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Have you had a lesson? Why/Why Not?

Puttin4Bird

Puttin4Bird

Say what again mf'er!
Joined
Feb 26, 2009
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Location
Sioux Falls, SD
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3.5 GHIN
I just got back from my lesson (third lesson of my life) and I cannot describe how much of a difference I saw only after probably 30 to 45 minutes into the lesson. Within roughly 2 or 3 swings of the club my teaching pro was able to identify one major reason for the bulk of my issues. I had been struggling with not getting my proper trajectory of my irons, I was essentially de-lofting my club with a forward lean of my head and upper body and basically requiring my down swing to be too steep and not getting back on the proper swing plane. Almost like a stack and tilt...without the tilt. :beat-up: Beyond that, he made some changes to my grip position and that immediately helped me with an issue of hooking the ball.

So my main question or reason for this thread is to ask you if you have had a lesson and when you did what finally got you to the point. If you haven't and you're currently struggling, why wouldn't you get a lesson?! I've been having these issues for a good part of last year and so far all season this year. I really wish I had gone early and don't know why I didn't. Now I'm just glad that I went and am excited to work on the drills that my pro gave me to work on!! Soon my handicap will be back to those single digits again, I can't wait!!! :banana: :clap: :clapp: :alien2:
 
The biggest reason why I havent taken lessons is that I fear the instructor will try to change my swing into what he thinks is the right swing, even if it may not be the right swing for me.
Ive talked to a lot of people who went and took lessons and it screwed their swing up so bad that it took them months and months to recover.
Ive made it this far in golf being self-taught, so I really have no desire to take lessons.
 
Bake that is certainly a solid arguement for not wanting to get a lesson. I definitely agree with you, that happened to me the first time I went but when I went back to the same instructor I specifically told him up front what I wanted and expected and that helped a ton. Today in fact I told my instructor exactly what I needed and we didn't go into a whole bunch of other changes. He even said that a lot of people will think they need the text book swing but that the text book swing just simply is NOT for everyone.
 
i took a Golf course for one semester while in college. there were only about 10 of us in the class. those are the only official lessons ive taken. it wasnt an indoor course. we were at the driving range for every class
 
Right now I can't afford it. I want to get lessons but haven't gotten around to it. And the accomplishment of being self taught is so much more satisfying.
 
Dent said:
Right now I can't afford it. I want to get lessons but haven't gotten around to it. And the accomplishment of being self taught is so much more satisfying.
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Satisfying yes.....but how satisfying would it be getting your handicap down to scratch Dent? Besides, you're still the one doing the work and swinging the club!!
 
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I've had lessons. My wife wanted to learn how to play and there was NO WAY I was teaching her! So we took semi-private lessons last year (Two people cost $400 for 6, one-hour lessons). Not one lesson ran less than 10 minutes over, a couple of them ran a half hour over. Helped me out a bunch because I had my best year ever, and helped my wife out, as she broke 100 a couple of times.
 
Bakemono said:
The biggest reason why I havent taken lessons is that I fear the instructor will try to change my swing into what he thinks is the right swing, even if it may not be the right swing for me.
Ive talked to a lot of people who went and took lessons and it screwed their swing up so bad that it took them months and months to recover.
Ive made it this far in golf being self-taught, so I really have no desire to take lessons.
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Same here, I am doing fine with the self taught method as well as a few tips from players a heck of a lot better than myself.



Puttin4Bird said:
Satisfying yes.....but how satisfying would it be getting your handicap down to scratch Dent?
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And after you hit scratch then you want to improve even more, it becomes a vicious never ending circle. Personally I just want to be good enough to go out with my friends & play well enough that I look like I actually know what i'm doing.

I don't participate in tournaments, don't play for $$ & refuse to spend very much time at all off the course practicing. Working so hard at this game to become a scratch player would become almost like work & then it may stop being fun.
 
dynarider said:
Same here, I am doing fine with the self taught method as well as a few tips from players a heck of a lot better than myself.


