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Why don't people take lessons ?


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I don't take lessons anymore, maybe 1-2/year, but for me it was the realization that I'm not going to practice, and even if I had time to practice, I'd rather play. But I'm perfectly content with it for now, my game's good enough to play some friendly games for a little scratch.

 

What always amazes me is when I'm working with an instructor and they start talking about how someone is resistant to change and to listen to feedback, even though they are paying good money for that exact service? That always baffles me, why are people so hesitant to try something new?

 

I think it has to do with the perception of time required for desired results. If it's something simple like "stand two inches closer to the ball," or "move the ball one inch further back in your stance," then sure, no problem. But if the suggestions turn you into a pretzel and the proposed changes are likely to take 3000 range balls to get comfortable with then most will say, "it's not worth the trouble..."

 

yeah I hear you, but to me that's partly on the instructor not understanding what his client want, or not being able to articulate what it will require? If you swing it like Charles Barkley, and want to swing it like Adam Scott, you have to be able to understand that's not a simple fix, or the instructor should be up-front and tell you that it will take years to get even close to that level. I was more referring to the individuals that openly question the instructor as part of the lesson.

 

I think that's the other part that's difficult for people to manage - if you have some crazy swing flaw and want to get to something somewhat normal and repeatable, its not just one thing. Usually its a grip fix, and posture, and swing path, but its nearly impossible to do all of those things at once. So you have some OTT move, and the first thing the instructor does is change your grip, the instructor should be able to tell you what's about to occur, and you have to live with the fact that you've corrected your grip, but that just exposed more flaws, and now you need to work on other stuff to continue the process.

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I'd venture to guess that the money and time required to actually implement a swing change makes most 'average' players take a pass on lessons.

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I've been playing for 4 years. I started playing at 40 years old . I had a swing that made Charles Barkley look like Adam Scott the first 3 months I started . I decided to take lessons , found a great teacher and I haven't stopped taking lessons . For life of me I cant understand people who say " I've been playing for 30 years , I dont want a coach to screw me up ". As they proceed to hit banana slices all over the course . What are people afraid of when it comes to taking lessons???

Lessons is a commitment to an improving process. But lessons without practice are really a waste. People have many reasons to not commit to an improvement process, other commitments, work, family, and/or they are happy just hacking it around, until they are out there actually hacking it around and then they come up with excuses of why they can't or "won't" take lessons, and commit to the improvement. Nothing wrong with that, to each their own. What brings most of us to this forum is that we all have a passion for this game, and many of us here have committed to the life long pursuit of this game, which makes it hards to understand why others who casually play haven't. It used to drive me nuts when I caddied, at a very high-end club. I would marvel about the number of members who were terrible (and many took lessons, only lessons with top instructors and really didn't practice, so they never improved), and they had unlimited resources and tons of discretionary time. Yet they didn't have the drive or desire.

Funny you bring that up ..because I think the same thing watching Pebble Beach pro am . Multimilionaires who have every resource available, and awful games . Idk maybe we are wired differently?

 

I can't speak for every multi-millionaire out there but i am sure many of them don't really care to improve. It's nice to have balance in life, and hard to be super competitive in everything you do. These people with the success they've had financially are most likely to be very competitive in business, and maybe golf is just a fun outlet where they really don't care if they shoot 92

 

I quit playing flag football because it was just too competitive. I loved football, but was competitive with golf and my career already, i just didn't want to diagram plays and have practices. Maybe there's a thread somewhere on FlagFootballWRX where my old teammates are like "Jeff just didn't get it, i don't know why he didn't realize that if we'd just played more cover 2 defense we would've won the league!"

 

The chairman of the board of the hospital I work for remarked to me once on the course that he heard someone once quote, "if you have game, you have no business. If you have business, you have no game." Needless to say I kicked his butt.

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Eh, I'm 47 years old, have never had a lesson in the 35 years I've played, and my handicap has been between 1 and 3 for 25 years. I just know my swing, and if something is going wrong, I know how to fix it myself. No need to complicate things. Now, could I have gotten to be a low single-digit cap sooner with some help? Possibly. Could I get to a + cap now with some help? I doubt it, unless that help comes in the form of a shrink.

