Anyone thinks $120+/hr lessons are not worth it for you?

[acegolfer]

Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT saying lessons are useless. In fact, I understand the benefit of lessons. There are things that I can't see in my swing and the pro will help me reach my potential fastest. But I am just a casual golfer with a lot of free time. I like to do my own research and work on my swing. I have been enjoying the gradual improvement in my swing for years. 

 

I'm very frugal (some may say cheapskate). Most of my clubs are second handed and I always play at good value courses (< $40). If lesson from PGA professional was cheaper like $40 for 30 min, I'd jump on it. But at the current rate, I don't think it's worth the investment for me. I rather play 3 rounds or go to the range 12 times, even if I don't get the same results. Does anyone share the same sentiment? Or am I completely wrong?                                  

[airjammer]

51 minutes ago, acegolfer said:

Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT saying lessons are useless. In fact, I understand the benefit of lessons. There are things that I can't see in my swing and the pro will help me reach my potential fastest. But I am just a casual golfer with a lot of free time. I like to do my own research and work on my swing. I have been enjoying the gradual improvement in my swing for years. 

 

I'm very frugal (some may say cheapskate). Most of my clubs are second handed and I always play at good value courses (< $40). If lesson from PGA professional was cheaper like $40 for 30 min, I'd jump on it. But at the current rate, I don't think it's worth the investment for me. I rather play 3 rounds or go to the range 12 times, even if I don't get the same results. Does anyone share the same sentiment? Or am I completely wrong?                                  

It’s up to you how much time you want to spend to get better and how good you want to be. If you are happy with your current handicap, then its a waste of money. 
 

The way your post is worded, I’d say you’d find it a waste of money. Also, just because they charge a lot of money doesn’t mean they are any good. 

[me05501]

In most areas you can find different levels of cost for instruction. Often times an assistant pro will teach for half as much as the head pro. He’ll have less experience too but that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be helpful. 
 

There seem to be two main approaches to teaching. Some pros have a model swing they try to teach to every student. Others help students make the most of the swing that comes naturally to them. 
 

Your cost for hiring the first kind of pro will be much higher because you’ll need a long series of lessons over time to learn their model swing. Some think this is worthwhile, but I’ve known many others who weren’t up for that level of change. 
 

If you can find the kind of pro who only wants to optimize your current swing you might get by with just a couple of lessons where they tweak your setup or help you commit to your shots. That could be money well spent. 
 

I’ve gotten a lot of value from lessons, but also from the notes I’ve written down after each lesson was over. These days when I get off track I can usually straighten myself out by reviewing those notes and working alone on the range. 

[Liveonce]

It’s outrageous what golf instructors charge and it’s still increasing. You also have those that teach on Apps now charging a monthly fee of $400 and up in some cases. 

[kasting333]

You have to value your time and the instructors time. If someone is giving $40 lessons and they aren’t booked for years then I would be skeptical. If you take a $500 lesson that changes your swing and mindset forever than I would say it’s worth it, right?
 

Just like anything else there’s good and bad instructors. And instructors that are good but won’t resonate with a player bc of their style or teaching method. Expensive instructors are usually expensive for a reason, bc their time is valuable and they can more effectively help you play better golf. 

[GoGoErky]

The value of something is what the individual considers worth it or not. $120 to some may be while to others it’s too high.

 

If the benefit of the $120/hour instructor gets you the results you are after then imo the price is worth it, if not then it’s a bad value. 
 

You are paying for the instructors time with you but also for the time they spend learning their craft, their investment into whatever tools they feel they need to provide value to their customers.

 

You don’t pay a plumber for 30 minutes of work to fix a problem, you are paying the price for the time the plumber spend learning the skills to fix your problem in 30 minutes instead of some longer amount of time 

 

[phizzy30]

People can spend their money however they want.  It's all about value in this case.  If the teaching pro can identify your flaws and make the correct adjustments, then the 120 spent is definitely a worthy investment. 

[MK7Golf21]

1 hour ago, Liveonce said:

It’s outrageous what golf instructors charge and it’s still increasing. You also have those that teach on Apps now charging a monthly fee of $400 and up in some cases. 

I agree, I think lesson costs have got out of control even online lessons. I had to go to a  Dr for a recent injury and the visits where they were using expensive technology cost less than most online lessons nowadays.

 

I don’t think any in person lesson is worth more than $150 a lesson. Online I don’t think is worth more than 100 at the top end.

[Follow The Sun]

Lessons can only take you so far. It's been my experience most have to apply what is taught and learned and put in the time to practice and practice. And more practice.

 

There are still excellent golf instruction books to be found and read and applied. 

 

Good Golfing

[Robert L.]

I'm on a fixed income (Social Security), so I have to be careful with my money. With the price of gas and food being what it is these days it often means that golf has to take a backseat. That's why I play at cheaper courses, play with second hand clubs, and practice at home. It's also why I get my golf coaching from YouTube videos and golf books. $120 an hour for a lesson is out of the question for me. As usual, YMMV.

[acegolfer]

28 minutes ago, phizzy30 said:

If the teaching pro can identify your flaws and make the correct adjustments, then the 120 spent is definitely a worthy investment. 

