At what point are lessons a waste of money

[iteachgolf]

I could totally see that happening especially if the player is young. With Mayson's stable of players I think you need to be really...really...really good to get his time on a consistent basis. I'm talking high level D1 players and LPGA/PGA pros. I heard this from the asst. coach at UCLA- If you can't get a response from your coach within 24 hours then move on.

 

RB (who is 10 yrs old) just saw Mayson on Sunday and that was after several months of coaxing and pulling some strings with friends of friends who know Mayson personally. I understand the lesson was very good and hopefully they will be able to work together on somewhat of a consistent basis for years to come.

 

Lets just be clear, a $500 / hr coach isn't going to teach a 10 year old anything different than a $60 / hr coach. The benefit comes down the line when they are older.

 

Hate to say it but no one out there is probably worth $500 even for an PGA pro. The reason a famous PGA pro would pay as much as they do is for privacy and rental of the facility and team that goes along with the steep rate.

 

I been a few of these facilities and there a way to practice with no distractions.

 

They don’t pay that for facility or privacy. They can find that easily for free. PGA Tour players pay coaches a good sum of money because they make exponentially more than the coach. If paying a coach $100,000 leads to them making $5,000,000 than it was a great investment. They value the coaches time. I have my own opinions on how lessons are priced but at the end of the day the market decides what you’re worth

[kekoa]

I could totally see that happening especially if the player is young. With Mayson's stable of players I think you need to be really...really...really good to get his time on a consistent basis. I'm talking high level D1 players and LPGA/PGA pros. I heard this from the asst. coach at UCLA- If you can't get a response from your coach within 24 hours then move on.

 

RB (who is 10 yrs old) just saw Mayson on Sunday and that was after several months of coaxing and pulling some strings with friends of friends who know Mayson personally. I understand the lesson was very good and hopefully they will be able to work together on somewhat of a consistent basis for years to come.

 

Lets just be clear, a $500 / hr coach isn't going to teach a 10 year old anything different than a $60 / hr coach. The benefit comes down the line when they are older.

 

Hate to say it but no one out there is probably worth $500 even for an PGA pro. The reason a famous PGA pro would pay as much as they do is for privacy and rental of the facility and team that goes along with the steep rate.

 

I been a few of these facilities and there a way to practice with no distractions.

 

Most of the guys mentioned in this thread aren't commanding $500/hr. More like $250-$300. Define worth.

 

I'm not sure what pga pros pay their instructor, but for most of them $500/hr is not much at all especially if they are relevant from week to week.

[tiger1873]

I could totally see that happening especially if the player is young. With Mayson's stable of players I think you need to be really...really...really good to get his time on a consistent basis. I'm talking high level D1 players and LPGA/PGA pros. I heard this from the asst. coach at UCLA- If you can't get a response from your coach within 24 hours then move on.

 

RB (who is 10 yrs old) just saw Mayson on Sunday and that was after several months of coaxing and pulling some strings with friends of friends who know Mayson personally. I understand the lesson was very good and hopefully they will be able to work together on somewhat of a consistent basis for years to come.

 

Lets just be clear, a $500 / hr coach isn't going to teach a 10 year old anything different than a $60 / hr coach. The benefit comes down the line when they are older.

 

Hate to say it but no one out there is probably worth $500 even for an PGA pro. The reason a famous PGA pro would pay as much as they do is for privacy and rental of the facility and team that goes along with the steep rate.

 

I been a few of these facilities and there a way to practice with no distractions.

 

They don’t pay that for facility or privacy. They can find that easily for free. PGA Tour players pay coaches a good sum of money because they make exponentially more than the coach. If paying a coach $100,000 leads to them making $5,000,000 than it was a great investment. They value the coaches time. I have my own opinions on how lessons are priced but at the end of the day the market decides what you’re worth

 

All the big name instructors have very private facilities or ranches I know for a fact hank Haney has what he calls a golf ranch in Texas. That is really a private facility he teaches top players in. Mere mortals like us will never get a glimpse of it and that is how it supposed to be. Add up all the equipment and cost to mainting his teaching facility it is not going to be cheap. If your a top golfer in the world 17k or whatever he changes a day is cheap.

