Had my first ever lesson today...

[newballcoach]

So I have been struggling a ton lately with consistent contact and fighting a hook. After a few weeks of frustration I decided to seek out the club pro at our local set of city owned courses. 

 

Within 5 minutes he was able to diagnose my issues, recorded some video and worked with me on my takeaway and alignment. Had me doing a few drills and wow, what a difference.

 

Went from rough contact and crazy hooks, to straight balls with lots of power. It was awesome to see the difference. I know Michael Breed says it every week, but if you are struggling man, drop the cash and go see somebody. It's made a huge difference for me already, and with a best-ball scramble coming up on Friday, I don't have to dread swinging the driver every single time. 

 

I never thought getting a teacher would be for me, however, the lesson is always, I'm an idiot...

[yungkory]

I'm way overdue for a lesson. Haven't had one since I was like 12.

 

If scratch golfers, and tour pros have coaches, I'm definitely not "too good" for one.

 

Glad it's clicking for you!!

[Shankster]

I need to do the same.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[STUDque]

I still haven't had my first lesson because I coach the crap out of myself. I'm too afraid a lesson will jack me up.

 

My friend wants to know what your problem with the hook was?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[newballcoach]

I still haven't had my first lesson because I coach the crap out of myself. I'm too afraid a lesson will jack me up.

 

My friend wants to know what your problem with the hook was?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

I have been the king of using youtube lessons, and that has worked for me for a bit. The professional eye was invaluable, he saw things that I couldn't and helped me fix things with feels I couldn't reproduce on my own. I was nervous taking a lesson as well (especially since a former student of mine works at the course) but it was a great experience. I have two more scheduled. 

 

Two part problem with the hook. First was bringing the club too far inside on the takeaway, causing a swing that was coming too far from the inside. Sometimes I would push the ball if I left the face open, but if I slammed the face closed with my hands I would get a deadly hook. Even if I squared the face up and the ball came out straight, it would still end up 20 yards or so left of my target because of my club path. I will post the video when I get it. 

 

EDIT: Was also having issues with setup and alignment.

[Canucklehead]

I'm regretting not getting a couple lessons the last couple years

 

Sent from my E6853 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[TBT]

I look at like this, there is a reason the tour players have a swing coach....it doesn't matter how good you are, a second set of eyes on your swing is always a good thing.

[revkev]

One of the best posts ever.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[silver & black]

I wish I could afford lessons..... I just can't.

[dadivots]

I have been the king of using youtube lessons, and that has worked for me for a bit. The professional eye was invaluable, he saw things that I couldn't and helped me fix things with feels I couldn't reproduce on my own. I was nervous taking a lesson as well (especially since a former student of mine works at the course) but it was a great experience. I have two more scheduled. 

 

Two part problem with the hook. First was bringing the club too far inside on the takeaway, causing a swing that was coming too far from the inside. Sometimes I would push the ball if I left the face open, but if I slammed the face closed with my hands I would get a deadly hook. Even if I squared the face up and the ball came out straight, it would still end up 20 yards or so left of my target because of my club path. I will post the video when I get it. 

 

EDIT: Was also having issues with setup and alignment.

When you talked about a hook.... it is not surprising the fix was in the first foot or two away from the ball, or in the takeaway. SOoooo many times problems stem form there and it is uncanny how a good eye for a good take away can make all the difference. Time after time straight back and a set up to match does the trick as we all return to the ball the way we took it away. Even if its a small variance; everything follows. A guy in our group was told he was outside the line to many times to count, but outside the line he went. Didnt matter until he heard it from the Pro, a darn good one at that. Night and day.... I see and hear people who lose it from one day to the next, especailly if a change is being worked on, and 9 out of 10 time these 18 inches away from the ball makes all the difference.

Good Deal and congrats!

[DaveP043]

I look at like this, there is a reason the tour players have a swing coach....it doesn't matter how good you are, a second set of eyes on your swing is always a good thing.

Even more important is having a set of properly trained eyes.  Even the best players aren't competent in evaluating what changes need to be made to make a better swing.  The best instructors can help you figure out the root cause of a problem, and how to improve it, rather than trying to band-aid a remedy for a symptom.

[Peanut05]

I played golf for about 10 years before I had my first lesson.  And while the first couple of lessons were helpful, my game didn't really change much until I started taking them with the guy I'm with now.  After working with him for a while and practicing, my handicap dropped all the way to a 2.  It's gone up some now since I don't practice as much, but I can still go back to the things he taught me to fix most of the issues I am having. 