OP here. If a $120 lesson is guaranteed to fix my swing forever, then I'm all for it. But from my limited experience with previous lessons, it was not the case. Hit or miss. 

[stickfish]

1 minute ago, acegolfer said:

OP here. If a $120 lesson is guaranteed to fix my swing forever, then I'm all for it. But from my limited experience with previous lessons, it was not the case. Hit or miss. 

I’m hoping you add the “fix forever” out of context, and that with a guarantee at that.

Please look for something / someone who can help lead you down a path that yields results.  
My two cents, anyways.

Cheers to you for wanted to improve, what out for rabbit holes.

<><

[llewol007]

You are not wrong, you just don’t have the disposable cash to equate the value in it. Nothing wrong with that. Same reason some buy expensive watches while others buy it from their local grocery store. I say lessons whatever the price are only worth it if you have something specific in mind to correct. If you are starting from scratch, it can be a 6 week set of lessons that has you holding the club correctly and addressing the ball by the end of it all. When you get into 3 digit lessons per hour, then I would say you have some sorta grasp on the game and want to start getting more accurate, consistent, confident. Whatever it maybe to warrant paying the price for the lesson. Either way is not wrong. I’ve taken a lesson and paid about double the hourly and I felt I got what I needed out of it. Bottom line, it has to be worth the price of admission. 

[Follow The Sun]

I've learned that many (myself included) don't give enough thought to the grip. The pros do ...

[Billfitz]

Get Hogan's book. Done.

[mikpga]

You have answered your question already.

[otto6457]

Depends.  How important is your golf game to you?

[MysteryV]

$120 is an absolute steal these days if the coach is halfway decent.

 

You also have to consider what kind of investment they've made.  A guy teaching on a beat up range doesn't have nearly the overhead of a guy who regularly attends conferences around kinematics and has a full studio with $20k in launch monitor, $5k in cameras, $50k in force plates, and real Pro V1s.  I realize the individual didn't necessarily pay for all of if - but that stuff has to be considered imo.

 

The jokers on Skillest who are charging $400 /hr. to watch your swing at 60 FPS are very different.

[Liveonce]

1 hour ago, MK7Golf21 said:

I agree, I think lesson costs have got out of control even online lessons. I had to go to a  Dr for a recent injury and the visits where they were using expensive technology cost less than most online lessons nowadays.

 

I don’t think any in person lesson is worth more than $150 a lesson. Online I don’t think is worth more than 100 at the top end.

yes. The online stuff is what baffles me. Some Charging the same amount as they would an in-person lesson, which I don’t feel is nearly equivalent of being able to have hands on, access to the teachers tools, etc. 

[GoGoErky]

3 hours ago, Liveonce said:

It’s outrageous what golf instructors charge and it’s still increasing. You also have those that teach on Apps now charging a monthly fee of $400 and up in some cases. 

With that $400 or more for pretty much everyone of those instructors you are getting unlimited access to that person for the month. That is multiple videos per week to make sure you are on the right path with drills, etc the instructor gives, you get swing analysis of those videos, can ask questions anytime. 
 

If you did 4 lessons a month with that same instructor which would be 1

hour each time and some but not unlimited access you would be paying well north of $400.

 

for most of these instructors that $400 is a steal for what you get

[MK7Golf21]

35 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

With that $400 or more for pretty much everyone of those instructors you are getting unlimited access to that person for the month. That is multiple videos per week to make sure you are on the right path with drills, etc the instructor gives, you get swing analysis of those videos, can ask questions anytime. 
 

If you did 4 lessons a month with that same instructor which would be 1

hour each time and some but not unlimited access you would be paying well north of $400.

 

for most of these instructors that $400 is a steal for what you get

that’s partially true. The monthly plans for 400+ aren’t that good of a deal. I did one and awhile back and I sent in a video, it took him almost week to get back to me with the lesson. Once he did I worked on it for about 3-5 days and sent in another video which and the response was basically him replying in text that swing looks better, continue doing the drills and he closed out the lesson without a voice over. At this point I’m 2 weeks into my month.
 

Basically what you are getting is the single lesson of charges and then then confirming you are doing the drills correct with the follow up videos. Which is fine because in 1 month you should be working on the same drills anyway. 

 

It’s a better deal to take a single lesson where you have the free 7 day period to follow up if you are doing it right. Then take another single lesson when ready. 

Edited July 3, 2022 by MK7Golf21

[Chunkitgood]

The subjective theory of value has been attacked, misunderstood, deplored, and ignored, but not refuted.  There simply is no way to weigh the value of your money versus lessons at any price in an absolute way.  Feel free to spend your money as you please, or not, but you cannot say any particular service to any particular person is overvalued per se.

 

I played the most common form of golf (called generously, “adding loft”) for a long time, with no real incentive to change.  I finally bothered to understand the necessity of hitting the ball before the ground, which is shorthand for using the club as designed.  Once that realization was made, figuring out how to do it, with some help in fact from the information and misinformation on this forum, was not rocket science.

