Horrible day at range, should I just get lessons?

[Quietus]

Are lessons really worth the price? I found a local PGA coach who'd charge around $240 for 10 1-hour sessions. Had one trial session with him already and I think he does know what he's talking about. I'm planning to space it out and only have 1 session every week or every other week so I don't burn my cash right away.

Should I bite the bullet and go with lessons once a week? My goal really is just to be able to hit straight so I can play on a golf course without going OB every shot. I just don't know if that's something I can expect after 10 lessons (around 2 1/2 months).

[chilepepper]

Sounds like a good deal. I pay 60 for 30-45 min and it's worth it to me. How you space them out depends on how much you can practice/play and I don't know what the ideal amount would be. I venture a wild guess and throw out 4 + practice sessions where you work on what you've learned then take another lesson given your a beginner. 

[RandallT]

$24/hr seems like a great rate. Short answer is likely yes, it'd be worth it.

You need time between lessons to make progress on the assignment the instructor gives you.  That takes good hard practice and time  

Heres some good stuff:

Particularly look at the 5 S's of how to practice and the "stages of competence" posts in that link. You'll see that there's a lot to between lessons. Not just pound balls at a range like most people do. 

Also:

 

[Midpack]

I didn't make much progress towards improving my swing until I took a couple of lessons from a local pro. He identified some of the defects in my setup and swing, showed me via slow mo video on his iPhone, and has given me several drills to make permanent changes. The things he identified were plain as day once he showed me, but I was never going to find them myself even though I'd taken my own videos of my swing and watched them repeatedly at home. It took a pro to put me on the right track, and the drills he gave me have been most helpful. FWIW, my pro charges $260 for four lessons, about 45 minutes each but he doesn't watch the clock.

[IrishAndy]

Having had a lot of help from this site, my feeling is, if you're making steady progress on your own (even if it's two steps forward, one step back) then that's fine.

However, when you hit a wall or start going backwards and you can't find a way to get the wheels back on, that is definitely time for lessons.

[klineka]

You could sign up for lessons through evolvr.com if you dont mind recording your own swing and submitting it. For the same $240 price, that would get you almost 5 months of lessons with evolvr, which is up to 20 separate video submissions. I have just completed my first month of evolvr and I absolutely love it. They start with the foundations, grip, posture, alignment, etc. and then work up from there. 

Each time you submit a video, they give you a specific priority piece/key to work on, you go practice that for a week or 2, then submit another video once you feel solid about that piece. Then the next lesson they review your progress on that piece, and move onto the next priority piece.

In the first month alone we have gone over and improved my grip, ball position, left arm angle at address, minimizing head movement, the rotation of my right hip, and towards the end of my most recent lesson we started getting into my actual swing and swing plane. 

Simply by fixing flaws that I didnt even realize I had at address and working on steady head, I have already broken 80 more times since starting evolvr than I had in my entire life before that.

[Buckeyebowman]

Evolvr might be nice, but I prefer hands on interactions. 24 bucks an hour is CHEAP! If he can get you to keep the ball in the fairway, that's money well spent!

[inthecup]

I say absolutely.  If you are new to the game go right away!  You are developing bad habits every day you don't.  Golf is not intuitive, get a solid foundation.  $24 an hour is cheap.  An hour lesson is long though. 

[mcanadiens]

If you can afford them. Get them.

It wasn't in my budget (and still isn't), It's made for a pretty hard road. 

[downbylaw11]

seems like a good deal. I dont know how I feel about spacing them out to every other week.  maybe every week, and try to go to the range a few times in between coaching sessions so not only you can work on the things he's teaching you, but then you can go back to him soon, so you can have eyes on you giving you the feedback you need. 

[iacas]

I'd seriously wonder about the quality of the lessons you can get for $24/hour.

There's a little "you get what you pay for." Not always - I wouldn't pay Hank Haney $50/hour let alone whatever he charges. But on the low end? Tends to be true.

