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Lessons, Practice, Equipment - How Do They Rank in the #JourneyToBetter?

dcbrad

dcbrad

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This isn't a Srixon related thread, but just a general opinion question on how you would break down what you feel has made the most difference, or is the most responsible for your improvement in the game of golf. Everyone says get lessons, everyone says get fit, everyone says practice, but what do you feel has contributed to your improved performance the most? I had a friend ask me this the other night and thought it would be a good idea for a thread.

For example, if I would have to put a percentage to the amount of improvement you feel you got from each of those criteria, what would it be?

In other words, I feel like 30% of my improvement has come from getting lessons, 60% of it from following a diligent practice schedule and 10% comes from playing equipment that is suited for my swing.

Hopefully this is not too confusing. But just something I am interested in others opinions about.
 
As long as the equipment isn't a drastically poor match for a player's swing, the order has to be

45% Lessons - need to understand the fundamentals of a good swing first
45% Practice - without practice, lessons are useless, but without lessons, practice can be just as useless
10% Equipment
 
10% lessons
25% equipment
65% practice

I would like to include playing as part of practice....repetitions and being on the course does more for me than anything.
 
with jlukes on this one as well ...


I am relatively new to the game ... 8 years are so ... bought clubs, watched videos, bought training aids, etc ...

Finally found an instructor that knew how to teach ... in hind sight I see the error of my ways ... if I would have spent the amount that I bought just one of the drivers I bought on instruction ...

So #1 is instructor, also know that instructors do not have a magic fix ... you practice and then check in, practice some more, check, practice some, repeat cycle until you are were you want to be ... even the best players in the world have instructors ...

I think a lot of people believe a couple of lessons and I am golfer ... if it was that easy we would all be great golfers ... you have to be committed to practicing what you were taught . I would also suggest you find an instructor that you like ... I have a couple I did not relate to well ... it was their way or the highway, or there was only one swing ... the one they were teaching ...

I agree with:

30% of my improvement has come from getting lessons, 60% of it from following a diligent practice schedule and 10% comes from playing equipment that is suited for my swing.


What the old saying ... you cant buy a game
 
Kinda hard to say. I could be swayed to agree with Jlukes and put emphasis on lessons but I also see where cookie is going and think practice is important too. I definitely think equipment is bottom because we all know a bad swing is a bad swing. For me tho right now, lessons have had the biggest impact so I'll put that first followed closely be practice to repeat what I learned
 
Well.......I was a better player years ago with off the rack standard clubs, lessons, practice and lots of play. Now with technology advancing so far (compared to where it was in the 1970's when I started), my index is much higher, BUT, while I have gone through several proper fittings and my current clubs are about as good as it gets for me (and they have been adjusted for me), I'm now soon to be 53 years old, had a couple of surgeries with lingering health issues.

I'm no longer as flexible as I once was and I no longer have the desire (or the time) to put it what it takes on the range, practicing a lot, but I do still spend time with the same PGA Teaching Pro I took my first lessons with in 1970, now mainly working on short game and putting. I have become a poor putter over the years and this holds me back score wise round after round.

I think, first you have to be fit with the proper equipment. Once that is done, you must work with a real live qualified teacher. Then comes practice, but it must be practice with purpose. Just hitting balls on the range is not practice. This is where the Pro comes into play. You must have a plan on the range. To play well you must have great "course management" and you must have great "range management" as well. I work only on one single thing in any range session.

I'm not sure I can break this all down in percentages, but the equipment must be right, you have to have some natural ability (I believe there are millions of 20 handicaps that will never get any better) and it takes hard work.

I also think (and I have been guilty myself) of changing equipment too often. I played the same irons and woods for years and played well, now I find myself trading up every year or so and I think this hurts more than it helps. The limits have long been reached with most of the club head technology. There may be gains in shafts, but the best players I know and play with weekly for the most part play with older equipment that they know very well. This is where I'm at now. I have the best equipment I've had in years right now, it has been adjusted to me and I'm sticking with it. Got to get to know the clubs and let them get to know you.

Get fit, get a teacher, practice (makes perfect) and play!
 
Practice, equipment and lessons in that order for me because I practice a lot, bough new equipment that help improve my game and I haven't had a lesson since I was a kid. Pretty unscientific right there.
 
And I'd like to add that the numbers vary per person. Some people just have natural athletic ability and can pick up a club and play while someone who has less 'natural' ability would benefit more from lessons.
 
Practice and Lessons are exponentially more important than equipment.

Equipment might be 5% at best?
 
I'll add that this past weekend in playing skins, I was paired with a guy who is 68 years old. He did have a fairly new TM driver and 3 wood but was playing with Ping G2 irons and his most lofted club was a PW, with a brass bullseye putter and he shot 35-39. On one hole we were both somewhere around 40 yards out with our approach shots and while I used a 58 degree wedge he used an 8 iron and was inside of two feet and I was ten feet long and wide.......

