Lessons - Did they work for you?.

[cbe_golfer]

Obviously, there are great teachers and great students of the game. There are also many other less desirable combinations. What is your experience with lessons?

[Norm66]

Short version: Lessons are good.

Long version: Not that I worked relentlessly at what I learned, but I certainly have put what I learned to use. My instructor got me swinging pretty well in 5 weeks after I'd struggled to learn myself for most of a year. I can't recommend lessons enough.

In fact, I kind of snicker a little when I hear or read about someone who thinks that they're coordinated enough to figure it out for themselves. I don't care who you are anything is easier if you get the fundamentals right from the start. Also, you just can't tell if what you're doing is what you think you're doing without someone who knows telling you what's going on. I knew what a good shoulder turn should look like, I just didn't realize what it felt like until I was shown.

[klaymon]

I've had one lesson so far. It made a huge, immediate impact on my game. I was shooting anywhere from 107-117 before my lesson. I went out after that and shot a 49 (9 holes), 48 (9 holes), and a 97 (18 holes). So, one lesson took at anywhere from 10-20 strokes off my game. I am starting lessons again in the first part of March so I can get refined for my Florida trip.

I practice constantly and I get to the course every chance I get (which is only weekends right now). Once I get a net, I'm sure I'll be in the back yard every night after work.

I have found a great instructor. He can convey the material and has a great personality. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I'm athletically inclined, too.

[redi630]

I have taken several lessons over the past year and it has helped my game significantly. I marked "could not practice enough" because I love to practice now that I have something to work on.

[Shindig]

Prior to lessons a year and a half ago (I've taken about half a dozen total since), I couldn't break 150: my best score, pre-lessons, was 158. Now I'm looking at breaking 90 any time now. And when I break 80, my instructor will have cut my score in half, so that's pretty cool.

[mancest]

Haven't voted yet, but hopefully they work. I have only had one, at the end of the 2006 season, and I played horribly for two weeks because I tried to do too much change at once. I am going to Vegas for a couple days at the Butch Harmon School of golf next week, so hopefully I will be able to say that it helped tremendously.

[Big_M]

I am mostly self tought... minus a 10 minute video lesson, and a few things I learned (mostly about short game) while playing JV for my HS for two years.

That being said... it took me a long time to understand the golf swing, and a lot of reading, trial, work, etc. It is really in the last two years that I have truly begun to understand the mechanics of a good swing and what makes a ball do what. Last year when I took my video lesson I was shown that my hips were sliding a little, because my back leg was not stable enough. I was loosing power and consistency. This 10 minute lesson was a significant help in correnting a bad habit that I had developed.

I have done very well on my own, but probably would have progressed faster with a teacher. I want to take more lessons, problem is they are expensive. If I could get a video camera and video my swing I could help myself a lot, but again it is expensive and I prefer to play a lot. Someday soon I will dump some money into some good video lessons, or maybe even a five day program or something with some playing lessons.

I definately think that with the right teacher and equipment lessons are invaluable.

[golf_junkie27]

Along these lines, I did not want to start a new thread, has anyone had any experience with Golf Schools?

Nick Faldo has a three day academy and ESPN offers a golf academy, too. Just curious to see what the experience of any golf school. Thanks.

[hipcheck4u]

I have learned much from taking lessons with my current instructor. Unfortunately, the first instructor I worked with was a lousy teacher, and couldn't give me solutions to my problems. He would just say, "you pushed it" and not give me a solution or even tell me why I pushed it.

I was starting to get frustrated with my scores until two rounds ago when I lowered my best score from 111 (on a par 71) to 101 (on a more difficult par 72). My biggest golf problem is that I am unable to practice enough between family and work obligations. I have taken the attitude that it is more fun to improve verrry slowwwly so that I don't run out of things to work on (although I get the feeling that even if I were a +3 I would find things to work on).

[tm22721]

I have taken a lot of lessons.

Lessons are good to learn the fundamentals. If taken early they will prevent you from grooving bad habits. Be sure to get an instructor who has some insight into swing mechanics, not just a 'feel' player like I had.

There is a diminishing return. Eventually you must be self-taught on the finer points. Experimentation, reading, studying the pros' video swings (Ringer's training videos are excellent) and your own swing on video will in time allow you to at least understand the common attributes of a good swing and where your own swing faults lie. The aim is to diagnose your own flaws as they occur on the course and range, not to be reliant on a golf instructor.

