Have you tried Skillest?

[GolfSpy_APH]

Skillest is an coaches library and platform for any golfer to get access to easy online lessons from coaches all around the world. Prices range and so does the expertise of coaches. I saw Matt Fryer on there for example and several other well known coaches. 

Have you tried it? What do you think of it so far?

Have you ever considered online lessons?

[Josh Parker]

I have not tried it.  I have looked in to it some but never jumped on it. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

3 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

I have not tried it.  I have looked in to it some but never jumped on it. 

There are plenty of coaches that will do an assessment for free which is nice!

[Josh Parker]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

There are plenty of coaches that will do an assessment for free which is nice!

It's a great platform and really opens up the options for both coaches and golfers. 

[Coulter]

I’ve done 3 lessons earlier this year on Skillest and really like it so far. The part I like most is you can always go back and watch the lesson to refresh your memory. The coach I went with is really good about asking you to send in videos of you performing the drills he prescribed to make sure you are doing them correctly which is a big plus as well.

I think it’s a really great platform for people that either can’t afford in person lessons, don’t have enough time to be able to go see a coach, or don’t have a coach close by they can see. I do think that I would like to be able to see a coach in person so that they could work with me in real time to fix whatever I might have going on but I fall under all three of the examples of who I think Skillest is great for so for now I will stick with them and am happy to do so!

[WaffleHouseTour]

Big fan. I’ve been working w the same coach for a couple of years now. Have seen improvement to all aspects of my game. (It’s the mental/pressure part we are working on now).  
 

the format and functionality keeps getting better. I used to record or screenshot a round off of Arcoss, but now it’s integrated and she gets my data as soon as I finish a round. Have actually gotten a “good round” message before I got home.  
 

Of course it’s all dependent on the coach, but we’ve used the “lesson” function, but because I have a subscription we use the “message” function a couple times a week.  I’m always sending her video and data off my practice pad. Sometimes we do a live zoom - can be either watching me swing or sometimes it’s just talking - what am I feeling when I do x, or what am I thinking about when y happens. 
 

She has incorporated other tools like Sports Box to both measure and show me things about my swing. 
 

The app itself is really just a communications and payment device - but it affords the coaches all sorts of ways to communicate and show you things so it’s really important to find a coach that is right for you and will take advantage of it.  My coach does things with her “team” outside the app… last winter she had a bunch of us on a shared Google doc practicing and recording what we were doing. 
 

My favorite part of Skillest is I can use and communicate whenever and from wherever….  During the winter my coach gets a lot of video and messages late at night from th hotel where I’m staying from work. Or a video from a sim I’m visiting. During the summer I’ll shoot video from the course and send it off after the round - so she sees real world application, not just range practice.  I sometimes hear back the same day, but typically the next.  So it all depends on how you and your coach want to use it  

[golfnut3567]

Have not, but will look.

 

Your other link, question about swing fault, won't open.  It tickles something my system security doesn't like.

But mine, PUTTER YIPS!  Had them for 35 yrs.

[cnosil]

I have done a lesson on skillest and it was good,  as mentioned above it is mostly a system that lists instructors, manages payments, and allows for communication between student and instructor.   

outside of skillest I have done virtual lessons via coachnow and directly via email.  I have also done lessons with a local coach that combined online and in person instruction.   

IMO, online lessons are effective assuming that the coach and player have good communication and feedback and clarifications are provided with reasonable turnaround.   Gaining understanding of what is being taught and ensuring you are doing what was asked can be challenging using online platforms  

 

[Rob Person]

I have not looked into it.  There are a few well known coaches on YouTube that when something i need to work on they have solid foundations to work from. Maude, Brees, Links, etc

[Coulter]

2 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I have not looked into it.  There are a few well known coaches on YouTube that when something i need to work on they have solid foundations to work from. Maude, Brees, Links, etc

I went down that rabbit hole.. in my 1st Skillest lesson I was telling my coach things I thought I had wrong and he informed me I was completely wrong. I had no clue that all I was doing was making more bad habits following that line of thinking. I’m not saying you’re doing the same just that everyone always says not to get too wrapped up in YouTube instruction and I found out 1st hand why they say that.

[cnosil]

26 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I have not looked into it.  There are a few well known coaches on YouTube that when something i need to work on they have solid foundations to work from. Maude, Brees, Links, etc

How do you know what you are doing wrong, what things to apply from these videos, and if you are actually doing what they say correctly?  
 

here’s a YouTube tip for you that is difficult to apply but I think you can.  

 

Edited November 1 by cnosil

[Rob Person]

If I'm having trouble with say wedge play around the green.  I'll watch a few, practice something i notice I may not be doing,  and work out what works best.

90 % of what im trying to incorporate is small changes.  Example, shaft/grip position on a bump n run. 

I've not worked out anything major like a swing position change, as that involves a ton more mechanics and multiple position points to have to reference.  

It's not that I don't value hands on instructions, as I've had a few off beat free tips and suggestions at the range from a pro coach, who noticed something. 

My biggest obstacles is me. Limits on funds, time,  etc. Because I know once I start down that path of a real person coaching,  I'll obsess to continue it.

Hesitation is also going to play a part in it, after reading a few stories here about how someone worked with a coach alot, only to try someone else that did things differently,  and lost that time and effort and money from someone else.

 

[cnosil]

4 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

If I'm having trouble with say wedge play around the green.  I'll watch a few, practice something i notice I may not be doing,  and work out what works best.