 

Do really think tiger woods can practice at with anyone else around. Ok maybe other PGA players but the privacy and security a person like that needs is expensive. They need private secure facilities in general for everything they do.

[iteachgolf]

I could totally see that happening especially if the player is young. With Mayson's stable of players I think you need to be really...really...really good to get his time on a consistent basis. I'm talking high level D1 players and LPGA/PGA pros. I heard this from the asst. coach at UCLA- If you can't get a response from your coach within 24 hours then move on.

 

RB (who is 10 yrs old) just saw Mayson on Sunday and that was after several months of coaxing and pulling some strings with friends of friends who know Mayson personally. I understand the lesson was very good and hopefully they will be able to work together on somewhat of a consistent basis for years to come.

 

Lets just be clear, a $500 / hr coach isn't going to teach a 10 year old anything different than a $60 / hr coach. The benefit comes down the line when they are older.

 

Hate to say it but no one out there is probably worth $500 even for an PGA pro. The reason a famous PGA pro would pay as much as they do is for privacy and rental of the facility and team that goes along with the steep rate.

 

I been a few of these facilities and there a way to practice with no distractions.

 

They don’t pay that for facility or privacy. They can find that easily for free. PGA Tour players pay coaches a good sum of money because they make exponentially more than the coach. If paying a coach $100,000 leads to them making $5,000,000 than it was a great investment. They value the coaches time. I have my own opinions on how lessons are priced but at the end of the day the market decides what you’re worth

 

All the big name instructors have very private facilities or ranches I know for a fact hank Haney has what he calls a golf ranch in Texas. That is really a private facility he teaches top players in. Mere mortals like us will never get a glimpse of it and that is how it supposed to be. Add up all the equipment and cost to mainting his teaching facility it is not going to be cheap. If your a top golfer in the world 17k or whatever he changes a day is cheap.

 

Do really think tiger woods can practice at with anyone else around. Ok maybe other PGA players but the privacy and security a person like that needs is expensive. They need private secure facilities in general for everything they do.

 

There’s one person, maybe, and that’s Tiger and he goes plenty of public places without a massive security team. Back of TPC is Tour players only and free. Btw the general public absolutely can go to Haney’s ranch (and there’s 4 of them). It’s not some top secret place.

 

You do realize I’m around PGA Tour Players every week and have been teaching on tour for a decade? Plenty of PGA Tour players take lessons and will, gasp, practice at public facilities.

[leezer99]

I could totally see that happening especially if the player is young. With Mayson's stable of players I think you need to be really...really...really good to get his time on a consistent basis. I'm talking high level D1 players and LPGA/PGA pros. I heard this from the asst. coach at UCLA- If you can't get a response from your coach within 24 hours then move on.

 

RB (who is 10 yrs old) just saw Mayson on Sunday and that was after several months of coaxing and pulling some strings with friends of friends who know Mayson personally. I understand the lesson was very good and hopefully they will be able to work together on somewhat of a consistent basis for years to come.

 

Lets just be clear, a $500 / hr coach isn't going to teach a 10 year old anything different than a $60 / hr coach. The benefit comes down the line when they are older.

 

Hate to say it but no one out there is probably worth $500 even for an PGA pro. The reason a famous PGA pro would pay as much as they do is for privacy and rental of the facility and team that goes along with the steep rate.

 

I been a few of these facilities and there a way to practice with no distractions.