One barrier to progress is inconsistency. How can you show an instructor your swing (or submit a video to a web site) when you have various flaws that surface at irregular intervals ? It is frustrating to have 12 different swings not knowing which one will show up. I think you can get more out of instruction once you have a consistent swing that just needs to be fine tuned.

Don't practice or take all your lessons on a perfect lie there is no such thing on a golf course even the tee boxes are not level. That's one of the reasons why people are so confused about why a good practice session or lesson doesn't translate to the course. Another reason is tempo which can't be learned, it must be earned through mental discipline and focus.

I don't think there is one prescription for everybody. Some are breaking 80 in a year. Others take years to settle in the 90s (me). What keeps me coming back is that occasional round in the 80s.

[TourSpoon]

I recommend taking lessons for anyone who wants to learn how to play golf or get better. While you don't need to be a lesson junkie, you do need basic knowledge and feel of proper fundamentals. Past that, regular tune-ups can discover new errors and keep you on track. One of the best things to learn how to play the game is to play with experienced players and watch how they approach the game.

[Stuart]

Took my first lesson 3 weeks ago while on a business trip to London. The lesson was conducted in an indoor facility, with video camera's catching 3 different angles of my swing simultaneously. It was really awesome. The instructor only went over two aspects of my swing, which were very fundamental, and the result has been amazing. In a nutshell I wasn't firing my hips through, and swinging mostly with my arms. I was also opening my hips too much on the backswing, made worse by the fact that I had a tendency to straighten my right leg. Since I made the change my swing is more compact and powerful. I also feel as if I'm much more natural with my swing and have gained about 15 yards.

[Shindig]

Along these lines, I did not want to start a new thread, has anyone had any experience with Golf Schools?

I'm going to avoid the golf schools. For that price (time + money), I can pay for lessons and spend the time at a local course's practice area working on it, then see the pro again to see if I'm doing it right. It'll cost me less money, the same time, and I can see the pro for follow-ups much more easily than I can if I want to find "that guy I worked with at the ESPN school." So unless your goal is to be able to brag to your friends that you took a lesson from Nick Faldo or Butch Harmon or whoever, stick with a local pro and a good practice area.

[jowlar]

Usually when I go for a lesson it is a check up on my pre swing set up. My swing does not fit the norm for a tall golfer (6' 3") in that it is flat and not vertical like most taller players. Anytime an instructor sees my swing he wants me to get more vertical and play a fade rather than my usual draw but the direction as far as my setup/grip/alignment is normally spot on.

[Timothy D Watson]

Kind of worked, kind of not for me. I actually played worse for a while after the lessons. I practiced as much as my hands and muscles could take. I followed all of the instructions faithfully. The putting "training" consisted of her telling me "to far" or "to short" from 30 yards down where the actual hole I was putting to was. She could not remember how to use the high speed camera that was implemented into the lessons. The camera video was very, very poor (worse than my ten year old camcorder recordings of my swing). I got more succesfully used tips from friends than the instructor. I did not recover from the "lessons" until I stoped most of the changes two months later. It was a lot of money for not that special an experience. It was like having several years of friend to friend style tips given to me all at once. There was some good, but a whole lot more bad.

[mikelz]

Obviously, there are great teachers and great students of the game. There are also many other less desirable combinations. What is your experience with lessons?

I didn't answer the poll. I have had more than one teacher.

Without question, I couldn't squash a grape without those lessons.

[TBone]

I have never taken lessons but have always wondered if they would help now since I have been playing for 10 years. I wonder if I have developed too many bad habits. I don't play bad but I am not consistent. I have shot a 79 once and have shot over 100 before as well. I usually stay around the 85 range but have started to get worse due to getting married and not having as much time to play. Plus lessons are expensive.

[Roody]

I make it a point to visit my pro and take at least 3-4 lessons with him each year. I believe this coming season will be the 5th season I've worked with him. It's paid off some, as I used to be a 22 handicap who couldn't hit his driver more than 220 off the tee. Now I'm a 15 handicap and can hit it 260 or more (I measure a lot of my drives with my Sky Caddie just for fun).

I give a lot of the credit for that to my pro. Some of it was probably because I've been working on flexibility as well, but my pro taught me how the physics of a golf swing works. He explained it to me in plain english so it is understandable and makes sense. And then he was able to tie it to my movements in my swing.

I think it's imperative to take lessons if you want to continue to improve.