Self taught or lessons and if so how many have you taken and who from?

[charnockpro]

Reading a few posts i was wondering who on here is self taught and who goes to see their local professional.

I have had about 12 lessons in my lifetime 6 from George Tomlinson the old ex assistant from Hesketh GC Southport and 6 from Adrian Fryer at Drivetime in Warrington.

[Sandpiper3]

I've had probly 8-12 lessons in my lifetime, for the most part self taught. When I got down to a 5 I went for a few lessons with a local guy, then basically relearned the basics and went back off on my own.

Get tips and such from random ppl so often, but basically 95% self taught.

[papperlapub]

I started playing when i was 9, now i'm 26. I guess i've had between 50-120 lessons.

Don't know for sure though...

[Eracer]

I've had about 20 formal lessons. Most of what I've learned about the swing is through osmosis - books, magazines, The Golf Channel, watching tournaments, this place.

[BrandonM7]

2 lessons from the local pro (Brandon Oldham, Overlook Golf Links,) and I have 2 more to take. Everything else has been from books and such. I also got lots of "pointers" from the guy I started playing with, who can't let you take a swing without telling you something you did wrong. So I guess that probably cancels out the 2 lessons, leaving me with just book knowledge

[ualtim]

Self taught. I went to a clinic at the local golf course last year just to check it out and probably got about 20 mins or so during the course of an hour of the assistant golf pro looking at my swing and making a few minor adjustments.

When I started to take golf seriously, I went to a range 3 to 4 times a week for a six week period and really built my swing. Since then, the only adjustments I have made are after readining the Penick books, Golf my Way by Nicklaus, and Hogan's 5 lessons. Short game wise, I learned a few tricks from Pelz's Short Game Bible.

The most important aspect of my game is a slow take away. Any time I speed up the take away something bad will happen. Sometimes it takes a range session or two to get myself back into the correct tempo, but even out on the course if I can just get myself to slow down the take away my ball stiking improves. The hard part is just recognizing that I have sped up the take away.

[SiberianDVM]

3 lessons from Alex McNeil, the former owner of the range I go to. He was also a former PGA tour player, worked for Hogan, and was a former college golf coach. He's retired now.

2 lessons from Micah Hicks, when he was at Jones Creek. I liked him and would have taken more lessons, but new owners came in, and he moved to Houndslake in Aiken, which is private. He played college golf for Furman.

I would like to take some more lessons, 1 every 3 months or so, but I can't find anyone I think knows WTF they are talking about, so I stick with my books, my videos, my Tour Tempo player, and rarely the video camera.

[warbirdlover]

I was "self taught" for the first 10 years (40 years playing total). I really bombed the ball (two fairways over ) and really sucked.

Then a former college (scratch) golfer "fixed" numerous flaws in my swing. (He was a salesman for a heat treat company we used and would take me out frequently on some of the finest courses around and must have felt compelled to help my game). It was humbling as my scores shot up before settling back down and going lower. Much of what he taught me is now called "stack and tilt" but that seems to work for my old body.

I then "tweaked" some of these tips over the years and a couple years ago started occassionally going to a very good local pro (one of the best golfers in Wisconsin) who hardly changed anything, only pointed out what I didn't consistently do that led to shanks etc. He said my basic swing was "sound". Very informative.

Then last fall I bought the "four magic moves" lesson package to try to get more distance and most that was in it was bulls**t. But it did get me more lag and some distance after I "tweaked" some of that info.

Then (finally) our old buddy "Razor" pointed out my "dancing feet". That was the final flaw to fix. I no longer have "Elvis legs" and I'm hitting the ball better then I ever have in my life. But I won't put up a video since I can't take any more criticism of my swing...

But I do know my swing VERY well after all of this and even though I can't make myself do it right all the time I know what the cause is on a bad shot.

[kelvinsense]

I'm a new golfer, 18, and have been going to the range / putting green / chipping green for about two weeks or so.

I've also had two lessons with a great pro near me who is PGA certified, etc.

I'll have to say that reading Ben Hogan's five fundamentals helped me a lot with my stance, posture, grip, etc. Maybe this is why my coach hasn't gone through that as much as other little tweaks that he saw wrong on my swing. My second lesson was introductory to chipping and I've been practicing on the chipping green for a bit.

I'd say a mixture of both wouldn't be bad. During my first lesson he complimented me on good things that I was doing right, but noticed some things I did wrong that I never noticed / no book would have fixed. (my posture was too straight up, not a slanted back). I think there are things you can pick up well enough from books, reading, etc. and that a pro can help refine/tweak your swing. Plus my coach had some drills , practice tools that helped me get a feel for different things. (impact bags, swinging around a broom/a rope (so that you're swinging, not hitting). Good experiences with both so far.

[King Par]

I've taken two last year. I played for around 6-7 years and was self taught up until then.

[SilverUberXeno]

Self-taught, and I read books. I'm very analytical and pretty aware of myself. I watch golf tournaments on TV to see what the guys are doing with their swings. I'll watch a swing vision 20 times.

Honestly, a ten year old could give me lessons, because this is really all I want...

"Am I doing whateverIamquestioningabout?"

5yrOld: "Yes/No."

"Okay."

I've read enough to know how to swing a golf club. The inconsistency comes when I make a bad shot but don't get to see what I did wrong.

[slickpitt]

I took a lesson when I was 18(30 now) to get some basic fundamentals down. Like grab, stance, etc. Other than that my swing is self taught. I did take a lesson on short game, chipping and pitching last year... but I don't really count that as "swing".

[DaGris]

never had a lesson. one of my buddies shots on the 70's, I just kinda listen to him alittle.

[goatster]

never had any lessons was gonna take some last yr but bought a new truck instead.

have thought about going to the clinic our course has 2 times a month.not sure if its started yet.

[dave.]

Self taught using Hogans Fundamentals (surprise surprise)

But I like lessons and have one a month, I've probably had about 30 in total