How to get the most out of a lesson

[bardle]

Most of you know my story, I haven't been playing golf long, not even 2 years yet. I just joined a club recently and was inspired talking to some members who had a lot of success taking lessons from the club pro. I have never taken a lesson, but practicing a few times a week now has me concerned I'll ingrain bad habits if I don't. Also I'm at a 26 handicap and I just feel like I should be playing better than that for a myriad of reasons. So my question is, being my first lesson, How do I get the most out of the time I have with the instructor?

[Kenny B]

Well, my 2 cents based on experience.

First, I will say that you are correct to be concerned about engraining bad habits.  I did.  It's easy to think that you can improve by watching videos, and do exactly as they say and do.  It's not that easy.  What you think you are doing is probably not what you are actually doing.  Also, the chance that you know what your real problem is and how to fix it is slim, and you may cause other issues inadvertently.  I did.

So taking a lesson is a good first step.  You have to like the instructor, and the instructor should give you an assessment of your swing and a plan on how he/she will help you improve.  If not, ask for it.  It will take more than one lesson.  Make sure that the instructor only gives you one thing at a time to focus on.  

If you truly want to improve, you will need to follow the plan and forego playing for awhile.  I know. I know.  We all want to play.  But if you take a lesson, maybe practice a few days, but then go play, you will revert back to your old habits.  You can't change old habits; don't even try!  What needs to happen is you need to create new habits, and that can only happen if you put in the time to make them "the norm".  When you play golf, your mind and body reacts to what is comfortable, and right now what's comfortable are your old habits.  Any change that the instructor tells you to do will NOT feel comfortable unless you repeat it over and over, without going back to your old habits.  If you can't make the commitment to follow the instruction, then a lesson or two will be a waste of time.

[PlaidJacket]

I could have almost written exactly what Kenny posted. Somewhat along the lines of Kenny I'd like to add....

Since I'm gonna say you are pretty much a rank beginner without any prior training ask yourself; what do I want from my lessons? In your case that might be trying to start with a clean slate. If you're old (over 50) like a lot of our forum members don't let the Pro try and make you into a Tour Pro with an Adam Scott swing. Ain't gonna happen. You need to tell the pro what your expectations-goals are. At each lesson ask-tell the Pro to provide one or two items to work on until your next visit. Do not let him fill your head with more than a couple of items at a time. Schedule your lessons several weeks apart to allow time to work on those items. At your next lesson go back over those and perhaps add another item. It's a building process and takes time. Perhaps your goal might be to take lessons periodically throughout a year and go from shooting high 90's or 100's to high to mid 80's. Golf is an extremely difficult game and you'll never prefect it. But if you commit you'll have the time of your life. Not to mention meeting tons of interesting people. Best of luck and welcome to the game!

[cnosil]

Instead of my normal long posts I am going to simply say communicate with the instructor. Discuss what you feel and what he is saying that doesn’t make sense. Explain your goals and objectives so the two of ou can build a plan.

[palvord]

The advice here is spot on. Especially about be willing to put in more practice time than play time to allow the lessons and new skills to take hold.

After taking my first lessons, I tried everything out on the course three days later and it was a disaster. Luckily my instructor had prepared me for this as I told him my league play was starting in a short time.

It took me over a 6 months to feel comfortable with the new swing and being able to execute it on the course.

Overall, I guess I’m trying to say, be patient. It is a process and you need to be prepared for that long process.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[TR1PTIK]

2 hours ago, bardle said:

How do I get the most out of the time I have with the instructor?

Ask if you can video record. Ask for any video/pictures he takes. Ask if he can provide a lesson summary with drills - if not, refer to your video. Most importantly, don't be worried about bad results. If he asks you to try and do something with your swing, focus on that and not the resulting ball flight. It could work different based on your starting point (a 26 handicap who maybe doesn't have ridiculously high expectations), natural ability, and current skills, but most likely you will hit a lot of awful shots before you start to "get it". Bad shots are common among most golfers when trying to do something new/different for the first time. Don't get discouraged and remain focused on the process. One final note, you can ask for launch monitor data if he uses one, but at your current level I wouldn't be concerned with it. I think too much emphasis on data can easily steer higher handicappers down the wrong path.

[bardle]

Thanks for the responses, This is really helpful, I'll update and let you guys know how it went. I will be sure to get a plan as I am very much a drill oriented / show me how type person. I need to feel how it SHOULD be done to get it. Thanks again. 

[TR1PTIK]

21 minutes ago, bardle said:

Thanks for the responses, This is really helpful, I'll update and let you guys know how it went. I will be sure to get a plan as I am very much a drill oriented / show me how type person. I need to feel how it SHOULD be done to get it. Thanks again. 

You probably won't really need to, but make sure and communicate this to your instructor. You can even have him move you into the positions he wants you to achieve so you get a proper feel for them. Best of luck!

[bardle]

Lesson went well. Some brief introductions and talk about my game and we went to work immediately on eliminating my two way miss with my irons and working on identifying a shot shape that I want to play. 

Long story short I had too long of a backswing and my downswing was too steep. Came away with some drills and a trackman account showing my swing and some stats. 

Good news is I have plenty of speed and good rotation so it's just a matter of getting better contact and keeping my swing on plane. My backswing and follow through are apparently solid as well so it's just the downswing that needs the improvement. 

Anyway it went very well. Thank you for the support. Now time to put in practice and get to work on it. 

 

[CarlH]

Good to hear things went well.  Now practice what you've learned and schedule a follow up lesson.  You're on your way to better golf