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Eh, I'm 47 years old, have never had a lesson in the 35 years I've played, and my handicap has been between 1 and 3 for 25 years. I just know my swing, and if something is going wrong, I know how to fix it myself. No need to complicate things. Now, could I have gotten to be a low single-digit cap sooner with some help? Possibly. Could I get to a + cap now with some help? I doubt it, unless that help comes in the form of a shrink.

 

You know, on course shrink or maybe in the pro shop after the round is not a bad idea! Lol

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I'm not afraid of lessons. I just don't want to have one, period. Ya, it might be nice. Do I really really need one? no. Could it improve my game? Maybe, maybe not. I started playing golf at age 54. I never took a lesson. I played golf, not swing. I watched the ball flight and adjusted from there til I got the ball to do and go where and how I wanted/needed. In 18 months I was a 2 handicap. I love playing the game of golf, not golf swing. I still score in the 70s, I can play under par for 9 holes. I'm currently 63 years old.

 

Peoples priorities are different. They play the game for different reasons. I play the game for fun and to learn all by myself. It's what I enjoy. Yes, I'll watch a video or 2 every year, I'll browse the instruction forum for thoughts but thats about it. I don't use "drills" since I have no idea what the problem is for that drill or if it applies to me.

 

So, no, I'm not afraid of lessons, I'd rather do it myself and I'm happy with my game and the way and why I play.

 

I think going to a 2 handicap in 18 months probably puts you in the prodigy or savant catagory. I've never heard of or met anyone like that.

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I think there are a few aspects to this.

 

There are players that maybe never took a lesson, made improvements themselves and don’t see any value in taking instruction at this point. They’ve made some progress and they believe they can make more

 

There are certainly those that never took a lesson and find it uncomfortable having their swing picked apart (the ego thing)

 

There are probably others that never took a lesson, but play functionally, say, to a mid handicap and are afraid of starting some long and expensive journey with no guarantees of improvement

 

I’ve had some good lessons, but I’ve also had some really poor ones where I actually lost progress I had made and felt like I didn’t even know what end of the club to hold. For every iTeach out there I believe there are a fair few so-so teachers that can get a student into a pickle and not necessarily have the requisite skills to get them out of it

 

Bingo, bango, and bongo on those, they all apply to me. I play to a 10.7. I want to get that down to single digits and I know I can. I just need to work at what I have, or at least I think I do.

 

The long and expensive part is huge too. I know what got me here won’t get me there, but at the same time with lessons being $50-100/ hour, if I have 1 a week Im looking at between $2500-5000/year and thats quite a sum. Plus for the first few months, my game will be terrible as I balance new with old, and golf the recreational pursuit will be miserable. Golf the sporting endeavor will improve, but let’s face it, its less than 1% my handicap will ever allow me to register for the US am/open anyway, so golf the sporting endeavor is a pipe dream anyhow.

 

One day I might take a lesson or two but Id rather pocket that cash and go spend it playing. If I ever find myself in a position where practice every day is feasible, I’ll reconsider

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I think there are a few aspects to this.

 

There are players that maybe never took a lesson, made improvements themselves and don't see any value in taking instruction at this point. They've made some progress and they believe they can make more

 

There are certainly those that never took a lesson and find it uncomfortable having their swing picked apart (the ego thing)

 

There are probably others that never took a lesson, but play functionally, say, to a mid handicap and are afraid of starting some long and expensive journey with no guarantees of improvement

 

I've had some good lessons, but I've also had some really poor ones where I actually lost progress I had made and felt like I didn't even know what end of the club to hold. For every iTeach out there I believe there are a fair few so-so teachers that can get a student into a pickle and not necessarily have the requisite skills to get them out of it

 

Bingo, bango, and bongo on those, they all apply to me. I play to a 10.7. I want to get that down to single digits and I know I can. I just need to work at what I have, or at least I think I do.

