To Lesson or not?

Arsenium

Hi all,

Been agonising a bit over this. I have a lesson planned for this week with the club pro. I have been struggling recently with a slice but in the last month or so I have gotten it under control (he says nervously, looking for a piece of wood to touch!!)

Anyway, I played Saturday and had my best round in a good while. Missed 3 fairways (1 was because I tried to take a bit off a corner and the drive went dead straight). Finished with 10 pars and an 81. Of those 10 pars I had 5 biridie putts that were from 10 feet or less. And not one of them came remotely near threatening the hole (one even became a 3 putt!!)

As my driving and iron play seems to be under control (for me and for the moment) I am wondering should I postpone the lesson until the gremlins creep back in or is now the best time to go and get a lesson?

Obviously the putting needs work.

Sandwlch

Cancel for sure.
While the fundamental flaw may well still be there, its such a fine line with the golf swing, that, if it works, then dont tamper. A pro will not have a look at you, say thats fine, nothing I can do for you and send you home. He will have you do something. Which might just upset what is OK. Not worth the risk.

PARlance

I'd be the opposite, better to go when you're in this frame off mind rather than going for a lesson when frustrated.

Tell the Pro you've been starting to find form and that you were thinking about cancelling, that you fear that the lesson may mess things up.
Hopefully he'll be good enough to assess the situation and go with the flow by not suggesting anything dramatic and instead offer one or two take outs that you can work to improve your good form.

I've went to lessons both in good and bad state of mind and I'd definitely recommend going now.
For me, it's like everything in golf, the best results will come from the times your head is in the right place.

Key to all this is the Pro, I've heard of some that will just go through their standard advice or some that will try to dismantle everything in order to get a few more lessons from you.

Arsenium

ajcurry123 wrote: »

I'd be the opposite, better to go when you're in this frame off mind rather than going for a lesson when frustrated.

Tell the Pro you've been starting to find form and that you were thinking about cancelling, that you fear that the lesson may mess things up.
Hopefully he'll be good enough to assess the situation and go with the flow by not suggesting anything dramatic and instead offer one or two take outs that you can work to improve your good form.

I've went to lessons both in good and bad state of mind and I'd definitely recommend going now.
For me, it's like everything in golf, the best results will come from the times your head is in the right place.

.

This is my confusion. A few weeks ago there was no doubt in my mind. I was getting a lesson. Now as I have started to play better I am terrified that any changes will put me back in the "un-enjoyable" stage, at least short term.

Decisions decisions.....

PARlance

Arsenium wrote: »

This is my confusion. A few weeks ago there was no doubt in my mind. I was getting a lesson. Now as I have started to play better I am terrified that any changes will put me back in the "un-enjoyable" stage, at least short term.

Decisions decisions.....

My attitude is that it's better, and probably cheaper in the long, to get the car serviced regularly rather than waiting for something major to go wrong with it

Maybe call the pro and be honest about the situation and see what he says.
A lot does depend on the Pro in these situations so it is a risk.

DeanAustin

Don't want to drag this off topic but don't want to create threads for the sake of it but I've never had a lesson in my life. I've been fighting a massive hook for years. Most days I get away with it but some days I just have to manage it. Been thinking of seeing a coach to remedy it.

Is seeing a coach worthwhile in people's opinions?

GreeBo

Get a lesson, you need to figure out why you have stopped slicing it....maybe you now have some other fault thats compensating?

In any case, a lesson (with a Pro you know) is never a waste of time, there will always be something to work on, even if its just a setup check.

spacecoyote

would be inclined to agree with the lads above.

I think people always get into the habit of only going to a pro when something is seriously wrong, which is fair enough but I don't think there is ever a bad time to see a pro and work on your game.

I think that if you know something is off, you should try to fix it. Probably all the better to do it now. If your timing, confidentce etc is good at the moment then you'll probably find it all the easier to adjust to any tweaks and changes the pro offers up

Arsenium

GreeBo wrote: »

Get a lesson, you need to figure out why you have stopped slicing it....maybe you now have some other fault thats compensating?

In any case, a lesson (with a Pro you know) is never a waste of time, there will always be something to work on, even if its just a setup check.

I realised I was swinging outside to in very much after my driver head hit the bucket of balls on the take back at the range one evening. I straightened that out over a period of a couple of weeks but I have found that I now need to to open my stance slightly or I will still slice it. Standing square to the ball and swinigng normally still sends it right. Which might suggest a grip issue? Or something else I couldnt remotely work out on my own.

I'm going to go ahead with the plan. And open Pandora's box. Lucky Pandora !!

GreeBo

Arsenium wrote: »

I realised I was swinging outside to in very much after my driver head hit the bucket of balls on the take back at the range one evening. I straightened that out over a period of a couple of weeks but I have found that I now need to to open my stance slightly or I will still slice it. Standing square to the ball and swinigng normally still sends it right. Which might suggest a grip issue? Or something else I couldnt remotely work out on my own.

