Help me find an Instructor

[Basikstylz]

Can anyone help me out with the types of questions I should ask when looking for an instructor, and what I should look for in an instructor.

Also, should I do hr long sessions, or half hour?

and anything else that I should know.


Thanks,
Jeff

[Shindig]

Can anyone help me out with the types of questions I should ask when looking for an instructor, and what I should look for in an instructor.

Chuck Hogan once pointed out that "professional" instruction just means you're paying for it. Your goal is to find a competent instructor. My suggestion is to find a PGA Class A, or LPGA equivalent. There are plenty of women who have learned from male instructors and men who have learned from female instructors. Pick a pro who you get along with and who you can see working with. I suggest in favor of a pro who is at least willing to do a playing lesson for a few holes. Not right away, but once you're able to hit the ball, make a chip, putt somewhat, having the pro look at how you do on the course - even a par-3 or executive course - can do wonders. It will also allow him to know what to teach you at future lessons. I suggest against a pro who is going to teach the same swing to everyone. This means, to me at least, avoiding group lessons and anyone teaching out of a book. Ask if you can observe a lesson or two to see his or her style. Don't try to copy what the pro is teaching in that lesson -- it may not work for you. Rather, watch how they're showing things to the student. I observed two lessons before choosing the pro I take lessons from: one to a low, single-digit handicap student and another to a young girl (5-6 years old). Watching those resonated something inside of me that said he was the guy to take lessons from. And I went from shooting 160s to shooting in the 90s (that will be 80s soon!). Now, how long should the lesson be? With the exception of the playing lesson I took, each lesson has been 30 minutes. After my first lesson, I purchased a set of 5 lessons and we had a specific practice plan to go with it. Let the pro know how often you intend to practice and get suggestions on what to practice. This will also help for spacing on lessons. One reason for these long lessons you see is that the pro figures he might only see the student once for a few months, and tries to fix a variety of things. Of course, these are going to be changed back because after a bad shot on the course, his buddies are going to tell him counter-productive but well-meaning advice, like my personal least favorite, "keep your head down." Meanwhile, if you're willing to get a little worse for a little while, it can help. Just don't go back to what you used to do to get back to your old score. My first lesson, the goal was to get the ball airborne, consistently. After that lesson, I went and practiced hitting 7-PW with what is really not much more than a mini-swing. But then a week later (after daily practice, which I could do back then), I took another lesson and was able to hit every club I owned reasonably well.

[gogolfing]

I also think that watching a few lessons from the pro is a good idea, and try to do it with a few different students to see if the pro is versatile and not teaching the same swing to all students. I would also recommend sitting down and discussing your long term goals and then see what type of plan they set up.

I would also recommend the book or book CD by Dr. Bob Rotella "The Golf of Your Dreams". During a portion of this he discusses and has excellent recommendations for choosing a pro.

Good luck with things.

[deakanutz]

Yeah, definately watch him give lessons to a few people, I did this while I hit balls I just observed his style and if I thought we would be a good fit. I also listened to the things he tought his students and made sure he didn't have a cookie cutter aproach. I ended up choosing my pro because I like the way he treated his students and his aproach wasnt overly technical and very observational to the students needs. THere were many other Pros on the range with big yellow computer boxes and putting their clients swing through computr monitoring and then analyzing swing positions, not for me!

Get a package of half hours, an hour is too long. I leave every lesson knowing what to work on between sessions. I do my homework between lessons and the improvement is awesome.

[Shindig]

Yeah, definately watch him give lessons to a few people, I did this while I hit balls I just observed his style and if I thought we would be a good fit. I also listened to the things he tought his students and made sure he didn't have a cookie cutter aproach. I ended up choosing my pro because I like the way he treated his students and his aproach wasnt overly technical and very observational to the students needs. THere were many other Pros on the range with big yellow computer boxes and putting their clients swing through computr monitoring and then analyzing swing positions, not for me!