 

They don't pay that for facility or privacy. They can find that easily for free. PGA Tour players pay coaches a good sum of money because they make exponentially more than the coach. If paying a coach $100,000 leads to them making $5,000,000 than it was a great investment. They value the coaches time. I have my own opinions on how lessons are priced but at the end of the day the market decides what you're worth

 

All the big name instructors have very private facilities or ranches I know for a fact hank Haney has what he calls a golf ranch in Texas. That is really a private facility he teaches top players in. Mere mortals like us will never get a glimpse of it and that is how it supposed to be. Add up all the equipment and cost to mainting his teaching facility it is not going to be cheap. If your a top golfer in the world 17k or whatever he changes a day is cheap.

 

Do really think tiger woods can practice at with anyone else around. Ok maybe other PGA players but the privacy and security a person like that needs is expensive. They need private secure facilities in general for everything they do.

 

Tiger has four holes in his backyard to practice on. I think I remember hearing that each of the bunkers has different sand from each of the big venues he typically plays.

 

[leezer99]

 

There's one person, maybe, and that's Tiger and he goes plenty of public places without a massive security team. Back of TPC is Tour players only and free. Btw the general public absolutely can go to Haney's ranch (and there's 4 of them). It's not some top secret place.

 

You do realize I'm around PGA Tour Players every week and have been teaching on tour for a decade? Plenty of PGA Tour players take lessons and will, gasp, practice at public facilities.

 

Yep, my son hits shots in the same place as major champions, Ryder Cup members, etc. aiming at the same dumb targets at a city course. Can anyone identify this guy from 2009?

 

[tiger1873]

 

 

 

There's one person, maybe, and that's Tiger and he goes plenty of public places without a massive security team. Back of TPC is Tour players only and free. Btw the general public absolutely can go to Haney's ranch (and there's 4 of them). It's not some top secret place.

 

You do realize I'm around PGA Tour Players every week and have been teaching on tour for a decade? Plenty of PGA Tour players take lessons and will, gasp, practice at public facilities.

 

Like I said I just mentioned Haneys place he's not as high regarded as we was 10 or 20 years ago so now he had to open it up probably to keep the lights on. I've been to a few of these places the top teachers teach and usually there very very private and have a lot camera's with security guards driving around.

 

Again 99% of the instructors are not these places and I guarantee you that most do not charge above $200-$250 and hour and for juniors it is a lot less. The higher prices are because they have a whole team working and facilities at their disposal. PGA players are cheap just like everyone else and can't afford to throw money away.

 

Tiger is very wealthy and if you are like him you have security. I guarantee you he has security around him even though you don't see it. All people very wealthy and famous people have the same thing. Most PGA players are not like this but a few are. I used to know the guy who ran a special unit at the LAPD and they interact with celebrities and there security all the time.

[tiger1873]

If you don't believe Tiger has a need for security

 

http://www.espn.com/...0407/tigerwoods

 

 

https://radaronline....ecurity-detail/

[leezer99]

If you don't believe Tiger has a need for security

 

http://www.espn.com/...0407/tigerwoods

 

 

https://radaronline....ecurity-detail/

Come on man, that was almost a decade ago. Things have changed quite a bit since then.

[ebrasmus21]

If you don't believe Tiger has a need for security

 

http://www.espn.com/...0407/tigerwoods

 

 

https://radaronline....ecurity-detail/

 

You’re running a truly bizarre thread. Congrats dude.

[iteachgolf]

 

 

 

There's one person, maybe, and that's Tiger and he goes plenty of public places without a massive security team. Back of TPC is Tour players only and free. Btw the general public absolutely can go to Haney's ranch (and there's 4 of them). It's not some top secret place.

 

You do realize I'm around PGA Tour Players every week and have been teaching on tour for a decade? Plenty of PGA Tour players take lessons and will, gasp, practice at public facilities.

 

Like I said I just mentioned Haneys place he's not as high regarded as we was 10 or 20 years ago so now he had to open it up probably to keep the lights on. I've been to a few of these places the top teachers teach and usually there very very private and have a lot camera's with security guards driving around.

 

Again 99% of the instructors are not these places and I guarantee you that most do not charge above $200-$250 and hour and for juniors it is a lot less. The higher prices are because they have a whole team working and facilities at their disposal. PGA players are cheap just like everyone else and can't afford to throw money away.

