How to find the right teacher?

[tendy]

I'm a young adult who started golf about 1.5 years ago with really minimal experience as a kid. I've gotten more than one lessons from a few pros here and there, but can't really find anyone that I gel with. What is your advice on searching for a good teacher? I have asked a few people near me who all don't know any golf pros to learn from. 

 

My main question is what are some qualities that are deal breakers for you all in a golf teacher? 

 

Also if you happen to know solid teachers in the triangle area in NC, I would love to hear suggestions! 

[GolfTurkey]

I would suggest doing some kind of research re. who in your area is churning out juniors good enough for college spots, has lots of success stories dropping clients' handicaps by a lot etc.

 

Assuming that you are a good student (pays attention, doesn't argue,  tries hard to do what the teacher tells you to do without adding your own pieces etc), the kind of stuff that would immediately put me off a teacher is:

 

• A "method" teacher that tries to get everyone to swing exactly the same way.
• Can't communicate effectively i.e. you are paying attention but still don't understand what the teacher is telling you to do.
• Can't get you to pull off a few appreciably better swings within one lesson
• Doesn't pay focused attention to you. I'm outta there if the teacher is taking phone calls / chatting up the cart girl / browsing their phone / having a running conversation with someone else.
• Over-reliance on technology. I would expect the pro to e.g. have a decent launch monitor but not to rely on it like a crutch. Australia is infested with "Trackman  monkeys" who sit there and watch the screen and say "your AoA was too steep on that one, make the next one more shallow, that one was too in to out, make the next one more neutral" etc. They have no idea what the root swing faults are that cause the funky numbers.

IMO in-person lesson with good teacher > online lesson with good teacher > in-person lesson with monkey. If you can't find anyone good locally then online lessons with someone competent is certainly an option and then you have virtually unlimited choice.

[IronWolf]

You should possibly consider that in person instructors are only one tiny part of the equation.

Getting on a college golf team is the best way.

People that are good are very busy.

There is no real shortcut to learning the golf swing.

You have to decide that you are going to master the fundamentals.

And blend them into your own physical and mental makeup.

I remember buying a set of big Bertha's and just finally deciding I was going to become a good golfer 20 years ago.

The old-fashioned way still has great value go out and buy some swing mechanic books by the top five or six instructors. I built my swing off of Tiger's book, hundreds of gorgeous photos, "how I play golf" by Tiger Woods. Just try to match all the positions, Most amateurs ignore the fundamentals of set up for the first 10 years of their golf game master the fundamentals of set up . A simple video camera was the ideal tool for the last 40 years.  Look at Adam Scott hit a seven iron in ultra-slow motion, and just do it the same.

There is about six gates, get your swing inside those six gates, and you will start feeling it, then the swing can become natural again where you do not have to think about it. Then you can go to instructors for tuneups after you have built your own real swing. I probably had 10 books that were pure enlightenment.

Most of the books outline the tools of analyzing your swing mistakes by the flight of the ball. When you go to the range there is nine different flights of the ball it tells you what mistake you made track it back to one of the fundamentals that you let break down.

You have all the tools to teach yourself.  The next part of actually becoming good is equivalent to college golf get in some competitions which means are going to be playing with some really good golfers start trying to play with other really good golfers instant teaching lessons.  I ran into a guy at one of the golf courses who wanted to play for one or two dollars per hole, I played once a month with him. He had to work hard to keep his handicap listed at a five. My game changed after watching him play his tempo on the drives 240 yard drive with a 3 yard draw every single hole I could easily outdrive him by 10 or 15 yards into the rough or the water or a bunker he started blowing my mind he had 16 birdie putts on one round, 6,7,8, iron, 10 to 15 feet on every single green pure striking smooth tempo, I do not think I ever saw a three putt  that is where you learn some real lessons watching a really excellent golfer close up and personal that is why college golfers are so good, I was happy to give him $10 a round. 

So it is a 4 piece puzzle

1. teach yourself absolute commitment to developing some excellent fundamentals of set up.

2. Lots of video, analyze your swing, most good golfers admit they only had 2 balls well out of 10. That leaves eight opportunities for analysis and improvement. Slowly tightening slowly dialing it in until you can hit 4/10. Learn one club at a time master a seven iron. For one year, then the next year try to master your three wood. That was one good piece of advice from a really good golfer if you can learn to hit your seven iron perfect the five and six are very close behind in the eight and nine are almost easier.

3. Play some competitions expose yourself to other really good golfers and learn from them.

4. And hope that you can find an instructor for a once a year visit. Have fun enjoy the process, set a realistic and simple goals, golfers set way too many bizarre expectations. 

Simple Break 85,  have less than 34 putts per round, play several rounds without a driver, hit more than five greens in regulation. Commit to more than one up and down per round. One chip one putt master it.

Learn how to make a birdie.

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by IronWolf
info

[tendy]

9 hours ago, GolfTurkey said:

I would suggest doing some kind of research re. who in your area is churning out juniors good enough for college spots, has lots of success stories dropping clients' handicaps by a lot etc.

 

Assuming that you are a good student (pays attention, doesn't argue,  tries hard to do what the teacher tells you to do without adding your own pieces etc), the kind of stuff that would immediately put me off a teacher is:

 

• A "method" teacher that tries to get everyone to swing exactly the same way.
• Can't communicate effectively i.e. you are paying attention but still don't understand what the teacher is telling you to do.
• Can't get you to pull off a few appreciably better swings within one lesson
• Doesn't pay focused attention to you. I'm outta there if the teacher is taking phone calls / chatting up the cart girl / browsing their phone / having a running conversation with someone else.
• Over-reliance on technology. I would expect the pro to e.g. have a decent launch monitor but not to rely on it like a crutch. Australia is infested with "Trackman  monkeys" who sit there and watch the screen and say "your AoA was too steep on that one, make the next one more shallow, that one was too in to out, make the next one more neutral" etc. They have no idea what the root swing faults are that cause the funky numbers.