Yes, I'd like to clarify: I didn't pull up a chair and sit and watch. I had a stall next to where he gives his lessons.

I'm in 100% agreement about computer monitoring. I don't care if my swing looks like that of a touring pro; I care if I'm able to use it to advance the ball and hit consistently. There are plenty of touring pros who don't care if their swing looks like that of a touring pro. Whenever I see the computer monitoring swing positions, I always wonder if some pro out there is teaching his or her students to swing like Jim Furyk. (And I like Jim Furyk. I've love to have his swing, especially if it meant his distances and ability too!)

[Cizzle]

Although I do agree you should find an instructor that does not teach everyone the same, I do believe that the computer monitoring and comparison to real golfers is important, especially if you are just beginning. The reason why is because I would say the majority of golfers just beginning have no idea how to swing a golf club, and there are many wrong things they are doing. By comparing it to a "real" swing, you can see what is extremely wrong with the swing, and fix it. After my first lesson, I could easily see my swing was way to vertical, and after going in slow motion, my instructor showed me how I was releasing way to early, resulting in a power leak.

After one lesson, I saw a lot of improvement, although it was difficult with a different swing at first. I just finished my second a few days ago, and I'm hitting at least 20-30 yards longer when I came in, now hitting my 7 iron around 160-165, and fixed my nasty slice and replaced it with a little draw. The best part is, with this new swing now, i feel very comfortable and have not reverted to my old swing once.

Of course, this may have only worked with me, but in my opinion its good to see yourself on a camera, because you can clearly see what is wrong with your swing with your own eyes.

In the end though, just talk to a lot of instructors in your area, and find someone that you think will help out the best. You will know by the first lesson if it is working out or not. Also, I got a package of half hour lessons, although my first was about an hour long, because we did the whole nine yards of seeing where I was at, etc.

[gogolfing]

I would agree with the video aspect. Seeing what you are doing is often an eye opener. I often can't feel a hitch in my swing, but when I see it I'm able to fix it much more quickly. I guess part of it is knowing what type of learner you are: visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Your instructor should be asking you this and then trying to design his instruction around your dominant style, and if you're not sure where you fit, giving you feedback that encompasses all three of these styles.

[tm22721]

I would recommend that you only get professional help to learn the 'PGA' - posture, grip, alignment. The average teaching professional does not know how to teach anything beyond those basics.

Then I would get video of tour pros like Fred Funk which you can freeze frame to figure out how to position your body and the club at every part of the swing. Notice when they shift their weight, how they use their hips to start the downswing, how they achieve impact position, and how their hands lead the clubhead at all times up to impact.

Then try to replicate the tour player swing especially the impact position. Hit down on the ball and take a good divot. Lead with your hips. Discover the relationship between a particular swing flaw and resulting ball flight.

At first only use a 3/4 swing. Do not use a full swing until you are consistently taking a good divot and have acceptable ball flight trajectory.

[deakanutz]

Nah I am too lazy for that, I practicly pay my Pro now to just watch me hit balls and if something goes wrong he can fix it. I know how to fix it by now but it just gives me confidence in case of catastrophy. So watching videos of other swings is nice but ya need someone to watch your swing I believe. I use to hit range balls all day and think I knew the problems to left or right shots but I could never fix it. Then my Pro "watched" my swing and we began our journey. Proud to say things are awesome.

I would recommend that you only get professional help to learn the 'PGA' - posture, grip, alignment. The average teaching professional does not know how to teach anything beyond those basics.

[tm22721]

Nah I am too lazy for that, I practicly pay my Pro now to just watch me hit balls and if something goes wrong he can fix it. I know how to fix it by now but it just gives me confidence in case of catastrophy. So watching videos of other swings is nice but ya need someone to watch your swing I believe. I use to hit range balls all day and think I knew the problems to left or right shots but I could never fix it. Then my Pro "watched" my swing and we began our journey. Proud to say things are awesome.

Nope didn't work for me after 150 lessons I gave up on instruction.

Just can't get good help nowadays.