 

Tiger is very wealthy and if you are like him you have security. I guarantee you he has security around him even though you don't see it. All people very wealthy and famous people have the same thing. Most PGA players are not like this but a few are. I used to know the guy who ran a special unit at the LAPD and they interact with celebrities and there security all the time.

 

Plenty of Tour players throwing away money in various ways. Haney’s Ranch has been open to the public and has a 9 hole executive course on it that’s been a open to the public since before he was working with Tiger. Many of the top teachers are teaching at places that are open to the public. Only a few of the top 20 instructors on GD list are at private facilities and all of them can be booked by non members. Only 1 in the top 10 is at a private facility, and he teaches non members all the time.

 

Their high prices are because the market dictates it. They are making money off of their staff instructors, not subsidizing their pay with their own lesson fees. You have no idea how this works

[kekoa]

If you don't believe Tiger has a need for security

 

http://www.espn.com/...0407/tigerwoods

 

 

https://radaronline....ecurity-detail/

 

Nobody cares about security. I thought we are talking about junior lessons and cost/benefit? Sorry if I'm wrong.

[yellowlover519]

This is only my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

 

At 11, I don't care how good your daughter is or what others say about her swing. I would start looking for a qualified swing coach that your daughter likes, gets along with, and can take instruction from. Things may be going well for her now, but it is very common for juniors and pro's alike to literally lose it over night. I believe with some regular instruction, the odds of this happening are decreased significantly. And if things do go wrong, it should be a lot easier for the coach to fix since they would know the junior and his/her flaws already. If you look at all of the top junior in the world, they are all taking lessons regularly. Sometimes they may be working on a minor tweak and other times they coach may just be watching them hit balls. Either way, there is value.

 

My son is only 8 right now and as I have said before, lessons ARE not worth the money right now. He competes very well against the best 8 Y/O's RIGHT NOW with no lessons. When he turns 11 or 12, you can bet I will get him the best instructor I can afford, but only if my son shows that he is committed to taking his game to the next level. A lot of kids around us are taking lessons from very expensive instructors ($200-350/hr) and they say it's all worth it even though it appears as though the child's scores aren't improving at all.

 

For juniors, I think parents can run into a real road block when they want to see immediate results when starting with an instructor. If that is the case, you are setting yourself up for huge disappointment.

 

I agree with this. If you are a parent/relative/close family friend that knows the golf swing well enough to teach some fundamental things about the game (e.g., posture, alignment, release, swing plane, correct chipping motion...), there is probably only a need for a handful of lessons until they reach a certain age just to get a second opinion that things are on the right track. But, at a certain point, if you are not a trained teacher, you can probably only teach so much. It may be that your child needs to hear a similar lesson from someone else. It may be that you just don’t know what it takes to accomplish the positions you’re trying to create. But all elite juniors and those striving to get to that level will benefit more with a coach at a certain point, IMO. I think that age varies for every junior and their level of ability.

 

As far as costs - you can’t place what you perceive to be the value of the lesson. Market dictates how much a teacher can/will charge. You can’t say X isn’t worth $250-$500 an hour. It could well be that Y is worth more than $80 an hour, but is just unknown and can’t get similar clientele. It’s the service industry. I know attorneys that charge $1500 an hour to do work that can be done at $200 an hour. But the market is more than happy to pay for the $1500/hour attorney so that’s what his services are worth.

 

So before deciding whether lessons are a waste of money, I would ask yourself (a) is your child maximizing his distance and consistency and (b) is your child’s scoring mirroring his ball striking ability? If the answer to either (a) or (b) is no, find a coach or be content.

[Bruin_golf]

On 2/5/2019 at 11:47 AM, leezer99 said:

 

Yep, my son hits shots in the same place as major champions, Ryder Cup members, etc. aiming at the same dumb targets at a city course. Can anyone identify this guy from 2009?

