Golf Town Lessons

Badass

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Here goes for my first new thread post!

I have played quite a bit of golf in my life, but I always played pitch and putt courses (par 3) for fun without any focus on being a good golfer. My short game isn’t too bad from playing a lot of pitch and putt, but all my long shots are inconsistent and have little if no accuracy (anything with a driver or wood is horrible). My last few games were between 106 and 130.

This year I am starting to get serious about improving my game. I have taken a couple lessons while on vacation in Mexico this year, but as I don’t speak Spanish, I had no clue what the instructor was telling me. I had to rely on him physically showing me things. While not the best, for only $30 for an hour at the range with an instructor to warm up before a round, it was worth the cost.
Last week I signed up for lessons here in Edmonton. I bought a “player development” package from Golf Town (mainly in Canada) which consists of one 1 hour swing analysis and eight ½ hour follow up sessions for $449 plus tax.

Last night I had the 1 hour swing analysis. I started out taking a few swings followed by a review of the video with the instructor. It became apparent pretty quickly that I do not roll my wrists enough, I “de-loft” the club quite a bit in my swing and hook everything to the left! The instructor showed me how to change my grip, focus on rolling my wrists and line up to the ball a bit further back. I practiced for a bit with the instructor reinforcing each of the problem areas followed by a review of the video to see that the difference looked like in my swing.

After about 30 min of assessing my swing, we moved to a “virtual driving range” to hit some shots into a video screen that shows where the ball would have gone. I tried hitting some with my original swing and then focused on practicing the new concepts. It was easy to see that using the new concepts my good balls went dead straight and far (225 yards) and my bad ball with the new swing went about as good as my good balls using my old swing! The new concepts such as the grip feel pretty awkward at this point, but I’m planning on hitting the range a few times before my next lesson next week to get more comfortable with it.

Overall I felt the lesson was really good for me, as long as I have the commitment to go to the range a few times a week to practice. My brother (fairly better golfer) is visiting next weekend and I signed him up for the same swing analysis. We will have to see what his feedback is compared to mine as he is at a different level than me. I’ll update the post in a few days with my results on the range.

Craig
 
Congrats on taking the step to getting better. I began my 1st set of lessons ever a couple of months ago and already see improvement. Keep us posted on you journey.
 
glad to hear the lesson went well, keep us posted on how the future ones turn out for ya!
 
That's Good .Glad it went well. Keep it coming
 
A timely thread, I think I'll be heading over to my Golf Town this weekend more than likely to inquire about lessons. I'm in Edmonton too, which GT did you go to?
 
I went to Edmonton North (13635 St. Albert Trail NW) and had my lesson with Robert Toshack. Ill be going back next Thursday and my brother has a lesson on Saturday!
 
I went to Edmonton North (13635 St. Albert Trail NW) and had my lesson with Robert Toshack. Ill be going back next Thursday and my brother has a lesson on Saturday!

Cool. I saw him briefly last winter for a 15 minute swing evalution. Seemed like a good guy. I live in the west end, so I'll be headed to that one first to inquire.

Be sure to keep us updated!
 
That's awesome! Good for you, and it sounds like it went well. Keep it up, and keep us posted.
 
Hey good to hear you liked the lesson, I am looking forward to going with you next Saturday and trying it first hand
 
Went to the West End Edmonton location on Friday afternoon and inquired about lessons. Apparently, the don't have a Pro in during the summer, so that leaves me with the North or South Common locations. South is closer to home, but North is closer to work. Not too sure which one I want to contact.
 
Excellent! The changes for the short lesson changes seem to have been very fruitful for you. Congrats and keep up the good work.
 
How are the lessons working out for you? Your swing looked a lot better when I saw you a week ago.. Have you been back for more?
 
I'm about half way through my 8 half hour lessons so I thought it would be a good time for an update! I've been trying to go every week or two, hitting the range at least once a week and playing as many rounds I can. It has been tough from the beginning making changes and trying to make them feel comfortable. Each lesson we discuss what I have been working on and where I'm having issues so he can reinforce the principles he taught me the last lesson. Over the lessons, the instructor has introduced me to five steps I need to work on (in order).

1) Grip - I've been playing golf for years without any instruction, so even the basics needed work! My grip was too "weak" so the first step was to strengthen my grip. The new grip felt very awkward but after a few buckets at the range it started to feel more natural. At this point, when I grab a club, I immediately go to the new grip which is good progress!

2) Club Face - This is my biggest problem and the hardest for me to fix. I am left handed, and have a serious problem closing the club face in my swing, so all my balls tend to go left. I seem to be able to close the face on my irons, but not so much on the driver and 3w. I am really struggling on this and I guess I just need to spend more time at the range.

3) Left to Right - Shifting my weight from the back foot on the backswing to the front foot on the swing. At times I don't do this, but I do most of the time. This is an easy step, I just have to remember to do it!

4) Grip Pressure - I typically hold the clubs with a fairly high grip pressure (maybe 8 with 10 being the highest). I should be loosing up my grip to about a 4.

5) In to Out Swing - I have a good backswing, but after reviewing the video of the lesson, I shift the club up about 20 degrees before coming down into my swing. This creates a steep angle and results in my swing crossing the tee on an angle to the right (which somewhat corrects the left slice). The instructor showed me how to swing down while pushing the club "in" (back behind me) and then pushing it out on my as the club crosses the tee. It felt extremely awkward and I could actually feel it in my back as I usually don't twist quite like that. However, on review of the video, my downswing matched the angle of my backswing and looked great! I just learned about this step on my last lesson and havent been tot he range to practice it yet. I may not be ready for this step as if I correct the swing (not cross the tee with an angle to the right), without learning how to close the club face, the ball will go even further to the left than it is now!!

I have seen a lot more consistency in my game from taking the lessons, but no major improvement in my score (still 110 - 120). However, I do feel that I am starting to doing things more "properly" which is a start! I guess I just need to keep going out and practicing!
 
Good update, the swing plane ideas are interesting, its something I know I need to work on. I imagine video lessons are especially helpful for that type of issue.
 
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