And after you hit scratch then you want to improve even more, it becomes a vicious never ending circle. Personally I just want to be good enough to go out with my friends & play well enough that I look like I actually know what i'm doing.

I don't participate in tournaments, don't play for $$ & refuse to spend very much time at all off the course practicing. Working so hard at this game to become a scratch player would become almost like work & then it may stop being fun.
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Amen to that Dyna!!!!! I don't know, I guess part of it goes back to my Passion For Golf article....I just love it and want to be the best I can be I guess. Not just to beat my buds, but because I know I am capable and I really enjoy shooting good scores.
 
I took 7-8 lessons over a two year period about 6 years ago and it helped me dramatically. I was stuck in the mid 80's and wanted to improve. I always hit the ball pretty well and had a good short game, but I figured I needed some help getting over the hump. The first lesson I saw my swing on video and realized how screwed up it was. I was awful. Then after making the first few changes I was even worse...for a while. Once I figured out what he wanted me to do it was so easy. Now I am in the mid-high 70's pretty consistently. If I was able to play more than 2-3 times a month it would probably be better than that. I would still be going to the guy a few times a year, but have since gotten married and had kids so that extra $$$ isn't there anymore.

I think too many people think that one lesson will cure all the problems. They go once, feel messed up, then don't want to go back. My guy told me up front during the first lesson that it would take some time for me to get 'right'. We spent an hour one day and didn't hit a ball. Just worked on feeling the proper takeaway, back swing, and the position at the top.

All I know is that after going I hit the ball much straighter, longer, and more consistently and my divots don't point to the left anymore.
 
Most Don't do lessons cause they don't want to work at it.It takes time and hard work to fix a flawed golf swing. I've watched way too many people get a lesson and then within a week they refuse to work on what their instructor said to.
 
I'm a fan of lessons, though I've taken far fewer than I'd like. My last was in November, and after 30 minutes I was hitting the ball noticeably better. The problem is, as some have mentioned, that you've got to lock those changes in, and that takes repitition, and that takes time, and that, I don't have. So, for me, I have now forgetten the small edits that produced the good results and need to start from scratch all over again.
 
Bakemono said:
The biggest reason why I havent taken lessons is that I fear the instructor will try to change my swing into what he thinks is the right swing, even if it may not be the right swing for me.
Ive talked to a lot of people who went and took lessons and it screwed their swing up so bad that it took them months and months to recover.
Ive made it this far in golf being self-taught, so I really have no desire to take lessons.
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I have spoken to HUNDREDS of instructors and I must say that not one of them has ever said that they do this. Most work on improving what you have to work with. They do not want to do big swing changes, because most professionals know that students wont stick with it. Our THP Pro is a feel instructor and works with what you have.

I think if you look a little bit Bake, you can find an instructor that can really help. I see this response from a lot of people on forums, but each time it is from someone that has never taken one. I think Andy our pro could find a great pro in your area being that he is from there and will be there next week.
 
I don't know if it's so much REFUSING to work on what was taught. I think it's more going back to old habits, especially if they aren't on a schedule with the instuctor. One single lesson probably won't do much for most people. That's why we got a set of six.
 
I've never had one, and probably would benefit from a set quite a bit. I know I do a few things wrong but have no idea how to fix the issues.

My driver I think is a swing plane & release issue but it's been getting somewhat better lately. But I still hit a 9* driver like it's 12.5* - skyball!

With my irons, I seem to be pretty short vs. a lot of other players. As an example, my 6i is good for about 150, and my PW is good for about 100-105. That seems to be much shorter than most guys that hit drives in the 250-275 range. I just don't know what's wrong with my swing - I think I sweep the ball like off a tee instead of this "trapping" I've heard people talk about and rarely take much of a divot if any at all.
 
I had some lessons a couple of years ago that didn't go well. I then took things into my own hands and made some swing changes that helped. I feel like I'm ready to try again since I seem to be getting back into my bad habbits again.
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
Most Don't do lessons cause they don't want to work at it.It takes time and hard work to fix a flawed golf swing. I've watched way too many people get a lesson and then within a week they refuse to work on what their instructor said to.
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BINGO! My buddy had a lesson last year and I kid you not, the very next time out he was already back doing his same old flawed swing. I was pretty amazed. Now he's back to really struggling big time and it's like he never had a lesson. It's hard to even advise him to get a lesson because of the struggles he had immediately following last time.