 

The long and expensive part is huge too. I know what got me here won't get me there, but at the same time with lessons being $50-100/ hour, if I have 1 a week Im looking at between $2500-5000/year and thats quite a sum. Plus for the first few months, my game will be terrible as I balance new with old, and golf the recreational pursuit will be miserable. Golf the sporting endeavor will improve, but let's face it, its less than 1% my handicap will ever allow me to register for the US am/open anyway, so golf the sporting endeavor is a pipe dream anyhow.

 

One day I might take a lesson or two but Id rather pocket that cash and go spend it playing. If I ever find myself in a position where practice every day is feasible, I'll reconsider

 

The investment shouldn't be that large since you shouldn't be taking one lesson every week :)

 

I think iTeach mentioned it earlier this thread that there should be a bigger gap in between sessions that that

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I think the guy who mentioned embarrassment/self consciousness nailed it for many. Look, lessons can be expensive, but for those that are seriously into the game, often they will pay a lot for something that will make them significantly better, so I dont think money is the biggest impediment. I held off on lessons and fitting for probably over 10yrs of playing because I didnt think I was good enough or consistent enough to get the benefits from either.

 

I finally took a series of lessons that first, changed my grip and setup, which made a HUGE difference in how I struck the ball. Worked with that for a few years and it became 2nd nature. Then I got fitted to an iron shaft that really worked for me. Lastly, a couple years ago I took another set of lessons from a different instructor who primarily focused on my takeaway and then my finishing position. Nowhere in any of the lessons that I took did either teach try to really change the middle portion of my swing, and not because it is textbook (it's very short...Rahm esqe or shorter) but because they wanted to work with what I had, and not try to change everything about it. I appreciated that.

 

Lessons make you a better golfer, and sometimes the best lessons are more about what you do before and after the swing and less about what you do during it.

 

A question i get asked a lot by new(er) golfers is "where can i find a good teacher"? People ask me that a lot i guess because they know i play a lot of golf. I think if you live in Florida or Arizona or something this might be a lot easier

 

Here i don't think it is. I mean sure you can find people online but who knows if they are good. In my time playing golf at 3 different clubs over 15yrs i've met maybe 3-4 pros who i really would want to take lessons with. Our current head pro has one of the best reputations around and i would happily take lessons with him. When he came to our club, suddenly 10-15 more guys i knew there were taking lessons. He is just really good.

 

Being a golf pro is like any job. Most of us work in offices (or many do anyway), i'm sure we all see similar things....10% of guys are great, 20% are awful and 70% are just OK.....i'm sure it's no different than golf pros. And from what i have seen, a lot of the best coaches tend to gravitate towards the top juniors in terms of their time (which is totally fine and their prerogative) . Also complicating matters is the market for golf coaches in many places isn't great (they don't get paid a ton compared to other jobs) so maybe some guys who would be great golf coaches don't become coaches , again, speaking outside of places like Florida or Arizona

 

I think at least here, it's hard to find guys even if you are looking. And the people most in need of lessons don't always have the right contacts or know where to look. Definitely being self conscious is a factor but there's a lot of other things.

 

I do think location has a lot to do with the quality of the teachers. As pointed out, Florida and other 'golf' states tend to attract the best teachers. I live in New England where most good teachers are at private courses. There are a few good teachers available at public courses. As a 14 index I have learned to only seek those I can get multiple references. I am willing to invest the time and money. What I don't like is paying $50.00 for stupid advice.

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I think there are a few aspects to this.

 

There are players that maybe never took a lesson, made improvements themselves and don't see any value in taking instruction at this point. They've made some progress and they believe they can make more

 

There are certainly those that never took a lesson and find it uncomfortable having their swing picked apart (the ego thing)

 

There are probably others that never took a lesson, but play functionally, say, to a mid handicap and are afraid of starting some long and expensive journey with no guarantees of improvement

 

I've had some good lessons, but I've also had some really poor ones where I actually lost progress I had made and felt like I didn't even know what end of the club to hold. For every iTeach out there I believe there are a fair few so-so teachers that can get a student into a pickle and not necessarily have the requisite skills to get them out of it

 

Bingo, bango, and bongo on those, they all apply to me. I play to a 10.7. I want to get that down to single digits and I know I can. I just need to work at what I have, or at least I think I do.