IMO in-person lesson with good teacher > online lesson with good teacher > in-person lesson with monkey. If you can't find anyone good locally then online lessons with someone competent is certainly an option and then you have virtually unlimited choice.

 

 

I appreciate the feedback! I've had online lessons from a decent teacher, but I would like to receive instruction this time around. I'll definitely keep this tips in mind! 

[tendy]

8 hours ago, IronWolf said:

You should possibly consider that in person instructors are only one tiny part of the equation.

Getting on a college golf team is the best way.

People that are good are very busy.

There is no real shortcut to learning the golf swing.

You have to decide that you are going to master the fundamentals.

And blend them into your own physical and mental makeup.

I remember buying a set of big Bertha's and just finally deciding I was going to become a good golfer 20 years ago.

The old-fashioned way still has great value go out and buy some swing mechanic books by the top five or six instructors. I built my swing off of Tiger's book, hundreds of gorgeous photos, "how I play golf" by Tiger Woods. Just try to match all the positions, Most amateurs ignore the fundamentals of set up for the first 10 years of their golf game master the fundamentals of set up . A simple video camera was the ideal tool for the last 40 years.  Look at Adam Scott hit a seven iron in ultra-slow motion, and just do it the same.

There is about six gates, get your swing inside those six gates, and you will start feeling it, then the swing can become natural again where you do not have to think about it. Then you can go to instructors for tuneups after you have built your own real swing. I probably had 10 books that were pure enlightenment.

Most of the books outline the tools of analyzing your swing mistakes by the flight of the ball. When you go to the range there is nine different flights of the ball it tells you what mistake you made track it back to one of the fundamentals that you let break down.

You have all the tools to teach yourself.  The next part of actually becoming good is equivalent to college golf get in some competitions which means are going to be playing with some really good golfers start trying to play with other really good golfers instant teaching lessons.  I ran into a guy at one of the golf courses who wanted to play for one or two dollars per hole, I played once a month with him. He had to work hard to keep his handicap listed at a five. My game changed after watching him play his tempo on the drives 240 yard drive with a 3 yard draw every single hole I could easily outdrive him by 10 or 15 yards into the rough or the water or a bunker he started blowing my mind he had 16 birdie putts on one round, 6,7,8, iron, 10 to 15 feet on every single green pure striking smooth tempo, I do not think I ever saw a three putt  that is where you learn some real lessons watching a really excellent golfer close up and personal that is why college golfers are so good, I was happy to give him $10 a round. 

So it is a 4 piece puzzle

1. teach yourself absolute commitment to developing some excellent fundamentals of set up.

2. Lots of video, analyze your swing, most good golfers admit they only had 2 balls well out of 10. That leaves eight opportunities for analysis and improvement. Slowly tightening slowly dialing it in until you can hit 4/10. Learn one club at a time master a seven iron. For one year, then the next year try to master your three wood. That was one good piece of advice from a really good golfer if you can learn to hit your seven iron perfect the five and six are very close behind in the eight and nine are almost easier.

3. Play some competitions expose yourself to other really good golfers and learn from them.

4. And hope that you can find an instructor for a once a year visit. Have fun enjoy the process, set a realistic and simple goals, golfers set way too many bizarre expectations. 

Simple Break 85,  have less than 34 putts per round, play several rounds without a driver, hit more than five greens in regulation. Commit to more than one up and down per round. One chip one putt master it.

Learn how to make a birdie.

 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. 

 

That being said, are there qualities that you look for in anyone giving you advice? There are plenty of people who give advice, but as a novice, how do I discern what is good information and bad information? 

[RichieHunt]

As stated earlier, do your research.  A teacher is judged by how well they improve their students.  Not by how much science in the swing they know, the price of the technology they know, who they work with, their facility, etc.

 

I would recommend finding successful instructors and then trying to see if they have any YouTube videos or Instagram accounts and see what they are doing and what they teach.  If it makes sense to you and you think the results are impressive, then give the instructor a shot.

 

I believe that thru technology and science the instruction business is at the highest level it has ever been.  There are more 'good' instructors today than ever and it's not even close.

 

Having said that, there's likely to be some trial and error in finding the right instructor for you.  So many of the 'good' instructors have learned similar things from the same people and often times what finding an instructor that gels with you the best boils down to the instructor has worked with students that happened to have similar swing issues that you had.  

It may also be wise to work for an instructor for say 1-year and then switch to another instructor with a similar background to give a different perspective.  It's not that hard to get into a rut with an instructor, even if they have helped you immensely and are a good instructor.  That's one of the most difficult parts of the game...getting progressively better as your handicap lowers.  And sometimes a new set of eyes with  a similar philosophy can really help.

 

 

 

 

RH

[Krt22]

What exactly are you looking to gain out of lessons and what are your expectations? And what do you mean you didn't gel with the instructors you did try? There are two sides of the coin, there is finding the right instructor who can effectively communicate with you, but there is also having realistic expectations of the outcome of each lesson. For every bad instructor, there is a bad student who flat out doesn't listen to the instructor or has impossible expectations of the outcome of each lesson.