 

AK!!!

[ChipNRun]

Lessons do me the most good when I can have a couple of "spring training" weeks before main season starts. Basically, I set aside time so I can pick up a club and do something golfish in those 14 days. May play 18 / practice-play9-practice / work on short game.

 

For starters, I'll play a couple of nines and then take a tune-up lesson, noting any leftover or newly emerging problems. Then, I'll practice the lesson points and play a couple of times. The last couple of days, I'll have a second fine-tuning lesson.

 

The thing I don't want to do is have a lesson after Labor Day as year-end tourneys approach. Late tinkering does more harm than good.

 

A couple of times a summer things will fall apart for two or three rounds. Solution: Take a week off, and then go out to the practice range and hit a few shots. Often, I can tell what I was doing wrong after a dozen balls. (Probably has something to do with "don't try too hard.")

 

So, at what point are lessons a waste of money? For many golfers, the point at which you never practice what you learned in the lesson 1, and you keep getting the same lesson over-and-over. I knew one pro who would make students e-mail him their practice and play report after lesson 1, before he would give them lesson 2.

Edited February 23, 2022 by ChipNRun

[Righty to Lefty]

I find this to be a unique topic really and I think that I have a different perspective being that I have never had a lesson yet played right and currently play left handed, both to a 5 handicap.  In retrospect I find it very interesting because my improvement was much more parabolic left handed than it was for me right handed for one main reason....understanding impact.  The very day I switched to lefty I begin to learn impact, specifically the ball flight laws and the d plane.  At first it was like speaking a foreign language but with repeated exposure I fully grasped it and was off and running in regards to improvement.  For reference it took me 6 years to break 90 right handed and it took me 6 months to do it lefty.  So far my peak scores are 2 over righty and 1 over lefty but the time that it took me to get to those scores differ by some 6 years.  

 

The true fundamentals of golf are not grip, stance, and posture, because they are up for interpretation and there are variations of each that are acceptable.  D plane, ball flight laws, and impact are the same for everyone, everyday, forever and I find solace is that fact as these are the true fundamentals of golf. Most golf instruction is focused around creating a visually pleasing golf swing in the belief that it will produce good golf and if this were the case then Ernie Els and Adam Scott would win every tournament.  Jim Furyk swing won't win any swing beauty contests and if he wasn't a pro and such a good golfer he would be most certainly made fun of on any local driving range.  But the fact that he understands how to get his swing motion consistently and repeatedly to solid impact is a testament to what is the most important factor to playing good golf. Understanding how to find where you need to be in relation to the ball is infinitely more important than the swing motion used to get it there in my opinion. 

 

Giving up your swing motion and making drastic changes to it should be a last resort.  Making tweaks to your grip, stance, and posture as you progress to accommodate new found range of motion or gains in performance is to be expected but radical changes to swing motion should be a last resort.  I also found that radical changes to swing motion will not stick unless you understand d plane, ball flight laws, and impact fully because this will involve making yourself very uncomfortable for a long period of time for a given change to stick and the body recalibrate itself. I personally feel that a good coach could be of value, especially in the early stages of development, but once you  fully understand impact via d plane and ball flight laws there simply isn't much to talk about after that as the player can self diagnose their ball flight or what they are seeing on video very easily over time.  My goal as a coach would be to coach the student so well that they no longer needed me whereas a lot of coaches give you just enough to ensure that you will always need them. Just my 2 cents. R to L

[Buzzzy]

Can’t exactly say when lessons aren’t worth it, but I can say you know they’re worth if they motive your junior to keep going. Not necessarily even making the better, just motivating them to get better is the best coaching they can have. 

[Golfingdawg19]

Lessons become a waste when you determine that your child isn't worried about getting better but just wants to do it for fun. You just need to have honest conversations with your kid about this. There is no point spending money on lessons if there heart isn't in it anymore. 