 

The long and expensive part is huge too. I know what got me here won't get me there, but at the same time with lessons being $50-100/ hour, if I have 1 a week Im looking at between $2500-5000/year and thats quite a sum. Plus for the first few months, my game will be terrible as I balance new with old, and golf the recreational pursuit will be miserable. Golf the sporting endeavor will improve, but let's face it, its less than 1% my handicap will ever allow me to register for the US am/open anyway, so golf the sporting endeavor is a pipe dream anyhow.

 

One day I might take a lesson or two but Id rather pocket that cash and go spend it playing. If I ever find myself in a position where practice every day is feasible, I'll reconsider

 

The investment shouldn't be that large since you shouldn't be taking one lesson every week :)

 

I think iTeach mentioned it earlier this thread that there should be a bigger gap in between sessions that that

 

One lesson a week is overkill unless you are high level player and have loads of time to practice. Honestly take a lesson once every two months for 2 hours and then work on it. Its progression takes time.

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People think they can watch golf shows or YouTube videos or read magazines and not only accurately diagnose their problems but also fix them.

 

It’s like someone making their own clothes versus going to a tailor.

 

Lessons can get a bit expensive for us recreational golfers . I suspect if one is really conscientious about improving their game , then I guess it's a necessity if you can find the right teacher.

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I can only speak for myself, but I dont take lessons because as a recreational golfer with work and family responsibilities, I only have a set amount of time I'm able to take the sticks out and play....and its not very long. And I want to spend that time on the course as much as possible, not be a range rat. And Ive played with many people who are a lot better than me at golf who say that the best teaching and learning in golf is done while on the course.

 

Additionally, I think Im in the same boat as many recreational golfers in that lessons are simply too expensive. Locally for me, lessons with a PGA Pro are $40+ per lesson....that's basically close to the price of a round of golf at some of my local tracks. And since Im not going pro anyway, and I just play for fun or to be out of the house for a day, Id rather spend that $40 or $50 on an actual round as opposed to paying someone to give me a couple of tips on my mid-cap swing and really not know if its going to help me enjoy the game any more than I already do. So I simply spend some extra time at the range practicing my short game and putting, which I can do for free, and I am confident in saying that will help me score better than a lesson or two with a pro.

 

As far as equipment goes, its fun trying new equipment. And while that end is expensive as well, if something doesnt work for you, you can always sell or trade to find something that does. I don't spend an arm and a leg on the new stuff as soon as it comes out, and I dont think many other recreational golfers do either. But at least with equipment you can get something back if it doesnt work for you...if a lesson doesnt help you, you're simply out the money and you are right back where you started.

 

Now, I will say, if my son continues to be as interested in golf in his teens as he is right now at a young age, I will have no problem encouraging lessons to see if he has any sort of future either playing golf or in the golfing industry.

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I think it probably comes down to whether or not someone is really on a mission to get substantially better.

 

 

If someone is actively trying to improve and has a goal (or at the very least an image in his head of where he wants to be), he'll organize some sort of plan. That's inevitable. But once he hits a wall or realizes his swing has some substantial flaws, there will come a point where he gives serious consideration to signing up with an instructor somewhere.

 

There are things a person might do for himself. For instance, he might train for a marathon by himself because he already knows how to run. In that example, his questions would be about how to train most effectively, not how to lift his feet and put one in front of the other. Or a person might plan a diet after doing his own research because he already knows how to eat! His questions would be about what to eat and at least to a degree, that can be found in books and on the internet.

 

But when the complexity of the task goes up (i.e. properly swinging a golf club), people are forced to consider going to an expert. On the extreme end you can think about how it's a virtual certainty you'll get a lawyer if you're going to court. Golf isn't as complicated as that but it's still very likely that if a person has goals for himself (ones that are set high enough), he may end up seeking professional help.

