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Golf lessons for my wife

Smallville

Smallville

#ICanHitADraw
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Our friends out in California are wanting to get my wife golf lessons for her birthday. The guy we took out semi-private lessons from is OK, and he helped us out quite a bit, especially since my wife knew nothing at the time. But he's like 75 years old, and more importantly, male! I'm thinking a female instructor might be better for her than a male one.

There is a female instructor I like a lot at the course where I marshalled at a couple years ago. But we have a place called Robin Nigro Golf Academy where I think she could get a lot more out of it. http://www.robinnigrogolf.com/index.html

What do you think? For an amateur female golfer who has only been playing for two years, would a female instructor be better than a male instructor? I want them to get the most out of the money they are going to be spending on this. I also want to see my wife start shooting in the 90s all the time next year.
 
I would think the gender wouldn't matter as much as the teacher. That facility does look really great. I've watched some Youtube videos done by a female golf pro at Sea Island and I was really impressed with her. I'm sure she will be happy either way.
 
Thanks Kelly.

Other comments/suggestions? They want to get this set up ASAP because her birthday is in late January.

I want all the input I can get so I'm going to be bumping this throughout the day if I have to!
 
I've never been to Robin's place, as I'm up north and it's a DRIVE. But, I have heard that all the instructors there are top notch. I don't know that a female instructor would necessarily be better than a male. I would say she needs to find who she is more comfortable with. Maybe even see if she can meet one or two of them over there to see if she gets a feeling of who she would be more comfortable with.
 
My wife tried both a male and a female instructor and she was happier with the female insctructor. The male instructor was a better teacher and could have been more useful to her game but she simply wasn't comfortable with him and thus couldn't retain anything as she was too self concious to focus on what she was doing.

It sounds like the female instructors at the place you mention are top notch though so teaching skill shouldn't be a factor at all.
 
@Smallville: We would like to recommend one of the GolfTEC Kansas City Centers! The Certified Coaches at both the Metcalf and Overland Park Centers are great with women and the private, indoor environment tends to put women at ease because the only person watching is their Coach. Plus, with those chilly Kansas City winters, she would be able to practice inside during the off season. If friends would like to buy her a certificate, now is truly the perfect time as we have Swing Evaluations plus one or three follow up lessons on sale and they can buy it online by clicking here.

Thanks for taking a look at GolfTEC!
 
Given that my wife is a golf instructor, I'll offer some perspective. The primary concern should be whether the instructor can explain to the student in a way the student "gets it". It's not a matter of male or female. That consideration only matters to those whose personality and/or self-confidence sways them in either direction.

My recommendation would be to only buy 1 lesson, with that promise of a lesson package, once she finds the instructor she is comfortable with. If she doesn't like the first instructor, get her 1 lesson to a different teacher. There are 5-6 instructors where my wife works and I see golfers bounce around to each one of them until they get comfortable. Each instructor has their own style and methodology and you have to find what "clicks" with your wife.

If you buy a package (ex., 6 lessons) and she doesn't like the instructor, or he/she is too technical, or not technical enough, those next 5 lessons are pretty much a waste of time. Even if she does use them, she won't be 100% committed because in her mind she has negative thoughts about the experience.

On a side note, if you do change instructors within the same facility, common courtesy would be to explain why you are switching. Just a sentence or two about "comfort level" eases any future meetings.

Good luck!
 
GolfTEC said:
@Smallville: We would like to recommend one of the GolfTEC Kansas City Centers! The Certified Coaches at both the Metcalf and Overland Park Centers are great with women and the private, indoor environment tends to put women at ease because the only person watching is their Coach. Plus, with those chilly Kansas City winters, she would be able to practice inside during the off season. If friends would like to buy her a certificate, now is truly the perfect time as we have Swing Evaluations plus one or three follow up lessons on sale and they can buy it online by clicking here.

Thanks for taking a look at GolfTEC!
Click to expand...

I will pass this along to them. Thanks for the info.

Staticline, if you get a set of lessons at a "golf academy" or school, couldn't you just change instructors if one isn't working for you rather than buying one lesson at a time? I can understand if you are getting them from a specific person, but if it's group, would it make a difference if you were to get a 6 lesson package and switch instructors at some point during it?

The reason I am leaning more toward a female instructor is because they have the same body part issues up top that a man just doesn't have to deal with. (Well, most men anyway, hahaha). Is this not a normal consideration?
 
Argh, I just replied but I don't think it took.

I have only taken lessons from male instructors and there are some that do not know what to do about breasts. I think they think it's a bigger issue than it should be and for those instructors I think I feel uncomfortable learning from them. The first teacher I had was pretty terrible and he fell into the category about talking about how men and women are built so differently. I'm not sure he had a clue what to do with me. I took lessons from another guy (years later) who was teaching my mom and all her golfing (female) buddies who focused on ball position, grip, routines, and how the arms hang and he was much better. He never made it an issue that I was a female and I was extremely comfortable with him.

Also, for me, male or female instructor makes no difference, but I can see how some women might be more comfortable with a female instructor. One more thing (maybe TMI?), I'm not stacked so maybe mine don't make a difference when I golf?? Just a thought... Perhaps you can ask how many women are currently learning from the instructor you are considering?
 
Smallville said:
I will pass this along to them. Thanks for the info.

Staticline, if you get a set of lessons at a "golf academy" or school, couldn't you just change instructors if one isn't working for you rather than buying one lesson at a time? I can understand if you are getting them from a specific person, but if it's group, would it make a difference if you were to get a 6 lesson package and switch instructors at some point during it?

The reason I am leaning more toward a female instructor is because they have the same body part issues up top that a man just doesn't have to deal with. (Well, most men anyway, hahaha). Is this not a normal consideration?
Click to expand...

I don't know how it works at an academy or a place like golftek. The instructors I know are all considered "independant" and each has their own rate. So, if you buy a package, it's for that specific instructor. I would think it would be similar at most places, as you "get what you pay for". The new pro is going to be available at a lower rate than someone who's been teaching for 20 years, or is the Director of Golf, or head instructor.

The bodypart differences shouldn't be an issue with a good instructor. A swing is a swing (one piece takeaway, rotating around the spine, etc) regardless if it's a male or female holding the club. I would think a good instructor wouldn't need to even bring that up unless specifically asked.
 
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Good luck with the lessons I don't think it matters what gender teaches anyone it all depends on if your comfortable with the person
 
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you have to get a coach that you feel is teaching you the correct stuff and is easy to learn from
 
Go to Nigro's, if/when I stop spending all my extra money building the car I'll be headed out there.:good:
 
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