Golf Forums - What to look for in a golf instructor?

New to the forum and relatively new to the game. I have booked my first golf lesson after struggling for the last year to teach myself from youtube videos with varying degrees of sucess. however since graduating for education and getting myself some gainfull employement i have decided to spend some of these wages on lessons. there are a few pro teachers in my area and i plan to book a lesson with some of them till i find one that i feel would be good for me. they all seem to charge the same, so i was woundering what experiences you guys have had and advice on what qualities to look out out for/or avoid in a golf instructor. 

thanks in advance guys
 

Welcome to TSG!

I am with Russ on this one, but whilst I have only had a couple of lessons myself  to date (in 15 years playing), I think one of the reasons I never bothered to continue with them is firstly due to feeling slightly patronised by my first coach and secondly, I felt like most of my time was used up watching me practice, which like Russ I would have been happy to do after the lesson.

It's paramount that you like your Pro, so take your time and remember you're paying... so make sure you are made to feel like a customer!

Goof luck!

Ian M 

 

Also don't allow them to dictate your speed of your lessons ( see you the same time next week) go away and work on what he has told you a good pro will only give you one or two things to work on from your lesson,when you feel comfortable with what he asked,then and only then move on to your next lesson.

For myself I work on two lesson a month with 4 practice sessions in between each lesson.

But as everyone has said make sure you feel relaxed with your pro

Best of luck

 

From a gal's point of view:

Lessons? A must to get you on the right track, but as pointed out by previous TSGers, you need to find an instructor with the "right chemistry", so the teaching is beneficial to you. Some Pros are too "technical" for beginners, whereas a more relaxed approach would benefit more and get you swing freely. The technicalities will come later, as you progress. Get plenty of practice of what you have learnt - Review your swing on your next lesson - Progress to another stage

Enjoy your lessons/practice.

Best of luck and don't forget to join TSG games or post your own, you'll be made welcome!!!!!!

Brigitte

 

It's good to get the basics, and then go and find some bad habits that the pro may be able to spot and suggest corrections to).

My first lesson was an interesting one, he said here's a ball, use your 7-iron and hit it over there somewhere.

In an attempt to impress I hit at it as hard as I could - OK it went miles (right) and I tore a muscle in my side...  Pro was astute and said - ok now do the same thing again... so I did...

Hurts does it?  then maybe you will learn not to swing as hard... and I've gone that way eversince.  I do like the challenge of finding ways to get the job done and occasionally I will go back to the pro and ask him to see if there's a better way.  I have found a wide variety - and some contradictory - teachings...so find one that works best for you and like Russ says, do take time to ingrain a newly learnt process on the range before you leave, and not go straight onto the golf course.  Like some old pros used to say, never try a shot on the course that you haven't practised (a number of times) beforehand.  And find a way to navigate the course that suits your own capabilities.  I'm fond of getting the ball as low as possible as soon as possible, so prefer chipshots to pitch shots (when the situation deands) and remember that no two days are ever the same, so see what you have on the day and adapt...

Best wishes for a successful learning experience.

 

I chose a coach on the basis of how much my game improves following a few lessons. I tried quite a few before settling on one. It's not really possible to get that across in your survey, which seems really to be asking "what factors influence your choice of coach to try out first." 

Most coaches I tried I left after a single lesson because it was obvious they were idiots. At one lesson I took a phone call from work so the coach knew I worked with computers. Later I asked him why a particular thing he recommended would make a difference and his answer was this: "You're an expert with computers, and if you tried to explain computers to me I wouldn't have a clue. I've spend years studying the physics of the golf swing and if I tried to explain physics to you, you wouldn't be able to follow it." 

I have a degree in physics. I nearly performed an impromptu experiment to determine the Young's modulus of the human skull in the presence of a small metallic stressor on the end of a flexible shaft.