90 % of what im trying to incorporate is small changes.  Example, shaft/grip position on a bump n run. 

I've not worked out anything major like a swing position change, as that involves a ton more mechanics and multiple position points to have to reference.  

It's not that I don't value hands on instructions, as I've had a few off beat free tips and suggestions at the range from a pro coach, who noticed something. 

My biggest obstacles is me. Limits on funds, time,  etc. Because I know once I start down that path of a real person coaching,  I'll obsess to continue it.

Hesitation is also going to play a part in it, after reading a few stories here about how someone worked with a coach alot, only to try someone else that did things differently,  and lost that time and effort and money from someone else.

 

I completely get that and I have the same thoughts.   I watch Youtube as well : For full swing I watch Porzak golf and for short game it is Grieve, Ridyard, ShitGameChef, and Mayo.   
 

 

[mpatrickriley]

My first lesson on Skillest was with Jayson Nickol almost three years ago to this day. I currently have 14 lessons in Skillest completed with him: some of these were just a quick check-in to make sure I was doing what he wanted.

The biggest turning point in my lessons with him, though, happened in a live online lesson that we set up. I set up the camera in my garage, and he made me do something he had suggested for a long time in my setup, getting my legs much less bent at address, so that (in the DTL view) my rear end wasn't so far behind my heels. Then he wanted me to be work on a much deeper hip turn in the backswing.

He had mentioned my setup position, with my weight back too much in my heels, pretty early on in our working together, but there were a lot of other things I chased. To be fair, I have made real improvements in how I deliver the club from the waist up. But once Jayson changed my setup, a ton of stuff fell into place and my ball-striking immediately improved (in a measurable, on the course way).

So for my part, I think online instruction can make a big, big difference, especially for others like me for whom distance and cost are real factors. My recommendation with something like Skillest is to poke around to find a few instructors who are well-reviewed and whose demo lesson videos make sense to you and take advantage of the initial swing analysis that many of them offer. After settling on one, probably look to do a couple of lessons in which you get some big issues resolved, and then see (if possible) you can do a live online lesson. The asynchronous nature of Skillest is fine for some things, but that immediate back and forth ("Do this." "OK, am I doing it?" "Almost, tweak this." etc.) can be enormously valuable.

At least, it was for me.

[Shrek74]

I haven't used Skillest yet, but it's on my radar. I've saved a few coaches that offered free assessments and were rated really well and that offered what I considered reasonable prices.

I'm currently using in-person lessons with a PGA professional coach here locally coupled with the Me and My Golf app/program. I haven't done a lot with the MMG app other than going through about 50% of the two main "courses" they recommended. I need to get some swing videos over to the guys for analysis this weekend as well as work through some of their recommended practice from those courses.

I've seen the local coach about 7 times over the past 12 months or so, and we've made progress. This past Saturday was a big one, and if I can get more practice in on the stuff we covered it could be a game changer for my iron play.

Then add in the additional quality courses/videos, live Zooms, their FB group, and the WhatsApp group from MMG. Then further add in the TPI workout program I start next week, and 2025 could be a HUGE year for my golf. But now I need to do my part. And that's the key to all of this. Coaching, swing analysis, workout programs, and all that is great. But if we don't do our part, none of it has value.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

8 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Skillest is an coaches library and platform for any golfer to get access to easy online lessons from coaches all around the world. Prices range and so does the expertise of coaches. I saw Matt Fryer on there for example and several other well known coaches. 

Have you tried it? What do you think of it so far?

Have you ever considered online lessons?

I have been using skillest for a little over 2 years. On my second coach. Loved my first one  (same as MPR) but the cost model started to change and became out of budget. He helped my SG in all aspects improve (driving not much but short game about 4 strokes, putting 2 strokes, approach play 2 strokes). My second coach has picked up where I left with my first and things seem to be trending in the right direction. Sadly I lost my tripod so I have to get creative on how I record.

Edited November 1 by Vegan_Golfer_PNW

[Coulter]

Thanks for posting this and making me submit another lesson this morning @GolfSpy_APH

[WaffleHouseTour]

For those that have never seen/used Skillest, thought I’d share a few screen shots.

One of the nice things is you can go back and review, look at old lessons, find that old drill you forgot about.  You can see the panel on the left goes back to 2022. The panel on the right she’s got some analysis of what I’m doing and her own video of what she wants me doing.

 

We have been working on not letting my knee collapse in, which keeps me in a better position, which in turn…. Etc.. etc..

The coach side of the software lets them combine various videos

I try to take full advantage of what the FS golf app offers, just record the screen, upload, she can mark up the video, send it back w commentary. 

Sometimes we just send audio files back and forth

What I consider Skillest biggest advantage is that it’s all on your own time and place - so winter sees a lots of night activity from my hotel

Lastly, the upload panel, photos, videos, you can take photos or videos from within the app (I prefer to just upload off the camera roll - shoot outside and then up,lad inside where I have wifi).  What is missing is the audio button, but that’s in the chat screen. You can store videos in their cloud.  Like going back and looking at lessons. Doesn’t need to take up space on your device but in the cloud. 
 

No idea what the coaches see, or how they use the analysis tools, pull in other video from either the student or examples of pros, themselves, etc…. or how the students arcccoss data pops up.  But it appears to be pretty powerful. Full audio overlay while the coach does it all live.