After the round I sit with this guy and just picked his mind on golf. Bottom line was he is thinking and playing the way I was taught so long ago and I'm playing this more modern game (in my mind). I met the next morning with my Pro, talked with him about this 40 yard shot and how we played it so differently, and he told me it was all about going back to basics. With that, my most lofted clubs are now on time out and it is back to re-learnin how to hit more than one shot with any one club. Less may be better. Time will tell.
 
my last 10 years has been this and has worked well

10% lessons
60% range work and practice (I can't hit it on the course if I can't hit it on the range)
30% on course play
0% EQUIPMENT

I was told to do this until my game gets to where I think it's good enough and then switch the practice and play percentage.

I am a rare bird though because I enjoy the range as much as I enjoy the course, I can duplicate almost any on course scenario on the range and on a budget it's where I get the bang for my buck.
 
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I'm in agreement with many others. Practice first, then lessons, then equipment. I'm not sure putting a percentage on it makes any sense for me. On one hand, if you practice a swing flaw all the time, you probably will plateau in your improvement. On the other hand, if you take a lesson that identifies a problem with your swing, and you don't take the time to work on the drills to fix the problem, it's not going away and you could even end up worse off.

Ok, I will assign one percentage....equipment...and I'll set it at 1%. With most of that in regards to a naive golfer who is playing equipment that isn't forgiving enough.
 
50% lesson, 40% practice, 10% equipment. You can hit SGI equipment or players equipment wonderfully or poorly. They work a lot better though when the motion is repeatable and consistent
 
great thread......

practice 70%

Lessons 25%

Equipment 5%

if we are strickly talking about improving....

i had zero lessons in my life till a few years ago now and got myself down to a 10-12 handicap all own my own. lessons got me the rest of the way to where i am today mainly short game lessons and equipment hasn't helped me all that much i can say fittings with my putter has helped me the most with improving my putting.
 
I would rank the percentages as such...45% Lesson, 45% Practice, and 10% Equipment. Without the swing or practice how far can the equipment take you?
 
Lessons 40% as it's helped identify my issues and how to resolve

Practice 50% I've been doing it more than ever and certain areas of my game have flourished.

Equipment 10%
 
I'm sure I'm an exception to most people, but I say an even split:

33/33/33

I can waste a lot of time practicing without guidance from lessons and I've improved most while take lessons. However, switching from light stock shafts to heavier, stiffer shafts have really improved my game as well.
 
It's hard to say really. I have exceptional equipment, did it make a ton of a difference? I don't think so really. It has allowed me options of f the tee that I didn't have prior to the change. Lessons set me on the path to better, but without practice they're pretty much worthless.

35% lessons, 60% practice 5 % equipment
 
mikedean441 said:
Lessons 40% as it's helped identify my issues and how to resolve

Practice 50% I've been doing it more than ever and certain areas of my game have flourished.

Equipment 10%
Click to expand...

I was gonna post the same thing, but quoting the great 441 is more fun. This has been my approach since February and it seems to be working!
 
0.01% lessons (I've had 3 in 25 years, only one seemed to benefit me which was a putting lesson), 80% practice 19.99% equipment.
 
For me I would say 20% lessons as they helped me get my swing consistent & repeatable.

Then 60% practice/playing. More on the range end to engrain what I was being taught & fixing flaws, but i've always needed the course to help me visualize the shots more & let the score show me if I'm improving or not.

20% equipment. I think getting the right fitting is included here along with getting what works for you. I've read horror stories of guys playing irons not fitted & causing them to lose strokes or something along those lines bc the equipment isn't fitted.
 
50% Practice, 40% Lessons, 10% Gear.
 
Personally, it would be 80% practice and 20% equipment. I have never taken a lesson, I only had high school and college coaches.
 
Trout Bum said:
my last 10 years has been this and has worked well

10% lessons
60% range work and practice (I can't hit it on the course if I can't hit it on the range)
30% on course play
0% EQUIPMENT

I was told to do this until my game gets to where I think it's good enough and then switch the practice and play percentage.

I am a rare bird though because I enjoy the range as much as I enjoy the course, I can duplicate almost any on course scenario on the range and on a budget it's where I get the bang for my buck.
Click to expand...

I agree with my buddy Marc here. I'm a range rat for sure and can get just as much enjoyment from having a 3-4 hour practice as I can out of playing 18 holes. That being said I think lessons first or a package lesson (what I'm doing) that allows you to practice with a purpose and iron this out on the range and then move to the course. I do also believe whole heartedly that practice rounds help immensely. What I mean by that is going out and playing a few balls off the tee with different clubs, hitting shots from all over the course to get a feel for how you should handle course management for your game.

I also feel that equipment means pretty much nothing. Proper instruction with proper practice with a purpose in my opinion would lead to better scores and improvement.

Awesome thread B-Rad really makes ya wonder what is best for every individual.
 
I would say it's like 70% practice, 25% lessons, and 5% equipment for me. I think the lessons are important to guide the practice, but the practice is by far the most important thing to progressing and getting better. The important thing is proper practice and not just grooving a bad swing.
 
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