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How do you go about trying to improve?

How do you go about trying to improve?

  • Total voters
    70
I went with self taught as I'm not sure where this should actually go.

A member of my weekend group was an instructor and when things go bad, I'll have him take a look and point out something, usually simple and get me back on track on the range.
 
Lessons from a good instructor. Then a lot of practice. In that order.
 
Lessons and then practicing what he advises
 
Practice , work on my swing over the winter.

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Self taught practice and more rounds of golf.
 
Interesting to see new gear and training aids are not getting any love. With the way bags change around here and the amount of training aids I see in the stores, something is off.
 
I answered lessons only because my friend was a teaching pro and helps me when I need or ask. But on top of him giving me a few pointers and things to work on the rest is all just self taught.
 
I've kind of done a 360 on my methods of improvement in the last 12 months or so.
In the past my plan was to just hit as many balls as possible. My swing was terrible, fundamentals were non-existent and as long as I hit a few hundred balls a week I could sync all the moving parts up just enough to get around a golf course. I completely plateaued with that flawed method and since then have gone about it differently.

I wanted to get a majority of fundamentals right. Fixed the grip, fixed the takeaway, fixed the moving spine angle - but I needed lessons to do it. In a sense I think I could have done it on my own but having a qualified Pro there to reinforce that what I was doing was in fact "correct" made it so much easier than self-teaching.

I love to pick up and try new gear, but for me I don't do it in an effort to lower scores. If it does lower scores - gravy!
 
There's a lot to be said for lessons, but for me the biggest factor is getting out on the range and grooving those lessons, figuring out the correct dosage of the medicine your coach as given you.
 
I found the poll options really limiting and not in keeping with reality. It was like asking a doctor how they diagnose a patient and offering the following options:
- New instruments
- A consult
- Self diagnosis
- Case studies
What about lab tests? Interviewing the patient? Bringing in a specialist? MRI's? EKGs? Biopsy? Exploratory surgery? Why would you use one for all situations? How about using them in combination?

Alright, back to golf.

So a great deal of options in the world of golf were left out. In golf instruction alone there are books, magazines, DVDs, online video instruction, instruction forums (like many places on THP), live and streaming golf instruction programs, golf schools, and online golf diagnosis services, to name a few. How about getting fitted, or getting fit, spending time on a launch monitor, joining a league or club? Then again, what about using things in combination? Taking a lesson and THEN practicing on your own for example.

I'm one of those life long learners, which is probably why I found the choices so limiting. I seek input from a lot of sources; throw away a lot as invalid, or not applicable too. But I believe good ideas can come from a lot of places.
 
practice practice practice
 
Definitely a self taught guy!!
 
Check up lesson from my pro, even if it's just 30 mins. I've learned the hard way that self-taught just gets me frustrated and two steps back.
 
Swing plane improvements ALWAYS correct my off game, or break away from golf. I swing two nice full on plane practice swings to a good finish. Then do it again with the ball in the way, exactly the same way as the two prior swings.
 
I noticed 'Self Taught Practice' is more popular than Lessons. With that being said, I believe most all of us believe that to get better we need lessons, but we don't go that route. I haven't anyway; my grandfather taught me this game when I was 13 and to this day I have never had a real lesson, and I'm now 54...
 
Definitely lessons. I am. It smart enough to teach myself something. After instruction I will start to do self correction; if I am unable to self correct I go back to lessons.
 
JimBetts said:
I noticed 'Self Taught Practice' is more popular than Lessons. With that being said, I believe most all of us believe that to get better we need lessons, but we don't go that route. I haven't anyway; my grandfather taught me this game when I was 13 and to this day I have never had a real lesson, and I'm now 54...
Click to expand...

I am 51 and self taught as well. My father introduced me to the game when I was a kid and we had hundreds of pitching contests those first few years to 3 different bicycle flags spaced out on our 2.5 acre lot. I've had a handful of lessons from a PGA pro but only to cover fundamentals. I've had the desire to take lessons then last 15 years but not the time. I will take lessons after I retire in a couple years and try my best to fix a couple swing flaws that have been engrained for 38 years.
 
I put self-taught practice, but in reality I don't have the time to practice at this point like I would like. I've been to the practice green a few times the last week or so but that's because I can't play due to an injury. If I had the time, I would invest in lessons and then go with practice on top of that. If you are looking to improve, lessons are the best place to start.
 
I've found that by giving less of a ****, I've improved. Wouldn't say I'm scoring lower, but I've become way more consistent, which to me is a big improvement.


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ArmyGolf said:
I've kind of done a 360 on my methods of improvement in the last 12 months or so.
In the past my plan was to just hit as many balls as possible. My swing was terrible, fundamentals were non-existent and as long as I hit a few hundred balls a week I could sync all the moving parts up just enough to get around a golf course. I completely plateaued with that flawed method and since then have gone about it differently.
Click to expand...

I find your posts interesting. I'm pretty sure you weren't hitting balls without a plan, but this post reminded me of something I thought Nicklaus said, so I looked it up:

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.
Click to expand...

I found getting better feedback on how well I accomplished what I set out to do has helped my practice time. The most effective feedback comes from a good lesson. I've found a lot of insight from launch monitor data, such as ProTracer (good) or an indoor sim (better.) I can see the ball flight (usually), but I'm a technical guy, and the numbers speak to me.
 
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