[TheWahoo]

From my perspective, lessons are money better spent than constantly and continuously trying to buy that magic club, that probably doesn't exist.   There's a lot of truth to the saying--it's the Indian not the arrow.

[Hackabilly]

Did this fairly recently my self. One lesson got me too more consistent ball striking, which led to breaking 100, now I'm wondering what I can do with more lessons?

 

Sent from my Pixel using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Txstcatman]

I've toyed with the thought of taking lessons, but always fear that I'll psych myself out of what someone wants me to do. I unfortunately am a creature of habit.

 

However, one guy from Edel I met at a demo event at the Golfsmith HQ (before sale and shut down) gave me some advice that has brought consistency for impact through the bag as well as a bit of extra speed. He told me that being a digger with a tendency to drop my back shoulder, he changed my setup where my hands were more straight in line or just behind the ball, rare than using forward shaft lean at address. He had me practice taking the club to 9 o'clock and back to the setup position and to remember that motion through impact. It meant moving then all forward a bit, but the move kept me from dropping my shoulder and now I generate more speed through impact at the bottom of the swing. If I remind myself to do it, I hit solid shots. But again, I psych myself out of it sometimes.

[revkev]

I've toyed with the thought of taking lessons, but always fear that I'll psych myself out of what someone wants me to do. I unfortunately am a creature of habit.

 

However, one guy from Edel I met at a demo event at the Golfsmith HQ (before sale and shut down) gave me some advice that has brought consistency for impact through the bag as well as a bit of extra speed. He told me that being a digger with a tendency to drop my back shoulder, he changed my setup where my hands were more straight in line or just behind the ball, rare than using forward shaft lean at address. He had me practice taking the club to 9 o'clock and back to the setup position and to remember that motion through impact. It meant moving then all forward a bit, but the move kept me from dropping my shoulder and now I generate more speed through impact at the bottom of the swing. If I remind myself to do it, I hit solid shots. But again, I psych myself out of it sometimes.

I wrote it in another thread but my teacher is a strong advocate of hands neutral at set up.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Txstcatman]

I wrote it in another thread but my teacher is a strong advocate of hands neutral at set up.

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Yea, it's made a big difference in my game when I commit to the thought. Ball is a bit more forward, almost where everything is mid stance or just up, but it works in the hands driver through wedge. I like the concept and if I just tell myself to do so I hit straighter shots and have much cleaner contact.

[newballcoach]

I wish I could afford lessons..... I just can't.

I understand. I was in a place where I could barely hit a ball down the course, less than 25% of my shots were playable. I couldn't afford NOT to get lessons

[newballcoach]

I am not able to upload the video he took (he used the V1 app and I can't download the video) but it was mostly based around the takeaway. I have played in a tourney since then and done a range session, and the difference seems to be holding. We will have to see however. 

[DaveP043]

and the difference seems to be holding. We will have to see however. 

Keep practicing, do just what he told you, don't change anything else on your own.  You might feel at times like you're getting worse, but that's pretty common as your "new" motion becomes "YOUR" motion.  It can take a long time to change habits, but its worth doing.  Continued good luck!

[4NASH]

i use to take lessons when i was. a senior in hs. then stopped playing golf till 2013 and broke my back racing motocross. then i picked golf back up so when my brother came to town it would give us something to do while he is here. didn't take lessons jus picked up and old ping eye3 irons and started hacking away. few months after that bought nike cb irons because i've always wanted nike clubs cause of tw. hit those till end of 2013 i bought the nike vr pro blades. took me a couple weeks to get used to them conning from a Gi clubs. once i got where i could strike the center on every hit i loved them. 2014 shot a 79 for the first time in my life and still using the nike mb. and used them up till now. got the apex irons and they are nice but will be going back to a mb because i miss the smaller heads and thinner top line and soles. i went and got a 30min lessons and the guy stops me at the 15min mark and told me that my swing is real good and asked where i got lessons from. i told him i jus watch youtube videos and try and jus watch one guy and do what the person is doing in the video. he ended up not charging me because he felt i didn't need help atm. but the guy put all my videos on a usb stick and told me if i ever start to have troubles to watch the videos of my self on the usb stick and that should straighten me back out. over the weekend shot a 83 so we getting those scores low.

