Lessons killed my game... RIP Golf

[selly09]

I haven't play golf often over the past 10 years, maybe a round or two for a laugh... however this year I decided that I'm gonna play golf all summer and get good. So I went out and played a round with some mates after work and shot a 47 ( 9 holes ). Fantastic I think, with a bit of practice I'll be playing off 15 by the end of summer.

Then I had a great idea, why don't I take a few lessons and then I'll be hitting the ball straight ( had a nice little draw that sometimes became a hook). So off I pop to the local pro and he says I'm swinging the club too flat... so he remodels my swing so it's more upright got me to hit a few balls which went ok and then sent me on my way.

Last 3 rounds I played have been 103, 108 and 111.... I now have an almighty slice and have been hitting my tee shots almost 90 degrees to the right... !

To make things worse a guy in our office has just taken up the game and is beating me.

Has anybody else been destroyed by lessons, or do I just need to stick at it ?




Oh and this is my first post, hello all

 

[obagain]

Welcome.
Most of the time you will get worse after a lesson for a while. Keep doing what he said and as it becomes normal you wll see the improvement.

 

[Bravo]

Selly:

Are you hitting the range a couple of times between rounds or just playing?

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Sometimes you need to take a step back before taking a couple of steps forward. And practice.

 

[Loop]

Sometimes, you need to keep practicing to finally see that what you were taught doesn't suit you. Then you revert back to your old natural swing and shoot the lights out...
rop:

OR you'll constantly need to pay for lessons for the teacher to see your swing constantly, until you finally run out of cash and nothing works and finally revert back to your old swing...
:beach3:

 

[chollyred]

Hey! It can't be your swing! The pro just fixed it, right? Must be the clubs. Go out and spend about $1500 on new sticks. That should do it!

Just kidding!

I'm wondering how bad your swing was if you were hitting a draw that only sometimes turned into a hook? Most golfers would kill for that type of action. If the lessons don't kick in soon, you may want to consult another teacher.

 

[David B]

Like others have been saying, take everything the 'teacher' says with a grain of salt... of course they're there to help you, but I find that a lot of teachers try to apply a 'one size fits all' swing, rather than take any limitations you have into account.

The other thing that I've found is that these "pro's" often don't play much better golf than you do... for example, I was at the driving range yesterday (like I pretty much am every day), and happened to be there while the range pro's were hitting a few balls.

One teacher, who is probably the better one, couldn't hit the center of a green to save his life (he either over or undershot it several times at 80 yards), and his drives were topping out at about 200 yards. The other 'pro' had a dip forward in his swing on the downstroke... nothing like the form I keep hearing him teach to other people... he didn't even really have any shoulder rotation. He just brought the club back (with minimal rotation), dipped forward and swung the club... was the damndest thing I ever saw.

I guess they're alright for teaching the fundamentals to novice golfers, but I'd hate to be somebody with experience trying to have them 'fix' their game... chances are you'd end up worse off than better.

This isn't to say that 'all' pro's are this way, just that because somebody is labeled 'teacher' or 'pro' doesn't necessarily mean that they're ex-PGA and are still a scratch golfer.

 

[bdcrowe]

I agree with the latest posts here. Too many pros try to teach a swing instead of teaching a pupil. The right swing for you may not be the upright swing. It certainly isn't for me. The trick is to find a pro that can see what your body naturally wants to do and mold a fundamental swing around that. It's kind of like trying to whiddle granite or chizzle wood. You apply the correct tools to the materials to get what you want. Sounds like he is trying to chizzle you when you need whiddling. lol

 

[mont86]

I had lessons a month ago and he had me slow down my swing,work on my grip ,stand farther away from the ball and extend my neck.. It has helped tremendiously. He also told me to golf as well as practice.

 

[Big Brother Dunk]

Welcome.
Most of the time you will get worse after a lesson for a while. Keep doing what he said and as it becomes normal you wll see the improvement.

Wisdom.....

 

[IrishGolfer]

.........

 

[selly09]

Thanks to everybody who has had some advice for me.

My swing used to be really flat, swinging the club around my body and relying on a major amount of hand movement through impact.

I was never in control of the draw it would just happen automatically, I couldn't hit a straight shot or a fade it was either a draw or a low flat hook.

I'm gonna stick with the lessons and the practice and work hard to get the handicap down over the summer. At the moment I play 18 holes at the weekend, get 9 holes in one night after work and probably get at least one range session in.

It's just it really frustrating to be standing infront of the ball and have so many swing thoughts going round in my head that I can't even swing the club back... like some kind of reverse form of yips I guess.

To be fair I have hit some sweet 5-irons with the new setup, higher, straighter and further than I ever did before... so I guess I need to have faith and put the work in.

Fingers crossed..

Happy golfing all

 

[bames]

Read Hogan's Five Fundamentals, and integrate them into your range time and eventually the course. Also buy some plastic balls and just smash them until the fundamentals are ingrained into your muscle memory, that will cut the swing thoughts down to one or two. Good Luck.

 

[selly09]

Lessons saved my game !!!

Im sure nobody really cares but...

after my golf lessons totally destroyed my game I carried on hacking away until recently I shot a few sub 100 rounds in a row. Something just clicked and my swing just felt good, can't explain it.

Manged to get 12 holes in after work last week and had 5 pars... I was gonna break 90 I'm sure.

Just had a lesson in my lunch hour today and he got me to turn my hips a lot more to start my downswing and I started hitting the ball so sweetly I couldn't even feel the impact !

Awesome stuff.

So I guess the true lesson is.... don't give up, carry on practicing and if things don't make sense take a lesson or 3 and see what happens.

Sub 80 round before 2007 - bring it on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MAHALLEDAY]

Good work man, persistance pays off. . I've been looking ot get me some lessons just to cheap to pay for them .