[viagsjicguara]

Morning all,

I apologize if this has been asked, but I did a search and didn't find what I was looking for. If I'm just blind I would be very grateful of a point in the right direction.

Essentially, I have never taken lessons, the only formal instruction I have really had was during High School years ago.

I guess if I'm shelling out the money for lessons, I would like to know what I should expect.

The gentleman I spoke with over the phone sounded very personable, and explained that he liked to focus on form stating that without proper form you will never achieve a good swing.

Now that is fine, I feel my form and swing are pretty good, but I am not closed minded and more than willing to devote some time to improving it should improvement be needed. I also explained to him that one of my goals in these lessons is to achieve better ball control with my irons. I would like to learn new ways to manipulate my shots, take a better divot, more control with spin etc. (Not that this would be my only goal - as I plan to take lessons as a normal routine throughout the summer months from this point forward and really just want to find a good match coach for me)

My hesitation is that I have never had lessons and obviously there is a huge variety of professionals from which to choose. I just have no reference of determining the quality of the coach I selected or what I should expect at all.

So I suppose the jist of all this is, what should I be looking for with my new coach during our first session together? As it is as much of a trial / interview on my part as it is a job/ future customer on his part.

[JasminBerkova]

I would say that obviously, you should ask around if you can. References are always preferred. Basically do what you can to make sure he/she is a reputable instructor. After that, I would make sure that it's someone that you can work with. For me, when dealing with something that's fairly personal in a golf swing, it's important that you build a good relationship with your instructor. I have to trust that the person I'm working with wouldn't steer me in the wrong direction. I know that's fairly vague, but I hope that you get the point I'm trying to make here.

[sFs4aOok]

In my opinion when he say's "he wants to work on your form" that is a very vague statement any tweeks on your swing will change your form. I would keep looking and find someone that is willing to work towards your goal's with subtle changes and watch out for guys who want to re-invent your swing. my two cents

[Chooriwrocaxz]

In my opinion when he say's "he wants to work on your form" that is a very vague statement any tweeks on your swing will change your form. I would keep looking and find someone that is willing to work towards your goal's with subtle changes and watch out for guys who want to re-invent your swing. my two cents

This.

I am on my 2nd set of lessons, about 10 years apart. Item number 1 from any pro should be their desire to understand your goals. You should then be able to develop a plan with the pro to achieve those goals (time, money, etc.). I also think technology - especially the use of video - is virtually mandatory these days in taking lessons. Personally I would be pretty wary of anyone that starts off by telling me they have a particular approach. Think about professional coaches - the best ones may have a preferred style but they adjust to the talent at hand in order to find a way to win.

[ExpodoDop]

In my opinion when he say's "he wants to work on your form" that is a very vague statement any tweeks on your swing will change your form. I would keep looking and find someone that is willing to work towards your goal's with subtle changes and watch out for guys who want to re-invent your swing. my two cents

Yeah I know my dad took lessons once and the guy wanted to change his swing into a more classic style which didn't work at all and ended up making him hit it way shorter. It's been years and he's still working his way to getting back to where he was before the lessons so you have to be careful that the instructor really knows what they're talking about and realize that one swing doesn't work for everyone

[Buildityrit]

This is just my opinion based on working with many instructors over the last 15 years and finding some great ones and many, many more average to terrible ones.

What matters to me these days is WHAT they teach and WHO/WHERE they studied.

I WILL NEVER take another lesson from an instructor whose only training was the PGA training/apprenticeship program. There are advanced schools that teach much more depth and variability in styles and approach.

A good analogy is the difference between taking your Economics class from a teacher who graduated with a Bachelors in Econ vs a teacher who graduated with a Bachelors, worked for the Fed for 5 years, completed their Master's, worked for the UN for 5 years and then got their PhD.

I will only work with someone who pursued advanced training because they are passionate about teaching.

My personal preference is to work with The Golfing Machine certified teachers as that is a very advanced and broad training program that teaches instructors how to identify and teach many combinations of common patterns & components in the golf swing. There is no TGM swing, instead the TGM philosophy is there are dozens of types of swings that all work effectively. That is in stark contract to the PGA program that teaches only 1 very basic swing type (the manual is all over the net if you want to see it).

Having had a lesson from many of both it is night and day how much more quickly you improve working with a TGM teacher who has the ability to teach you any swing you desire to learn.

If you are inclined to find a TGM teacher to see if they may be a good fit you here is a link: http://www.thegolfingmachine.com/ama...tors/find.html

Best of luck!

[bug_user]

I have had pro's show me tips as I was demoing clubs. One in particular threw so much stuff at me at once it was mind boggling. "change this, try that, it's this u need to do." granted this was in a short time span. But I could only imagine that's the way he would try to teach me in a lesson which he did offer.
Then through a referral I went to another guy. It was amazing how simple he made it and the results were immediate.
I would say try to find someone who keeps things simple. I got lucky with the referral of a friend. The pro also has a great rep around town. Idk if this helps u, but that's my experience. Stay away from people who will do this to you...
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1334201272.022877.jpg

[XinordiX]

Word of mouth is probably the best source of reviews for any instructor. But I was in a similar boat last year. I knew a pro I liked (and had known on a personal level for several years). I'd taken one lesson from him, but he's 2 hours away. Not exactly a short trip. The closest teaching pro to me is 40 minutes away. Very nice person, so I just took a gamble with it and bought a series of 3 lessons.

I've learned two things that may help in your search. First, you have to be comfortable talking to the instructor. If you're not comfortable talking casually with the instructor, my fear has always been that I'll just listen during the lesson, and not speak up about concerns or issues I have with whatever swing change he's made.

Second, and maybe the biggest tip I can offer, after watching a dozen swings or so, my instructor last year simply asked "Do you want me to make your current swing better, or do you want to tear apart and rebuild your swing?" I wanted him to tear apart and rebuild my swing because of the benefits in doing so. But a lot of times, people have a swing that works pretty well, but maybe they're slicing, or hitting behind the ball or whatever, and they just want a tweak to their swing without having to spend a month rebuilding a swing. They want a quick fix instead of a complete overhaul.

So depending on what you're after, you might ask your instructors if they are willing to rebuild your swing, or simply tweak your current swing to work better.

Either way, you won't regret your lessons. Good luck!

~Rock