 

if your a person who can watch videos and learn that way. go for it, but if your a person who is second guessing all the time about everything in ur swing. then i'd pay the money have someone help ya out. reason why i never went to get lessons. was afraid my swing would entirely change. and wanted to find someone who could watch me swing and then jus tweak it here and there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Kenny B]

Keep practicing, do just what he told you, don't change anything else on your own.  You might feel at times like you're getting worse, but that's pretty common as your "new" motion becomes "YOUR" motion.  It can take a long time to change habits, but its worth doing.  Continued good luck!

Totally agree!  In fact, if you can, it's better to not play for awhile after lessons.  I made the mistake of playing a couple of days after a series of lessons, and it ruined the lessons I just had.  When I played, the pressure of trying to score made me revert back to my old habits.  Making any change feels strange at first but you have to keep doing it until it feels like your new normal.  So, it's best to make a commitment to practice the lessons without playing an actual round until your new swing feels good.

[newballcoach]

Finished my third of the three lessons yesterday. After working on setup and takeaway in the first lesson (and definitely seeing improvements all over my swing) I have been focusing on weight shift and extension through the ball. Keeping the left arm straight through impact and follow-through has been a tough change for me, but I'm working on it. I feel like my swing is much better and I'm already feeling like I am playing better. 

 

Once again, if you're struggling, take a damn lesson, it's worked great for me!

[STUDque]

Finished my third of the three lessons yesterday. After working on setup and takeaway in the first lesson (and definitely seeing improvements all over my swing) I have been focusing on weight shift and extension through the ball. Keeping the left arm straight through impact and follow-through has been a tough change for me, but I'm working on it. I feel like my swing is much better and I'm already feeling like I am playing better.

 

Once again, if you're struggling, take a damn lesson, it's worked great for me!

You don't have before and after videos/pics do you?

 

 

Sent from carrier pigeon using MyGolfSpy

[newballcoach]

You don't have before and after videos/pics do you?

 

 

Sent from carrier pigeon using MyGolfSpy

 

They got sent to me on this V1 app. I will figure out how to extract and share them.... even if it's just me recording them from my phone. 

 

That is, as long as you don't mind watching a big fat guy swinging a golf club poorly

[Canucklehead]

Totally agree! In fact, if you can, it's better to not play for awhile after lessons. I made the mistake of playing a couple of days after a series of lessons, and it ruined the lessons I just had. When I played, the pressure of trying to score made me revert back to my old habits. Making any change feels strange at first but you have to keep doing it until it feels like your new normal. So, it's best to make a commitment to practice the lessons without playing an actual round until your new swing feels good.

Personally, after my lessons were done I did 54 holes the next two days. Didn't really care about score (wasn't too bad), just focused on the points we touched on. Really starting to pay off now!

 

Sent from my E6853 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[DaNNsN]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide on taking lessons where you did?

 

I've pretty much decided I need them as well, just have to figure out with who and where.

[newballcoach]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide on taking lessons where you did?

 

I've pretty much decided I need them as well, just have to figure out with who and where.

I bought a membership at our local city-owned courses in the spring and with it comes a discount on proshop merchandise, lessons etc. So that was the determining factor for me. I would imagine you can find instructors either by googling or asking at the local pro shop if they have someone they recommend.

[revkev]

Keep practicing, do just what he told you, don't change anything else on your own. You might feel at times like you're getting worse, but that's pretty common as your "new" motion becomes "YOUR" motion. It can take a long time to change habits, but its worth doing. Continued good luck!

I drifted away from this thread but this advice is so true. I've been working on stuff from a lesson in early June. I'd say it's finally stuck to the point that this is now my swing.

 

I hit zero unacceptable shots on the driving range today. I didn't flush everything but all the shots that I hit were predictable and playable.

 

You can shoot really good scores when that happens because it's far easier to manage your misses when they are all in the same family.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[TheWahoo]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide on taking lessons where you did?

 

I've pretty much decided I need them as well, just have to figure out with who and where.

Initially, I knew that I wanted to take lessons where I could hit balls to a range and not just into a net.   I learned that there was a PGA teaching professional at a area range.   It was important to me that he was PGA certified so to speak.   I also leaned that he used all of the video and other mechanical devices (such as trackman) and was trained in their use.   Thus he knew what was technically happening and I could see what was happening.  So I scheduled a lesson and we were a good fit.   As I have stated before, purchase an individual lesson before purchasing any packages offered.   First find out if the instructor and you are a good fit together before spending the money on a package.