shift, body turn) you should be fine. Ask around when you play golf, usually the locals will tell you if the local course has a good pro.

Good luck!

That much for lessons? Here in Austin thats about how much you'll pay for a well known coach. For example, Lonny Alexander is a coach at Onion Creek Country Club; he's played in 8 PGA tour events and won the Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year Award- he charges $125/hour. That sucks they cost that much over there, most of our locals our $45-$65/hour.

[nevets88]

It's not easy. I would say only a very low percentage of instructors, 5% maybe, are worth going to. There's a couple of pages in Lowest Score Wins on how to find a good pro.

It's more of a feel thing choosing one. Take into account before and after videos, social media, word of mouth, how much improvement his/her students make, etc... Certifications like PGA are nice to haves, but I don't put too much stock in them. 

You're pretty much going to have to try out a bunch. One way to judge improvement is whether you're changing the picture on video and your best shots should be better than your best shots before the lesson. Of course you're going to hit shanks and fats and thins during and after, don't worry about those.

[StefanUrkel]

Yeah, I have shot 75-82 the last 20 rounds on 73/135 type courses.  Swing is just horrible though.  I'm in Michigan.  Have heard stories of people going to like GolfTec and paying for 10 lessons and not getting better

[mvmac]

Can't think of any instructors I know of in Michigan.

Evolvr has helped a lot of people, I know the guys and they're great. Awesome value for $39 a month.

http://evolvr.thegolfevolution.com/

 

[Odogesq]

10 hours ago, StefanUrkel said:

Yeah, I have shot 75-82 the last 20 rounds on 73/135 type courses.  Swing is just horrible though.  I'm in Michigan.  Have heard stories of people going to like GolfTec and paying for 10 lessons and not getting better

Wow, I had assumed you are a beginner. With an index that low it sounds like you just need some range and practice time. Are you sure your full swing is the issue? If you are shooting 75-82, maybe your focus should be on chipping and putting to Dave some strokes.

[Ernest Jones]

5 hours ago, Odogesq said:

Wow, I had assumed you are a beginner. With an index that low it sounds like you just need some range and practice time. Are you sure your full swing is the issue? If you are shooting 75-82, maybe your focus should be on chipping and putting to Dave some strokes.

Well, if you're truly looking to Dave some strokes, Dave himself would likely tell you to work on your ball striking, unless there is a glaring weakness in your short game or putting. 

People often misunderstand their stats. If you are carding a lot of 3 putts, it's important to track what the average distance is for that first putt. If your first putt is from miles away, you'll likely benefit from working on your ball striking (so that first putt is from a shorter distance) than you will from practicing your putts. Even the Pros suck ass from +30 feet, better to get tighter dispersion with your irons so you're not consistently putting from +30 feet. Not saying that is necessarily the case for the OP, just an observation.  

[arturo28mx]

Once you find an instructors that feels right I agree that to make it worthwhile you need 4 or 5 hours of lessons. If you just take one hour  you may only get some aspirins for short term compensations that will not lead to long term improvement. This is my experience.