Getting my first lesson

[progrmr]

in about 3 hours.

Anything in particular I should look for to determine whether or not I've gotten a good instructor? I'm taking the lesson at the local driving range and the guy seemed nice enough.

I'm a bit nervous, haha! My swing is SO inconsistent and miserable I will be surprised if the guy doesn't laugh me off the mat! Oh well, I'm sure he's seen at least as bad as me, if not worse!

Anyway hopefully the leson will give me some direction. I just have had enough frustration with total inconsistency. Yesterday I got a full bucket of balls, and left half of them at the mat disgusted. Walked up to the counter, and got signed up for my lesson.

I'm a patient person and I'm enjoying the challenge that golf presents. I never thought that having to bring the mind and the body together to hit a small ball around would be so tough. But I guess if it was easy everyone would do it.

I'll post after the lesson and let you all know how it went.

[bdcrowe]

A few pointers, all just MHO.

Forget the old addage that those who can do, those who can't teach. Make sure he can hit balls straight before listening to him.

Very important IMO! Many instructors teach a cookie cutter swing that they feel is the perfect swing. You need an instructor that teaches you the best swing for YOU-- your body type, abilities, tendencies, etc...

Be patient with the process!

He has undoubtedly seen much worse than you, or he hasn't taught long. Don't be nervous. Remember that for the time you are there, he is YOUR EMPLOYEE. Be bold in taking away from the process what you need.

Have fun, dude.

[Nevercompromise]

bd hit the nail on the head. A swing that fits YOU! I am 6'3 my golf instructor was 5'10. He had an athletic compact powerful swing. The wingspan of my arms is 6' across. And one move is easier for him and not easy for me. I am a Saxophone teacher and I laughed when I first started paying attention to golf instruction. The first think I try to do when teaching is to use the right words or analogy to fit a situation. In golf I love weak and strong grips. When I first heard I had a weak grip I thought "oh I am holding on to the club like a p#$%y." My first reaction was to squeeze the grip and hold on tight. There are some others but it would take to long to type. If you don't understand something he or she is explaining ask them to give another example or possibly an analogy of how it should feel or look. A good teacher should have thought these things out somewhere along the line.

[DaveE]

More than likely he will start with the basics like grip, stance and posture. It's also likely he will send you away with drills to ingrain these basics.

If you do nothing else, pay attention to these. A good swing can be built around good fundamentals. It's a good thing you're a patient person, it took about a year for my lessons to start paying off.

[progrmr]

What a great lesson! Man, that's nice guy right there

If anybody is in the area of the Golf Center @ Polaris, don't hesistate to get a lesson there.

Lesson started of with some idle chit-chat. He got some background information on me etc. Then he showed me the 2 knuckle grip, and how to properly hold the club in the other hand. After that it was stance and posture time.

He had me setup and took a pic. I don't have bad posture at all. Then he filmed me while I hit a ball. I gotta say, aside from being too fat my shot looked pretty good!

He gave me a few drills to work on and I setup another lesson a week from Friday. His main points to me today were to relax. I have alot of tension in my swing so he really wants me to try to relax and just swing the club - not at a ball but just swinging back/forth without stopping except at the end of the swing, then back/forward again in one smooth motion for at least 10 minutes a day.

Great lesson. I wasn't nervous at all.

golf > sex (well...ok, that's a stretch but you get me meaning!)

[Bravo]

Sounds like a good lesson indeed. He is trying to loosen you up which is great. Beginners are almost always "bound up" with too much tightness...

Are you going to hit some balls anytime soon?

[progrmr]

Actually I hit a few today..about 1/2 a bucket.

He said to go ahead and hit as many balls as I wanted, that the practice will help.

Maybe that means my swing is good enough that I just need to fix my stance/grip

[Bravo]

Yeah hitting balls regularly is an important part of improvement. I would try to hit a couple of times per week and play once a week.

then, take it a couple of months and go back for another lesson. Let him look at you again and repeat..

[progrmr]

Even though it's frustrating sometimes I really enjoy playing/hitting balls.

But I think I've pulled a muscle - left half of my chest, feels like just below the pec but more on the side.

Ouch...haha. Gonna hafta let that heal up for a couple of days.

[obagain]

It sounds like you had a great teacher. If you have a lesson and it feels more like you spenet some time with a buddy he did his job well.

Golf is not mechanical, so if he make everything technical you will have a hard time translating that into a positive. If you are just a couple of buddies on the range you will be relaxed and the tips you will receive will be easier to pick up.

[progrmr]

Originally Posted by obagain

It sounds like you had a great teacher. If you have a lesson and it feels more like you spenet some time with a buddy he did his job well.

Golf is not mechanical, so if he make everything technical you will have a hard time translating that into a positive. If you are just a couple of buddies on the range you will be relaxed and the tips you will receive will be easier to pick up.

He did exactly what you said. I started asking about the position of the club at the top of my swing, where the ball should be placed in my stance etc and he just said "Don't worry about it - people try to make this game about all technical stuff. Just try to learn to feel the club head. Swing smoothly, don't try to control the swing - it should be natural."

He obviously had been teaching for quite awhile because he made me feel comfortable right away.