[BloctonGolf11]

1 hour ago, Golfingdawg19 said:

Lessons become a waste when you determine that your child isn't worried about getting better but just wants to do it for fun. You just need to have honest conversations with your kid about this. There is no point spending money on lessons if there heart isn't in it anymore. 

This 100%. We came back from my son's first tournament in a year yesterday. We knew going in he was probably going to struggle but needed to know where issues existed. He was in a foul mood after the competition and made a list of things to tell his coach at his next lesson. If he came out of that weekend in a good mood I would know he doesn't need lessons anymore and we can relax. If he is still trying and still desires to improve that is the marker. 

[Movingday]

Man there are some bad takes in this thread 😂😂😂

[mikedellgolf]

I have a 17 years old  nephew and he will be a high school senior in a few months, and he also wants to try out for the HS golf team.  Problem is that he only plays golf for less than two years but he is a very good tennis player, UTR 11.5, plays position #1 in his high school.  He improved his game by constantly playing with D1 golfers at the nearby local universities for a small fee.  After six months of doing this,  I can see a lot of improvement in his game.  He  used to take lessons every week but only once every four weeks in the past five months, and yet his game really improves from playing with better players.

[iGolf67]

I think lessons can be a waste of money if the golfer goes for a lesson not having "mastered" what was taught in the previous lesson. No sense in trying to learn to run if you can't walk. 

[leezer99]

1 hour ago, iGolf67 said:

I think lessons can be a waste of money if the golfer goes for a lesson not having "mastered" what was taught in the previous lesson. No sense in trying to learn to run if you can't walk. 

My son’s coach scorned him for obviously not working on what he told him to do. It was a good kick in the pants. Tough love motivation can be beneficial. 

[Shushwap]

I find lessons are always worth it at any level.. one thing I find is working with the same coach can get stale after awhile.. 

I just started with a new swing coach after 2 years with my old one and the first session went very well as we went after some of the same issues I have a different way.. 

I find coaches and students get complacent 

[bobfoster]

Well, at first, I was "home-schooled" 😂 (my Dad taught me to play). 

 

Got really serious starting in my teens/20s, took several sets of lessons, and have made a couple of major swing changes since then that I used a teaching pro for (the body changes over the years - a 50 year old can't swing the same way as a 25 year old). At this point, however, no more major changes. Have a game I like, and is suitable for my age. The six months of frustrating discomfort it would take to lock in a new swing wouldn't be worth the payoff. (I know there's probably a lot of folks here who have gone through the process of major swing revisions - it really is a painful process, and even when the pros do it their games usually takes a hit for a season). 

 

Curious anecdote. Years ago, when Tiger was still coached by Harmon, he developed a bit of a flaw in a couple tourneys. Butch told him he needed a minor adjustment to his swing. Showed him, and told Tiger to do 1,000 of the new swings in slow motion. So the (at the time) world #1 takes a week without even hitting a golf ball, just doing the same new swing over and over in slo-mo. This is what muscle memory is. 

 

My basic view on using teaching pros:

 

First I think anyone that has a chance to become even a decent amateur has to start with a sort of "natural" swing. In truth, some people are athletic, and some simply are not. Have a few friends like that. They tried a lot of sports, but sucked at all of them. For them, I'm pretty sure lessons would do very little.

 

For those that do have some natural athletic ability, however, lessons are a really good idea at the beginning. It is far easier to start by creating good habits than it is to break bad habits - a great deal of playing consistent golf reduces to having a solid, repeatable swing ... to developing muscle memory. Which leads to the point a number of others have mentioned here: Making full use of a pro (and the growing number of technology tools they can use to analyze a swing) means every hour with the pro should be followed by many hours on the range and on courses. A pro can only show someone how to adjust their swing - but a golfer only owns their new swing when they've programmed it into their muscles, which only happens through pure repetition. 

 

And I suppose using a pro now and then over the years makes sense - when a big change is needed, or when minor glitches develop in one's game. Additionally, there's "micro coaching". I have two friends who are currently doing that. One that has had three lessons focused entirely on putting. Another that did two lessons just with FWs. Both have pretty solid games, but with those single, glaring weaknesses they wanted to correct. 