 

Which is to say, I believe a teacher could explain to his student the concept of proper contact, and teach him how to get it in about an hour, which would be worth a lot of money to a lot of people, the 90% of golfers who do it wrong, but doesn’t seem to be the current way in which teaching is done.  I say this never having taken a lesson, but having observed many.  The same information is available for free on the internet, but you have to find the good and and discard the bad yourself.

 

If you have a fundamentally sound swing and want to fine tune it, again you are in the realm of subjective value.  It is probably easier to teach an absolute beginner an essentially sound swing than it is to teach a very good golfer a minor change to his grooved swing.

 

All of which is to say no golf instruction is worth anything unless the teacher is willing and able to teach you what you need to learn.  Since the capabilities and intentions of teachers varies immensely, as do the needs of students, it is, as you say, hit or miss.

 

[MysteryV]

59 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

With that $400 or more for pretty much everyone of those instructors you are getting unlimited access to that person for the month. That is multiple videos per week to make sure you are on the right path with drills, etc the instructor gives, you get swing analysis of those videos, can ask questions anytime. 
 

If you did 4 lessons a month with that same instructor which would be 1

hour each time and some but not unlimited access you would be paying well north of $400.

 

for most of these instructors that $400 is a steal for what you get

 

I'd love that, but it's not the case with the instructors I've been interested in thus far.  I've wanted to take an "online lesson" with a couple of different guys, both of whom charge $400 for a single, Facetime lesson.  😕

 

 18 months ago I'd be more likely to pay it, but given market conditions, my purse straps are a little tighter - particularly with things I can't resell.

[golfarb1]

My daughter works  at GOOGLE . Her salary is far more than 120$/ hour . Do 

pros , who are effective instructors  also deserve to be paid more than 120$ / hour ? 
The real issue is that most golf instructors 

are NOT effective instructors . 
 

Edited July 3, 2022 by golfarb1

[acegolfer]

Just now, golfarb1 said:

My daughter works  at GOOGLE . Her salary is far more than 120$/ hour . Do 

pros , who are effective instructors  also deserve to be paid more than 120$ / hour ? 
The real issue is that most golf instructors 

are NOT effective instructors . 

I agree that's the real issue. I'm willing to pay $120+, if he will fix my swing with 100% certainty. But I'm not willing to pay several $120's to search for the right pro for me. 

[GoGoErky]

10 minutes ago, MysteryV said:

 

I'd love that, but it's not the case with the instructors I've been interested in thus far.  I've wanted to take an "online lesson" with a couple of different guys, both of whom charge $400 for a single, Facetime lesson.  😕

 

 18 months ago I'd be more likely to pay it, but given market conditions, my purse straps are a little tighter - particularly with things I can't resell.

Yeah unfortunately some of the more recognized instructors are charging a lot for a single online lesson. It’s kept me from several, but if you can find someone who trained under that person you can find a pretty good bargain

 

40 minutes ago, MK7Golf21 said:

that’s partially true. The monthly plans for 400+ aren’t that good of a deal. I did one and awhile back and I sent in a video, it took him almost week to get back to me with the lesson. Once he did I worked on it for about 3-5 days and sent in another video which and the response was basically him replying in text that swing looks better, continue doing the drills and he closed out the lesson without a voice over. At this point I’m 2 weeks into my month.
 

Basically what you are getting is the single lesson of charges and then then confirming you are doing the drills correct with the follow up videos. Which is fine because in 1 month you should be working on the same drills anyway. 

 

It’s a better deal to take a single lesson where you have the free 7 day period to follow up if you are doing it right. Then take another single lesson when ready. 

like anything this is going to be dependent on the instructor. Some are going to be more responsive and provide more feedback and some aren’t. Not really much different from in person lessons where one instructor who charges a lot might not be a fit for a golfer and another high priced one is. It’s why reading reviews only the instructor can help weed out the ones who aren’t providing the value one expects.

 

but then again there are plenty of well known and really good instructors who are charging less than $100 for online who are very responsive and provide detailed feedback. Dan Carraher charges $50 on skillest.

[elsie451]

A lot of whether it is worth it or not will be based not only on if they are a good instructor, but if they are a good instructor for YOU.  I have a friend who has been taking lessons from the same instructor for over a year now and I see absolutely no difference in his game (he would probably shoot around 110 if he kept score).  A few years earlier another friend used the same instructor for a few months and within a year was down to a single digit handicap. For whatever reason, this instructor's teaching method clicked with one of them but not the other.

[Hawkeye77]

I didn’t know all golf lessons cost $120. 

[dlow206]

$400/hr lesson or $400 headcover, i will take the lesson (just did a few days ago)

[GolfTurkey]

7 hours ago, acegolfer said:

OP here. If a $120 lesson is guaranteed to fix my swing forever, then I'm all for it. But from my limited experience with previous lessons, it was not the case. Hit or miss. 

 

That's where you need to do your own research. Figure out how far you're willing to travel, then search for instructors in that area.

 

Look at their social media channels for before and after swings, look at their track record of developing juniors and getting them into colleges, ask around etc. Also helpful if they have posted an online lessons where you can determine if you think their delivery style will suit you (I need someone to explain things slowly and logically so I get it).