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What do you do when your friend asks for swing advice?  

11 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you do when your friend asks for swing advice?

    • Politely decline with a reminder you have available time slots for a lesson as you get paid to provide instruction
      0
    • Put on a miniature clinic free of charge. Glad they asked and, happy to help.
    • Humbly explain you aren't qualified to give advice. I would probably make you worse.
    • Reluctantly answer a few questions but, that's it. Any more and, they need to see a pro.
    • No. I like beating you so, if I help you then it only makes it possible that you might beat me. You will have to look elsewhere.
      0

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How do you handle requests from friends for advice on their swing?

I'll recommend a good instructor. When I started, I would ask for advice and more often than not the advice messed me up even more


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How do you handle requests from friends for advice on their swing?

I'll recommend a good instructor. When I started, I would ask for advice and more often than not the advice messed me up even more


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Left Hand orientation

:taylormade-small:SIM 2 D Max with Fujikura Air Speeder Shaft 

Cobra  Radspeed 3W/RIptide Shaft
:ping-small:  410  Hybrids 22*, 26*

Cobra Speed Zone 6-GP/Recoil ESX 460 F3 Shafts 

:titelist-small: SM7 54* Wedge

:ping-small: Glide 3.0  60* Wedge

:odyssey-small: O Works putter

:ShotScope: V3
:918457628_PrecisionPro:NX9-HD

:CaddyTek: - 4 Wheel 

EZGO TXT 48v cart
:footjoy-small: - too many shoes to list and so many to buy

:1590477705_SunMountain: And  BAG Boy

Golf Balls: Vice Pro Plus 

2020 Official Teste:SuperSpeed: Beginning Driver Speed  - 78

2019 Official Tester :ping-small:  410 Driver

2018 Official Tester :wilson-small: C300

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I try to avoid answering;  generally say I wasn't paying attention.   Fortunately that doesn't happen very often with my friends.   If it is a stranger the answer is generally "  I just swing the club; and don't know how to figure out what someone else is doing wrong"

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I only give advice to my father in law because he has never played golf before, probably will never be serious about playing, and just needs enough advice so that he can hit the ball and it goes in some direction forward. If i don’t help him, he will whiff. If he wanted to get more serious i would send him to a few lessons.

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1 hour ago, TimoTe said:

How do you handle requests from friends for advice on their swing?

So if it is a friend and/or colleague that I am introducing to the game I kinda evaluate their athleticism and offer minor fundamental advice. But since both my sons played junior golf I have several teaching professionals that I refer them to. Where I maybe get the most involved is the club fitting and making sure they don't blindly run out and buy unnecessary equipment. I very much push them to get fit and demo/test before buying impulse off the rack. 

IF someone walks up to me at the driving range or on the course and asks me golf instruction related questions I point them to the local establishments teaching professionals and/or the teaching pro's my sons used. 

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No one has asked for advice.  There is one guy we play with quite a bit that has a lot of problems.  I have never given him advice, but I wanted to. He has some physical limitations that don't permit proper rotation, and I don't think anything I could say would help.  He was taking lessons from one of our local teaching pros, and I wanted to tell him to find another pro.  The pro is... well, a pro... full of himself.  When we we playing with this couple one day, I suggested to his wife that the pro at our club was a great teacher.  Several days later I saw our pro giving him a lesson on the range.  He is still taking lessons and he still has issues, but he is enjoying golf more.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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I'd show them my swing and after watching that, they'll DEFINITELY want to see a pro so their swing doesn't look like mine 😁🤣😂

 

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I have had friends say something on the course about whats wrong with their swing, sometimes half-serious and sometimes rhetorical, but I always laugh it off because thats not the place to be discussing a swing. I have even stopped others friends from giving advice on the course (mostly to our friends who are higher handicaps and/or newer to the game) reminding people its a terrible time/place to start trying new things. The only time I'll say something is if they are hitting fine but then have bad alignment on a hole and get discouraged, then I'll just mention their alignment was out of wack and they are swinging fine for a little confidence boost.

Off course I've only had one friend ask for serious swing advice and I treaded  carefully. I focused on pointing out one or two things that seemed wrong and he should look into, stayed away from saying what he should do, letting him go down his own path for how to fix it.  Through my own lessons I've learned about some typical faults, but know the fix is different for every person depending on the swing they ultimately want and their learning style.  I feel more confident in my ability to not ruin them by pointing out something wrong and letting them go down their own path, whether thats going down the youtube/online video path or going to a PGA pro or signing up for video lessons.  

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It honestly depends on who I am playing with.  I'll never give unsolicited advice as I can't stand it and I'm sure others do not either.  Also, I do not feel the course is typically the best time to try new swing changes for the first time.  

With that being said if it's a 20 or better handicap, I usually will try not to say a whole lot even if asked.  Maybe something very minor that could help.  If it's a beginner or something struggling a lot that day, I figure it can't really get all that much worse.  But even then, I try to keep it very simple with an adjustment or two at most.

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If it's a friend who just picked up a club, just give the basic pointers on how to grip, stance, etc... 

All other friends... they won't ask...