Consider the location, too. I could charge 3x as much as I charge in Erie, PA in some places… and be busier. But I'm in Erie, PA. So it is what it is. @Quietus, where are you located?

[Effington]

In general, I think the answer is yes, but it depends.  I don't know where you live, but $24/hr seems like a very low rate.  Market rate in my area is roughly double that.  As others mention, I think lesson frequency is a factor of how often you can practice.  If you can practice an hour or more a day, once a week seems reasonable.  But if you can only get out a couple times a week, I'd space it out more.  The dollars can add up a bit, so cost is a factor for many.  Golf is not cheap.

I had the same initial expectation for playing ability as you.  Just FYI, I found that the more time I put into practice, the better I wanted to get, so my expectation changed.  I went from "I want to hit it 150 yards straight and not embarrass myself with colleagues", to now I want to break 90.

Here's a brief story that might help.  When I first started learning the game, I'd spend 1-2 hours daily whacking balls at the range.  After a tremendous amount of practice time, I found that I was not improving.  Got a couple lessons, and now I see improvement.  It's not fast, but looking back to when I was playing initially, there is a big difference.  It's extremely important to have focused practice on specific techniques, otherwise you're not really improving by just swinging away and hoping for the best.  A teacher can tell you what to focus on.

[Quietus]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Decided to start with the 10 session plan this Sunday. Hope to see some improvements in a couple of months.

And yes, $24/hr is definitely cheap relative to how much most of you must be paying but this is primarily because I'm not from the US and the coach is one of the top local coaches. He did get his training from the US though. Hopefully he's good enough!

[downbylaw11]

just because he charges a cheap rate does not necessarily mean he sucks. golf is a game where a bad teacher could charge a fortune and people will pay it.  it might be more likely that he's willing to charge a cheap rate while he builds up his reputation, or maybe simply not a lot of people are purchasing lessons these days so he's trying to stimulate business with some cheaper rates. or he cares more about improving peoples golf games than he does about making a quick buck

 

or maybe he sucks lol

[Buckeyebowman]

21 hours ago, downbylaw11 said:

just because he charges a cheap rate does not necessarily mean he sucks. golf is a game where a bad teacher could charge a fortune and people will pay it.  it might be more likely that he's willing to charge a cheap rate while he builds up his reputation, or maybe simply not a lot of people are purchasing lessons these days so he's trying to stimulate business with some cheaper rates. or he cares more about improving peoples golf games than he does about making a quick buck

 

or maybe he sucks lol

I've been thinking that we might consider the opposite track here. Maybe he wondered if charging a high price would make people reluctant to sign up for his services. So he charged a lower price, and now has a gang of students. And maybe he's raking it in like nobody's business!

I realize that's a lot of "maybes", but I do know this. When the guy who founded FedEx gave his doctoral dissertation, at Harvard I believe, it was about his idea for FedEx! He got his doctorate, but every prof told him that his idea would never work! This is the difference between academia and the real world!

[opie]

On 9/16/2017 at 12:01 AM, iacas said:

I wouldn't pay Hank Haney $50/hour let alone whatever he charges

Is there a story behind that statement somewhere on this site?  Seems like an interesting read (No intent to derail thread)

[downbylaw11]

23 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I've been thinking that we might consider the opposite track here. Maybe he wondered if charging a high price would make people reluctant to sign up for his services. So he charged a lower price, and now has a gang of students. And maybe he's raking it in like nobody's business!

I realize that's a lot of "maybes", but I do know this. When the guy who founded FedEx gave his doctoral dissertation, at Harvard I believe, it was about his idea for FedEx! He got his doctorate, but every prof told him that his idea would never work! This is the difference between academia and the real world!

it just occured to me, I wonder if this is a group lesson, and thats why the rate is so good?

[Quietus]

8 minutes ago, downbylaw11 said:

it just occured to me, I wonder if this is a group lesson, and thats why the rate is so good?

Nah it's a 1 on 1 session. Like I said, it's a lot cheaper because I'm not from the US.