 

Only final point I'd add (to this long and rich thread) to anyone considering using a teacher is to interview several. And if you intend to take a whole course of lessons, do an initial lesson with two or three. Not just because some pros are better than others, but because some will just fit better than others. I still have two teachers (not golf) from high school that I still remember. Not just because they were good teachers in general, but because I just clicked with them. Everyone learns differently, and teachers teach differently (not just golf, but really any student/teacher relationship in any field). Says something that I still remember their names over 40 years after I was in their classes.

 

Learned this the hard way. Was young when I took my first lessons, maybe 16. Decided I wanted lessons, and just went to the pro at the CC my Dad belonged to. Was never really in sync with the guy, and the lessons didn't do much. But I just chalked that up to me learning (having no frame of reference). Teaching wasn't nearly as sophisticated then as it is now (this was in the early 70s). The guy had his "method" - that he mostly just taught to everyone. He did help a lot of people - but neither his method or personality really worked for me. 

 

Didn't realize this until my second teacher in my early 20s (you never know what you don't know). Polar opposite. Clicked with him immediately. I had learned golf mostly from my Dad, and from reading whatever golf books I could find (YouTube was still 25 years in the future). Golf swing was (I thought) fairly solid. 

 

First session with him was memorable. Started by just having me do some swings with my driver and a couple of irons. Asks "how old are you"? 22. "How tall are you"? 6'. "How much do you weigh?" About 150. "Do you play any other sports"? Baseball, hockey, and tennis (was pretty good at hitting some sort of small object with some sort of stick). "So - you are a tall, skinny, athletic kid. Why do you have the swing of a fat middle-aged dude"?

 

Absolutely busted out laughing. But it was also a revelation. This guy had some basic principles, but he didn't really have a "method". He didn't try to teach me his swing - he took into account whatever natural abilities I had, as well as my physical characteristics (very flexible spine, and long arms and legs), and worked to simply optimize my own natural swing. 

 

There were no Trackmans or video recording of swings. But he actually stepped up to the tee, and showed me my swing (mimicked it almost perfectly). It was astounding to watch. Hadn't realized how terribly constricted it was. He widened my backswing significantly, and worked a lot on the hips and the transition. Within six months I'd literally added about 30 yards to my drives. 

 

So that's just the small point I'd like to add to this general (and really great) discussion. Do not talk about the value of getting lessons from a generic pro. They aren't universal, interchangeable widgets, and you aren't on an assembly line. 

 

Shop around. A good teaching professional can do wonders for your game. A bad one, or one that you aren't in tune with, can badly damage your game. 

 

Tru dat.

Edited May 12, 2022 by bobfoster

[AUSweeper]

It’s important to continue lessons so you can yell at them after a bad round “WHY AM I EVEN PAYING FOR LESSONS?!?!”…great motivational tool.  

[leezer99]

2 hours ago, bobfoster said:

He widened my backswing significantly, and worked a lot on the hips and the transition. Within six months I'd literally added about 30 yards to my drives. 

 

 

Great post... now I need to know who the coach was.

[bobfoster]

28 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

 

Great post... now I need to know who the coach was.

Actually, this is WRX. We have some genuine teaching pros here. Would not mind hearing what they think about my post.

[leezer99]

2 minutes ago, bobfoster said:

Actually, this is WRX. We have some genuine teaching pros here. Would not mind hearing what they think about my post.

 

@iteachgolf used to frequent this forum until people started arguing with him all the time.

[DevilDog]

Without reading everything, I will pass on the experience with my son.  His coach only checks his swing when he goes in and he goes about 4-5 times a year.  Most of those visits are to work on wedges and putting skills.  Outdoor area has big putting green with chipping, pitching and sand traps to practice as well as putting practice.  Rest is getting out on the course with him to help with course management and shot selection.