I've tried to teach myself to golf over the last 5 years, and have failed miserably. With that said, today is my first lesson and I can't wait for this afternoon to get here (a 4 year old is the reason it's taken so long to finally happen).

I've read a TON of books, and watched a TON of videos in the past 5 years, but I can't keep any type of consistency in my swing.

My question to you is, how far back should I ask the instructor to go? Do I need to have him start from the very beginning with my grip? Also, should I set lesson for once a week, twice? I don't know what to expect.

what were your experiences with lessons? What would you keep the same or change? Any advice is appreciated.

What's your HC and how much time do you have to devote to practicing? If your HC is above 20 and you have the time, I'd go for a complete overhaul.

Definitely over a 20 HC. My job is 5 minutes from a club, so range time could be 4-5 times/week. Playing full rounds though, maybe only once or twice a month.

My first lesson was a nightmare. Guy gave me way too many things to work on and my head was spinning for weeks.

Be sure he limits it to 3 things, at most, to work on. The lesson is great, but the key is to carve out the time to actually work on your own afterwards.

I played golf for 30 years before I got my first lesson. Golf was never my main sport growing up, it was just something I did for fun. I never tried to "fix" anything with my swing back then, I just did what felt right. This led to some bad habits and techniques because much of golf is counter-intuitive.

When I got my first lesson a few years ago, it was amazing what just a few minor tweaks did to make me so much better. I've gone from a 17 HC to a 6. I told my instructor before my first lesson that I didn't have time for an overhaul and he did a great job by only making a couple of small changes that had a profound effect.

Edit - Yeah, with the ability to practice that much, you should tell your instructor your all in on whatever he thinks you need.

[This message has been edited by 93MarineHorn (edited 3/21/2014 10:15a).]

I'd suggest to go once a week at most. You need to give your body the ability to develop the muscle memory to override the things you've been teaching it.

I'm looking to follow suit soon, but waiting until the summer so I can get the practice in along with the lessons.

I'd also consider allowing him to work from the start. Grip work shouldn't take long(just need to commit and feel used to it.), but I'm gonna go back to the drawing board when I take my lessons and I fluctuate from near par rounds to 15+.

I have been playing golf for 2.5 years. I got my first lesson 4 months and many range sessions into it. I needed to start over since in that 4 months, I think I got worse.

I didn't ask my instructor to, but we kind of started from the beginning. He checked my grip, setup, etc. Had me swing a few and noticed a couple of obvious swing flaws. The rest of the lesson, I worked on half and 3/4 swings, just trying to hit them straight with a little draw. I mostly needed to work on coming more from the inside at the time. He told me that if I could not hit it straight and solid with half swings, it is only going to get worse the higher I take my back swing. I ended up taking 5 lessons (over 3 months) and by the end I was hitting it so much better.

I believe in lessons, they helped my game more than any equipment I have purchased. It is always good to have a pro watch your swing and tell you what you are doing. Lots of times we think we are doing something and not even close to doing that.

My advice:

1. get a lesson once every two weeks at the earliest. You need to practice what you are taught at least 3 times between lessons.

2. After every lesson walk away with 1 or 2 things to work on max. You are not going to fix your swing completely in one lesson if it needs more than 2 fixes anyway.

antman is right on the money.

Thanks for all the replies and experiences! It's been so frustrating to not get this down (like many of you, I'm sure, I was a natural at most sports growing up) and 4:00 can't get here fast enough!

I agree with alot of the suggestions posted, and I hope your lesson goes great for you.

However in line with a few of the other posts, as a relative newcomer (in May it will be 4 years), I found that while a number of pros can give you a lesson, all pros arent true teachers (hence the previous comments of giving too much, etc.)

Listen to your pro, but as a backup, I would strongly suggest searching this forum for the "Ultimate Practice Routine" thread. Yes, it is time consuming, but since you plan on practicing frequently, it could be workable for you.

I started this year shooting in the low 100's, around a 20 hdcp, and picked up the routine at the start of the year. Because of my work schedule, I have only been able to really do the routine on Saturdays - and I have missed a few of them so far. However Wednesday I got a twilight round in at Southwyck in Pearland, and shot my lowest score ever - 86. I havent began the B part of the program yet.

I am by no means demeaning the importance of an experienced professional watching you and giving suggestions/corrections to improve your game. However sometimes when you're out there for hours trying to hit targets and grinding through reps, things that you hear a million times like "hit down on the ball" etc, finally click, and comprehension takes place.

Update: the first lesson went great. I learned that:

1. I was standing way too close to the ball and choking down on my club to try and compensate (no longer wondering why I was losing distance and hitting it very fat)

2. my arms were too close to my body (also part of a result of #1) and my shoulders couldn't turn through well because of it

3. I wasn't hinging my wrist properly. I had been bringing the top of my hand towards my arm without realizing it and it was getting way off plane

4. when I bent my left knee on my backswing I was dipping my hip (I wasn't lifting my heel at all)

Numbers 1 and 2 were very easy to solve and the results were instant. #3 was pretty easy to fix on the spot, but will take some practice for my muscle memory. #4 is the hardest for me. I'm trying to slightly bring up my left heel now and it's helping a lot, but thinking about it too much is messing up my tempo and I'm swinging too fast. Lots of range time in my future.

All-in-all, I was very encouraged that the pro said most of my fundamentals were spot on (thanks Ben Hogan for the Five Lessons book!), and with tweaks I should become very consistent. By the end of the lesson I was hitting some of the best shots I've ever had (on occasion when my temp didn't get out of control) and self diagnosing what I messed up out loud. I was told to ignore where the ball goes right now (I kept pushing it right of my target) until I can ingrain what we worked on today, as the pushing is "more of a minor tweak" than what we worked on. I'm booking another lesson for 2 weeks out to give myself plenty of time on the range.

I'm very relieved that the pro didn't think I needed a complete overhaul, and really looking forward to building a consistent swing.

Watch any Pro, I have yet to see one lift their left heel during a swing.

I know it is a fix, but I would be cautious doing that permanently

*Current Pro*

Lots of left heels come off the ground when many RH pros use their driver. Irons not so much

quote:

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Watch any Pro, I have yet to see one lift their left heel during a swing.

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Well, Bubba is left handed so it's his right heel.



I'm sure most good instructors would try to get you into this position at the top, right?

Okay, I will concede Bubba

Haha

grip, alignment and posture. These 3 are the earliest variables that can determine success or failure in any golf shot. If you have either one of them messed up then your golf swing will already be invalidated due to proper prep. (any mistakes you make you won't know how to correct because it's probably in the aforementioned 3 setup variables.). If your coach is worth your money he should know that setup is where you start and what you must master before you can hope to develop a consistently playable swing.


HTH

start watching more pro golf and less swing lesson videos, also.

That Ben Hogan guy lifted his left heel.

http://clients.chrisoleary.com/Golf/BenHogan/tabid/1193/Default.aspx

As did this blond dude who I think was nicknamed after some sort of bear. Some schmucks named Sam and Bobby did too.

That said, it's true that it isn't as common with current pros.



[This message has been edited by DannyDuberstein (edited 3/25/2014 12:23p).]