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a little advice about helping some one learn about golf.

aplayer

aplayer

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My brother in law wanted to start playing golf so i have taken him down the range a couple of times and then he booked up lessons he has had 5 lessons so far and i was shocked to hear the only club he has used is his driver he was told they will work on irons later.When i started out that was the last club i was taught with as its the hardest to control for most.He has now been told he needs to buy a whole new set that suits him and will cost £850! he is using a 2010 Nike slingshot irons, Nike sumo driver and a tight lies 3 wood.I cant see how this will help him at this stage and think he is being led down a bad path.should i just tell him to cancel his lessons and try a different instructor?
 
I agree with you 100%. Most instructors will start you off with mid irons and work up to the longer swings, from my experience. I do know there are some people who say if you learn the driver swing first eveything else will be easier, I'm not so sure that's conventional wisdom though.

Also the push to buy newer clubs is a huge red flag. Sounds like this instructor is only reading $$$ signs. The Slingshots while not new at all, are perfectly fine for someone starting out. You don't want to make the investment in new clubs until you judge your level of interest in the game. Are you going to be a once or twice a year player, then those are fine. If you see you are going to make this a long term regular hobby, then sure start looking for newer equipment at that time, ONLY if YOU feel you need it.

I would definitely see about cancelling the remaining lessons and just say you are going to look elsewhere, that is if he can get a refund. Which he might not be able to based on the sounds of this instructor.

Good luck.
 
a little advice about helping some one learn about golf.

There are people that believe that since the driver is the longest club in the bag with the least amount of loft, that it is the hardest to hit. Has your brother inlaw asked to focus on driver?

Since the driver sets up a hole, why not learn it first?
 
no when i took him to the range we took a 7 iron and the 3 wood to practice with, he has been told the driver is the most important club so it will take time to get used to. I can see what your saying i don't think he has asked to focus on the driver as i keep telling him "driver for show putter for dough" he has got a little bit better with his irons but not a lot and still finishes our local course around 120 par 69.
 
Is the instructor a PGA certified instructor?
 
yes but only passed 3 months ago, the golf course was a family run one when i started out but has been taken over and new staff brought in.
 
I would think through 5 lessons he would have been through a number of clubs but perhaps one of more authority to say so will say differently. Buying a new set of clubs I think is rediculous. How can he even know what is right or wrong for him if he doesnt even yet have his own swing developed especially since he has only used the driver. I am curious and interested to know (from one of authority to say so) if any of this logic is correct.
 
Starting off with a driver sounds very suspicious to me. I'd recommend a lofted club like a 7-iron while hitting off a tee to start.
 
I would say run away from that instructor, find another.
 
Driver was always the last club that I would have new players use. But each instructor has their own ideas. Is your buddy having fun and seeing improvement? If he is, that's what is most important.
 
he has dropped 2-3 shots a round but is going to the range twice a week and having a 1hr lesson and playing one round a week as well i would of thought he would of done better than he is so far.
 
aplayer said:
he has dropped 2-3 shots a round but is going to the range twice a week and having a 1hr lesson and playing one round a week as well i would of thought he would of done better than he is so far.
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Has he discussed with his instructor the thought process of only hitting driver? He has the right to dictate what he wants to work on, if the pro doesn't change after being asked to, then it is time to move to a new instructor.
 
There is nothing wrong with this line of lessons. Some instructors like to work from tee to green. If your brother in law wants to switch clubs, all he has to do is ask.
 
I would think buying a new set of clubs early might not be the best thing to do as well until the swing is more established........I cringe when I see new golfers buy new clubs with lies, shafts not customized - and a beginner's swing is an evolving process - swing planes change while they're in the learning process as well as swing speeds.
 