 

On the other hand, if someone goes at it alone they are leaving everything to themselves. They had better be doing a lot of investigation about the swing and a lot of critical analysis to make real progress. Trying to get better simply by experimenting with new "feels" is always temporary. I know that my most significant improvements have come either when someone physically put me in the "correct" position so that I could feel it or when I looked at video and saw something pretty egregious that I couldn't feel as wrong during the swing.

 

A person certainly can get better by going at it alone. It helps immensely if they are analytical, detail-oriented and have an ability to create (and implement) new feels. With all the info out there today, there's nothing stopping you from being your own coach. There's truth in that. However, it's still probably a good idea for all golfers to have a session with their pro in which they at least look at their swing and discuss the flaws.

 

 

So let's get back to the actual question at hand -- Why don't people take lessons?

 

I think the answer begins with the fact most people simply haven't seen themselves swing. Thus they don't have any real account of their flaws. They think only in terms of feels. Their belief is something along the lines of -- as long as I keep chasing what feels right, I'll eventually arrive at something which is good.

 

I remember a particular moment from years ago wherein I was filming myself. I made what felt like 2 totally different swings yet when I watched the video, the swings looked nearly identical. It was at that moment that I realized feel wasn't reliable and that I actually do have "a swing" and that no matter where I choose to place my consciousness or feel during the swing, the swing itself will look largely the same because it's built from the same patterns. If a player is only thinking in feels and he isn't conscious of what his actual patterns are, he's unlikely to ever really discover his true problems, let alone fix them.

 

So, again, it really comes back to how curious a golfer is about what he's doing and how much he's dissected his game. If his goal is to get better, he's very likely to either go to a Pro for advice or to approach someone asking for validation.

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there are a lot of golfers in the world. very few really desire to improve and commit the time necessary to improve. In fact, I think for us swing nerds we are MORE hesitant to take lessons that the average hack, because we realize how many teachers dont know DICK! The average player who plays a couple times a month if the weather is good and is happy no matter what they shoot generally thinks anyone with PGA credentials and a decent game can help them.

 

The other side of it, the better you are, the smaller the pond of instructors that can actually help you. If you are a 30 handicap, lots of instructors can improve your game. if you are a 5 handicap....not near as many. and most importantly there are many more instructors who could have a negative impact on the 5 capper by implementing the wrong changes. or focusing on the wrong things.

 

Personally, I've gone from a 30 cap to a 5ish cap on my own in about 3 years. thats been a blast for me and i know that I could have done it a little faster with a great teacher. but what I dont know is if I would be as good about self diagnosing if i had a teacher. now, i can pretty much identify whats off in my own swing instantly. i can feel whats not working. Now, fixing that on the course....not so easy. but i know exactly why i just hit a bad shot. i dont think id have the same understanding if i wasnt self taught.

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I am sure it's been said here, but for me, it's the following:

 

1. With the resources available now to the knowledgeable golfer with an introspective eye bent on our own improvement we don't need them, or at least we can get to a certain point of improvement on our own. For me, I'm at that point where I have maxed out what I can improve on my own and now I need a coach.

2. The general lack of time in this society to find free time to do so. If given the choice of golfing or taking a lesson, most of us are going to play golf instead of taking the lesson. Personally, this is why I don't understand why more pro's don't push the playing lesson as their primary way of getting golfers invested in lessons.

3. Cost. I have an abundance of good instructors in the area but at $100 or more an hour, I only feel comfortable getting a lesson every few months or so.

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Lessons are expensive,it also takes hitting hundreds of balls to ingrain a specific move and some are just not talented enough or have the patience to do this.

I believe it was Ben Hogan who said this Pratice doesent make perfect....”perfect pratice makes perfect”

How many of us can hit eight hours of wedges in pratice like Tiger is known to do.

Some are just born with a God given talent to do certain tasks easier than others and lessons may only take you so far or not improve you at all.

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I've taken quite a few lessons from quite a few different pros. My first were from a guy named John Anselmo when I was about 7-8 years old ( He later moved to Cypress, Ca. And was Tiger's first coach) at 57 now, I don't remember much of that but the grip and grip pressure.

