Taking golf lessons is a great way to improve your game. There are thousands of talented and experienced golf professionals working across the country, and those pros are ready & willing to help you reach a new level on the course. a relatively modest cost, golf lessons are one of the best investments you can make if you hope to shoot lower scores.
With all of that said, it is true that some golfers come away disappointed with the results of their lessons in the long run. Initially, they feel like they will improve their play greatly, however, they fail to make the expected strides over the weeks and months that follow.
Why is that? There are a number of potential issues that can come up, and those problems can interrupt the progress that a given player is expected to make. We’d like to help you avoid those problems, so you can get the most out of your lessons. Below, we have listed a few important tips to keep in mind with regard to golf instruction.
Finding a Teacher
Once you have decided that golf lessons are the right way to improve your game, you’ll need to find a local pro to work with you. Most golf courses, as well as driving range facilities, have pros on staff who will be happy to offer lessons for a flat rate.
If you frequent one course in your area more than the rest, that course would be the natural place to start looking for a teacher. Feel free to ask a few questions when talking with a potential teacher so you can make sure he or she is a good fit for your situation.
Ditch Your Preconceived Notions
This is a huge issue in the world of golf lessons. It generally plays out like this:
Does this sound familiar? This is a process that many golfers have been through, and they come away thinking that golf lessons ‘just don’t work.’ Of course, that’s not the case. Think of it this way – would you go to the doctor and ignore the diagnosis because you think you already know what’s going on? Hopefully not.
It’s wise to trust the opinion of the experts you work with, and the golf teacher is the expert in this case. If you want to get great results from your golf lessons, you need to go into the process with an open mind and be receptive to the ideas of the instructor.
Attack a Specific Problem
If you are hoping that a single golf lesson with a local teaching pro is going to turn you into the top golfer in the world, we have some bad news…it’s not going to happen. This is a hard game, and it takes years of consistent effort to reach higher levels. So, when you go into a lesson, you shouldn’t have grand expectations of fixing everything that ails your game. Rather, it’s a better plan to go into the lesson with one specific issue that you would like to solve.
As an example, you might want to get rid of your slice. Or, it might be that you would like to work on adding a few yards to your average drive. Whatever it is that you’d like to improve, communicate that goal with the teacher and keep your lesson focused on making progress in this area.
Realistically, you are going to need to work on the points given to you by the teacher for a while before they become part of your game. Once you have successfully made the improvements you had targeted at the start, you can then think about starting the process over again with a new goal. Over time, you can work your way through various issues and eventually, you’ll find yourself with a game that is vastly improved from what it once was.
Side Note - try to work with the same golf teacher over the long run, if at all possible. Building a relationship will help the teacher get to know your game, and he or she will learn how to communicate with you effectively.
Ask for Notes
It’s hard to remember everything that you are told in a golf lesson. Your lesson may last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and the teacher is likely to make many different points in that time. Are you going to remember everything that is said so you can work on it later? Most likely not.
There are a couple of potential solutions for this issue.
Then, when each lesson is finished, you’ll leave with something that you can take with you to the driving range during your upcoming practice sessions.
Golf is a challenge, and that's the allure of it. Everyone is searching for a way to improve, but most golfers don't understand what is required to achieve that improvement. If you want to get better, skip the quick fixes and take the long-term approach to improve your golf game with an instructor for the best results.