I like to introduce players to the game of golf with the driver. It's a huge club and easy to hit off a tee. Posture isn't so important and most people will give it a good hard wide swing whack. I like to then dial all this back into a controlled swing with the wedges, go into the L to L drills etc etc. Works for me and people tend to get less bored when I start driver first. If I was charging I'm not sure I would spend 5 lessons on the driver though =).
 
thank you guys i will get him to speak to his instructor about it, just wanted some advice from people who know about whats best for a beginner. i will try to talk him out of the clubs for a while at least.
 
Tadashi70 said:
There is nothing wrong with this line of lessons. Some instructors like to work from tee to green. If your brother in law wants to switch clubs, all he has to do is ask.
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what about the part of pushing new set of clubs on him? I am curious can that be appropriate at this time? especially since he already has a set only few years old. They wouldnt be fit for him but I wouldnt even think thats possible right now anyway. Does that advice strike you as strange? Or not?
 
Since your brother in law has been playing weekly (perhaps with you?) and shooting around 120 it might be helpful to try to identify which types of shots are costing him the most strokes and asking the pro to help with those. I'm guessing that it would be approach shots and chips/pitches around the green more than driver unless he's just knocking it out of bounds constantly, in which case using a different club from the tee for a while would probably make more sense.

It might also be very useful to know why exactly this pro thinks he should buy new clubs at this point. Is it that he has a 110 MPH swing speed and the clubs he's got have Senior shafts? Or is it that the pro shop could really stand to increase their sales for the month? I'm sort of betting on the latter because I agree that he has certainly not progressed yet to the point where buying new sticks is going to help him much.
 
I prefer Harvey Pennick's thoery that golf should be learned from the hole backwards, but I don't think this instructor is systematically wrong either.
 
rollin said:
what about the part of pushing new set of clubs on him? I am curious can that be appropriate at this time? especially since he already has a set only few years old. They wouldnt be fit for him but I wouldnt even think thats possible right now anyway. Does that advice strike you as strange? Or not?
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I see nothing wring with being a salesman. If it takes over the purpose of the lesson then it's not good. If the pro told him he needed me clubs to improve then that is line that shouldn't have been crossed. But if it was ' you'll see even better results with new gear', I have no issue.
 
Every teacher had their own way of teaching but to spend five lessons on just one club I find that troubling. Tadashi is right though if he wants to change something within the plan all he needs to do is ask, then move forward from there's if he is still not comfortable.
 
There is plenty of time to learn all the other clubs. Most new golfers struggle to the point of huge frustration getting off the tee. The first time I took lessons we always hit 9 irons, this new guy had me hit driver in the second lesson and i'm driving it way better. That said i'd be more comfortable hitting all the clubs during lessons.
 
he has now asked to try to improve his iron work as this is weakest area so far the instructor said that a brand new set would be made to him not a standard set which will help him save 5-10 shots a round.He has said they will work on the 3 wood and 5 iron next time and work his way though the irons week by week. The main problem my brother in-law has is no two swings are the same.
 
he is a example he tees off 150 yards left of the fairway then take his 5 iron and tops the ball then tries again and takes a big divert ball went 40 yards tops from both shots tell him to relax and take his time he then hits the ball 50 yards from the green a fantastic shot but takes 3 shots to get on the green and 3 putts.
 
aplayer said:
My brother in law wanted to start playing golf so i have taken him down the range a couple of times and then he booked up lessons he has had 5 lessons so far and i was shocked to hear the only club he has used is his driver he was told they will work on irons later.When i started out that was the last club i was taught with as its the hardest to control for most.He has now been told he needs to buy a whole new set that suits him and will cost £850! he is using a 2010 Nike slingshot irons, Nike sumo driver and a tight lies 3 wood.I cant see how this will help him at this stage and think he is being led down a bad path.should i just tell him to cancel his lessons and try a different instructor?
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It's just a matter of my uneducated opinion, but I hate the idea of starting purely with driver. Sure, it's the biggest head, but it's also likely the most violent swing.

What i've come to learn over the course of the last couple years, is that each instructor does things a little bit differently. If you're not comfortable with how he's progressing, try someone else. It's not to say his decisions are poor, they just don't suit your brother in law's style.
 
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