I know for me in the immediate future I plan on living on the driving range, I've got a tournament this weekend but it's a 2 man scramble so I should be able to continue to work on my new changes all week and throughout my round this weekend.
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
Most Don't do lessons cause they don't want to work at it.It takes time and hard work to fix a flawed golf swing. I've watched way too many people get a lesson and then within a week they refuse to work on what their instructor said to.
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Good point, like Smalls said I wouldn't say that they refuse to work on it though. I would go with the it's too hard to stay with it or they get frustrated because they aren't progressing as quickly as they had hoped for. It's the same for what Bake mentioned, if the teacher is trying to change the students swing they are probably going to be worse for awhile. If they would stick with the changes it would help eventually, but when they get frustrated by a lack of progress they blame it on the instructor and go back to their old way of swinging.
 
I've had a couple general lessons that didn't go well, and probably won't do that again.

If I ever do it again, it will be a specific lesson (e.g., chipping) or a playing lesson.
 
Lots of lessons here; the trick is finding the right instructor. The one I've worked with in the past is a doll, but just wasn't getting technical enough for me. Now I'm working with someone who's really rolling her sleeves up and trying to make some necessary changes.

The trick is finding the range time. Between work, family, and ceaseless rain, it's darn hard.
 
Early on I had some lessons, but they were to just get the basics. I think back then there were fewer charlatans teaching the golf swing than there are today. Now days I spend the bucks once every couple of years and buy some instruction at "Harmon's School of Golf" to refresh (only) my short game issues. I think most golfers would do themselves better by understanding the different ball flights, mis-hits, and what causes them. This for their own swing. The book "The Nine Bad Shots of Golf" is a very good read on this subject. In other words study and know your own golf swing. Then, when an issue pops up during a round, they would have an avenue to an on course fix. I don't mean to imply there are not any decent swing gurus out there. They are out there, but the individual still needs to be careful about getting the instruction best suited for that individual. I have yet to see a golf instructor offer money back guarantees. The other issue is costs of instruction. These decent instructors, for the most part, are too expensive for the majority of higher handicap golfers who might otherwise purchase instruction if it were more affordable to them. Group instruction at a community college would work for some of those folks with a short pocket book. Another issue is how an instructor relates to a student, and vice versa. I once read in a book that referred to communicating errors, and golf swing instruction; " What is said, versus what is meant, versus what is heard, will usually cause a perfect can of worms". :comp: :confused2:
 
From what I'm reading,most think a lesson should fix all of your problems within a an hour. Why is that?

If a person is serious about fixing their golf game,they will take the lessons and follow the game plan set by the instructor.

You must also understand during this period you game will suffer.You always take a step backwards before you move two steps forward.

I understand that nobody wants to play ****** golf,but in order to retrain our brain and body we must work hard and accept my game/swing will suffer for a ew months
 
I am still a golf newbie. I started playing about 3 years ago and I got lessons from the beginning. With work and a family I do not get to practice as much as I like, so I take a lesson about once every 4-8 weeks. Darren (hubby) and I take a lesson together, which saves some money. We also know what each others problems/flaws are.

Golf is hard. I am getting old. I need my lessons because I do not have enough years left to be self-taught!

I always revert back to the same problem(s) between lessons. Going back and having same problem is good, IMO. The more times you go back with same problem, the more you understand what the problem is so you can fix it. What freaks me out is when a new problem slips in...
 
I have a love hate relationship with lessons. Every time I get a lesson I learn something new and it helps at that moment so I love that. The part I hate is all the new swing thoughts it puts in my head. I am such an over thinker to begin with then you add all these extra swing thoughts, I get so confused. I still think I couldn't do it without lessons, because every time I fall into a bad habit, I get a refresher course and everything is back in working order.
 
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