Lessons: I take back everything that I said
 

Some of you know that for a long time Ive been skeptical of taking lessons.
Well, I recently joined a local golf league and before we play our round every week we get a 20 minute group lessons with the golf pro.
This week he talked to us about grip, setup and posture and then after the lessons he watched each of us hit a few balls and gave us tips.
For years now Ive struggle with hitting a push shot. The pro watched me hit 2 shots and said to me, "you need to get over on your left side more. Thats why the ball is going to the right. Get your 80% of your weight on your left side coming through the ball and you will hit straight shots."
Well, today I worked on doing that and once its starting to work for me. Its still not automatic because Ive been hanging back on my right side but its coming along and its getting a lot better.
So, yeah, I take back every bad thing I ever said about lessons. If a pro can watch me hit a mere 2 shots and fix my biggest problem I cant wait to see how far he can take my game in the long run.

Lessons have made a huge impact on my game. Sometimes you wouldn't know it but it's true. Going for more very soon.

I love I told ya so moments...hehe

Glad it is working for you.

Happy for ya Bucky . Maybe someone will see your thread and make the right decision for their game http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...s/thumbsup.gif

Depends. Good pros can be hard to find.

3 lessons helped greatly. I'll wait a few months then maybe go back for a tune. I waited too long.

That is the key to successful lessons. I'm very close to a PGA Professional so I promote them first, but there are other qualified teachers today as well. Anyone looking for a teacher should do some research and don't be afraid to ask a teacher about his/her background and credentials. You have to have a teacher you like and TRUST.

Fellow Cheesehead, you're going to become a player. Got rid of those blades that were holding you back, and now some lessons. The game is about to become much more fun.

Kevin

I started taking lessons last month and after the first lesson I knew that taking lessons was the right choice. When I first took up the game my friends said the best thing to do is take lessons before I pick up bad habits. My teacher is a PGA Professional.

After seeing your game up close today, I am call your instructor tomorrow. He has your game looking a lot better. Now to get the flatstick working for you, and you are set.

Great to hear the lessons are working. Golf is all about confidence and once you learn how that confidence just soars. Great post!

I'm always shocked when people don't think lessons will help them, but I'm glad you've seen the light and now the HC will fall.

I just had a lesson at the local Golf Galaxy. The PGA Pro used video of my swing and compared it to swings of tour pros. Also used it to show where my faults were. Amazing. Definately worth the $50.

Hey, I can admit when Im wrong. The only downside is that now I cant wait to get home from work so that I can go practice or go to the course. It makes my workdays seem even longer than they did in the past. LOL

Ive heard so many horror stories of people who went for lessons and the pro tried to totally change their swing and it ended up messing them up so bad that they could barely even hit the ball.
That kind of spooked me. I can play bad golf on my own, I dont need some pro making me even worse.
Now Im kind of wondering if these people who had issues either didnt listen to what the pro was trying to teach them or didnt stick with it long enough for it to have a change to become natural and to work for them.
This pro was pretty good though. He explained the theory of the golf swing and then demonstrated it. He didnt tell us all these complex concepts, he kept it nice and simple.
He also explained to us what happens when we do something wrong so that we can kind of self-diagnose our swing and what to look out for if a certain ballflight happens.

I've heard those stories too, but its about finding the right pro for you. Sometimes you just want the pro to help you fix a problem that you are having, but not wanting to reinvent the wheel, sometimes you want to break the whole thing down and start from sratch. What you want out of the lessons is totally up to you, you're paying for it.

Indeed but some PGA pro's can't do both. I know the first pro I went to lessons for was amazing at the start because he corrected a lot of small things that added up to a huge difference. Once he did that though he had nowhere to go except to try and teach me to swing like him which simply wasn't going to happen.

I'm a huge fan of lessons but I agree with everyone that says talk to the different pro's to see what they're like. Not everyone can teach you what you need or what you think you need.

Totally agree, I wasn't suggesting the same pro could do both options. Once you find a pro that works for you though they are worth their weight in golf.

I personally think that people who wait a long time to take lessons are the ones who struggle with them the most. It's so difficult to change a swing after playing with it for so many years. I know I have put in tons of hours of practice and taken a bunch of lessons. Golf has become so much more fun now that I can aim for a target and make that little ball go a lot closer to it than ever before. I'll never be great at the game but I can at least hang with other golfers without slowing them down so much.

I think we have seen two issues that I think you need to be wary of already discussed in this thread.

To me one major issue with teaching pros is that you have to find one that communicates in a way that clicks for you. One teacher may be great at communicating for one student and not so good for another. Find someone that you relate to well. Much of the good they can do depends on being able to describe something such that you get it and quickly. I have often commented that I think Andy the pro here is terrific in that respect.

Another issue is when to go and how often. I for one do not believe in lessons to perpetuity. One of our members commented in this thread that eventually his teaching pro ran out of things to do other than try to get the student to adopt the teacher's swing. Go take lessons with a specific purpose in mind. Once you achieve you goal then either continue on to the next thing that you would like to improve or if there is no next thing for now, go back at a later date either for a tune up or to continue on to some other aspect of the game. I do think lessons to perpetuity is a trap that you don't want to fall into.