The problem I have shelling out for lessons is that it is hard to find a good teacher. The amount of money charged is not alway congruent with the coaching ability of the Pro.

Out of maybe ten pro's I've ween over the years, only 3 or 4 were worth the money. These guys checked with you when they saw you on the range every week, if only to watch a couple of swings and see you progress and give a quick word of critique or encouragement.

Now, I've never been a member of a true country club, where you might get a better more interested teacher, so there is that.

If you are just beginning, by all means take lessons.

But if you've been playing a long time and have sound fundamentals, it's hard to find a really good teacher, in my experience.

I'm about to drop some $$ on a series from a local guy here who has a good rep and all the computer/trackman stuff to help optimizing my game. And he's always outside, off the grass.

I guess my point is, Lessons are expensive, it's hard to find a good teacher, golf is hard and requires practice, patience and a true desire to improve or fix your flaws. That's why people don't take lessons, IMHO.

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This topic concerns mainly personal instruction which means nothing to me. I do not want to be rude. On the contrary: I would love to be taught by MDLT, Harvey Penick, Bob Toski, Ernest Jones, John Jacobs, Mike Austin and over 50 more. That is just impossible. If the lesson would be about modeling my swing I would look for a pro with the same body profile and type of swing. That would be Sir Nick; which is virtually impossible.

 

Mike Hebron believes peer to peer learning plays a main role in this game. I think he is right.

A great asset of golf is that players can learn themselves nearly anything. Let's exaggerate this a bit: Any player who buys a book; starts using a training aid works on a new drill or even thinks about his game takes a lesson. If the internal focus matches with the external results, this learning path can be both very effective and efficient.

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First many people do take lessons.

 

Second, each person who doesn't takes lessons probably has his or her own reason for not taking lessons.

 

Steve

Hence the question being asked , as to why someone chooses not to take lessons. Seeing its a forum ...kinda how it works . You ask questions and people reply .
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Honesty.

 

Average Joe isn't going to want to be paying money to be told their swing is faulty.

 

Combined with the fact that swing changes take effect after months of hard work without the guarantee of results (it's down to them at the end of the day) it's not what people want.

 

So many have one or two lessons, go to the range and hit 100 balls the same way they always did, go to the course, play "worse" than usual and then conclude it was a waste of time/money.

 

Very few average club golfers are honestly prepared to accept the fact things get worse before they get better (most instances) so why bother.

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The fact is if most players permanently improve dramatically due to lessons then it stands to reason every player would also get lessons to keep up with the Joneses. Think about it. If all the players in your golf group suddenly dropped 10 shots due to lessons you would be knocking the door down of your local instructor begging.

 

Unfortunately the opposite is probably true.

 

Lessons do work but it also takes a lot of dedication and hard work from the student and even then it's no guarantee. Golf is hard.

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But if you've been playing a long time and have sound fundamentals, it's hard to find a really good teacher, in my experience.

One thing has worked well for me a couple of times is a half-hour session with our current pro. He's also the course director so doesn't have time for much more. Instead of teaching per se he fixes a specific problem. Last time I went to see him I was struggling to launch my driver and he taught me about 'thumbs up' which solved the problem. He didn't bother trying to fix anything else just focused in on the problem and told me how to fix it.

 

Cost me £20 which on a two or three times a year basis isn't going to break the bank.

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People think they can watch golf shows or YouTube videos or read magazines and not only accurately diagnose their problems but also fix them.

 

Could have locked this baby up after the first two responses. Two home runs and 100% correct. It's mind boggling.

 

You could say that about plenty of stuff on Youtube though, like playing a musical instrument or even diagnosing an illness!

 

I've taken lessons over the years, mainly at times when I was struggling with my game to the point where I struggling to even hit the ball. I just don't feel I play enough (and I don't play competitively) to justify the outlay on regular lessons. That doesn't mean I don't try and study the game and I've learned plenty from my actual lessons and from Youtube instruction to enable me to get around a golf course competently and more importantly enjoyably. I started playing regularly around 20 years and I only wish Youtube was around then!

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