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... I always told my students never give advice about anything you learned in a lesson, especially if it worked well for you. Quite often a good instructor will give advice that would normally be very bad advice but in the case of one individual student, it can work wonders. It might be an exaggeration or an attempt to accomplish something to correct a fault. An example would be someone reverse pivoting and leaning toward the target at the top of their backswing. I might ask them to move their head over their back foot at the top of their backswing. Of course I don't want them to move their head more than an inch or two, preferably keeping their head in the same position but because they are moving their head forward but thinking they are keeping their head still, it is necessary to exaggerate the movement. After getting comfortable with the move, I can explain what we are doing and why it worked. But you don't want to tell a student up front "I really don't want you to move your head over your back foot, I just have to trick you into a proper movement." 

... The biggest danger with giving advice if you are not qualified to do so, is you may certainly recognize a symptom but not the cause. You cannot address the symptom without fixing the cause which of course might just make things worse. When asked during a round, I will sometimes give one piece of advice if I think it is something they can accomplish on their own. Simple fixes like moving their shoulders or head following their putter head or the ball, so getting them to recognize they are moving and how much more stable their putting stroke will be if they remain still and not not lift and look but swivel their head well after the ball is gone... kinda thing. It has to be something obvious that can easily be recognized and addressed or I recommend seeing a professional for a lesson.  

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49 minutes ago, chisag said:


... The biggest danger with giving advice if you are not qualified to do so, is you may certainly recognize a symptom but not the cause. You cannot address the symptom without fixing the cause which of course might just make things worse. 

This is exactly what I say if anyone asks.  I DO sometimes see things I think could be improved, but I have no idea whether they're symptoms or are causes, so I don't say anything.

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I play with the same group most of the time.  We are familiar enough with each other that we will occasionally ask what's wrong.  If I think my alignment is off, I'll have one of the guys stand behind me and check my alignment.  If asked, I'll tell another player what I'm seeing.  Since we are so familiar with each other, the problem is normally pretty obvious--it is something they are doing that is different from what they normally do.  

 

For example, a couple of weeks ago, one of the players (former club champion) started hitting shots thin and then fat and didn't know what was going on.  He asked the group if we saw anything and we all said the same thing: he was setting up with his shoulders open when he normally didn't.  He took a few practice swings, making adjustments, and then played the rest of the round squared to the target.  

 

I would never volunteer advice without being asked.  I also would not give advice to someone whose swing I did not know every well.  

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The only person I give any golf advice to is my wife: and I’ve seen 100% of her swings. She’s down to a 20 handicap, and has exhausted my knowledge, nowadays I’ll mention she’s aimed farther left than she thinks, but that’s about it. Ironically, she “doesn’t think she’s good enough for lessons”



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Happy to help, but only when asked. I see so many people at the range making the same mistakes that I used to as an 18 capper just about a year ago. But I have really worked on these issues and dropped 11 shots. And I could probably save that alot of time, but I would never mentioned anything without being asked. Just seems so rude. 

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4 hours ago, Micah T said:

The only person I give any golf advice to is my wife: and I’ve seen 100% of her swings. She’s down to a 20 handicap, and has exhausted my knowledge, nowadays I’ll mention she’s aimed farther left than she thinks, but that’s about it. Ironically, she “doesn’t think she’s good enough for lessons”

 

... The irony is, those are the golfers that usually improve the most and the quickest. Especially women. Women tend to be much more literal than men. If you tell a women to swing at 1/2 speed just trying too slow them down a little, they swing 1/2 speed. Tell a guy to swing at 1/2 speed and he reduces his speed by 5% and says "I barely swung the club!" LOL. But many women have some fundamental issues that can be fixed with a lesson. I loved teaching women because they listened and responded. Not to generalize too much, but most women tend to attempt to keep the face square to the target line because it just makes common sense. This causes a myriad of problems that can be fixed with some good drills. If she loves playing, I would highly recommend a lesson package. She might be surprised by the results. And lastly, it is a lot easier to teach someone with a very flawed swing than someone with a decent swing that just needs some minor tweaking, so let her know good instructors love 20 handicaps! 

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... The irony is, those are the golfers that usually improve the most and the quickest. Especially women. Women tend to be much more literal than men. If you tell a women to swing at 1/2 speed just trying too slow them down a little, they swing 1/2 speed. Tell a guy to swing at 1/2 speed and he reduces his speed by 5% and says "I barely swung the club!" LOL. But many women have some fundamental issues that can be fixed with a lesson. I loved teaching women because they listened and responded. Not to generalize too much, but most women tend to attempt to keep the face square to the target line because it just makes common sense. This causes a myriad of problems that can be fixed with some good drills. If she loves playing, I would highly recommend a lesson package. She might be surprised by the results. And lastly, it is a lot easier to teach someone with a very flawed swing than someone with a decent swing that just needs some minor tweaking, so let her know good instructors love 20 handicaps! 

I think your post might’ve changed her mind! I think she really just wants to find a lady instructor she can relate to: her being a 6’1 lefty makes her a bit of a unicorn...


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Driver - Cobra LtDxLS

3 Wood - Ping g410 LST

2iron - Titleist U505

Irons - Ping i59

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Putter - Mizuno Mcraft IV

 

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Even now as a Teaching Pro I am very reluctant to give someone advice in person outside of a lesson setting. If I'm going to give u advice I'm not going to half ass it and risk that person thinking (or Possibly even telling others) that I'm not a great teacher. So during the round or on the range 20 minutes before our round is rarely the time or place. Now if I have a buddy send me some videos I will absolutely take a look and provide some feed back for them

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