I'm going to go ahead with the plan. And open Pandora's box. Lucky Pandora !!

Sounds like open clubface at impact, but better off getting a Pro to diagnose why (could be setup, grip or swing plane really)

Let us know how you get on, always interesting to see what a Pro says (even better if you could take a vid before!)

shaneon77

Why has nobody suggested that you might get a putting lesson from your pro? You could discuss your driving issues and maybe assess if work is needed on the full swing. If you are not coming anywhere near the hole from inside 10 feet & 3 putting from the same distance then perhaps a green reading lesson could help.

Davd

Agree with comments above advising to get a lesson. I had a similar experience to the op. After some time off and playing less frequently over the winter, my driving started to nose dive. Ball flight was a lot lower and started to hook the ball. Sorted it out myself with a few adjustments but still had the occasional bad drive which were always low flights. Booked a lesson more as a pre-season tune up.
First he looked at irons and swing planes, no problem there. But when it came to the driver he could see that I was nearly hitting down on the ball, effectively changing the loft from a 9 degree to a 5 degree and moved it 2" forward in stance. I was also trying to control the flight and as a result was hitting the ball with a lower swing speed than end of season last year. The result was lower back spin on the ball so it tended to drop out of the air very quickly. I needed to get my swing speed back up for the shaft I was using. AT the start of the lesson, swing speed was 96mph, by the end, it was 108mph. The change in my driving was - longer, straighter and consistent.
I was able to get back a bit of consistency myself through minor adjustments myself but they weren't the correct changes to make. I wouldn't have picked out ball position and swing speed myself. Plan to go back for a follow up lesson at end of end of March to make sure everything is still as it should be and then should be in a good position to start getting that handicap down!

padzer

Do it.

Id never had a lesson in my life until santa got me one for xmas. Being cack-handed i was worried he would only tell me to change hands but he didnt. I was compensating for a major fade/slice by aiming way left, i thought it worked well enough but he showed me where i was going wrong and now im hitting it further and straighter.

Also got a putting lesson off santa, straight away yer man told me the putter i was using was 2 inches too long for me.

These lads pointed out what was obvious by just looking at what i was doing, no major changes were needed.

brick tamland

padzer wrote: »

Do it.

Id never had a lesson in my life until santa got me one for xmas. Being cack-handed i was worried he would only tell me to change hands but he didnt. I was compensating for a major fade/slice by aiming way left, i thought it worked well enough but he showed me where i was going wrong and now im hitting it further and straighter.

Also got a putting lesson off santa, straight away yer man told me the putter i was using was 2 inches too long for me.

These lads pointed out what was obvious by just looking at what i was doing, no major changes were needed.

Who did you get the cackhanded lesson off Padzer??

Rippeditup

I am a big believer in lessons as trying to fix yourself can have awful results..

I use the lessons to get a deeper understanding of when I hit bad shots what exactly is happening so I can make the amends knowing what the issues are.. I would however ensure you are going to a pro who has a good reputation as you need to get someone who will make it about you and your swing and not try to change everything for the sake of it.

I always ask around for reviews.. A few pros I will recommend are David Mortimer (Galway area) he is excellent and a super player and John Kelly around Dublin who I have to say makes it very simple and also works around certain engrained habits

Arsenium

Thanks for the advice guys. I went ahead and had the lesson Weds. A few things were shown up. But nothing I would have worked out.

It seems it's not really a slice I have as I start the ball off to the right and it stays going right.

Set up fine. Grip fine. Take away fine. First problem is as I moved my shoulders in the take away, I turn a certain distance then stop turning and continue to move the club with my arms. Causing the club to go off the correct line and come back down on the wrong line. So the first step is complete the shoulder turn. Working on this. Video analysis showed very simply what the issue was. I doubt I would understand the issue without the video and the lines etc. Felt like being on Sky sports for a minute :-)

Second issue. Very obvious when it's pointed out but again I wouldnt have considered it. At the point of impact, practically all of my weight stayed on my right foot. Effectively meaning I was scooping the ball rather than driving through it. The inevitable result of this apparently is a high weak fade. Homework now is to work on turning the hips and getting the weight onto the left side so I can drive into the ball instead of falling back from it.

Went to the range yesterday evening and hit 50 balls (mainly irons) to practice this weight shift / hip turn. I know its only 1 practice session but the difference in the way the ball left the club was very noticeable. That feeling of the ball going away from the club if you know what I mean. And the ball flight was quite different also. It was a piercing ball flight that drove into the wind rather than my normal very high ball flight that gets caught in the wind.

Very happy with the results so far. There was very little tampering done so hopefully it wont be a huge job to bring the changes to the course. Fingers crossed.

Next up...the damn putting !!

BillyBoy

Fair play, great to hear it went well. I think we all have been there before where we are starting to play well and don't want to ruin it with a lesson! I have had mixed results, some time the game improves, other times it is like starting from scratch. It is annoying but in the end, we never stop learning in golf so in the long run lessons are usually good!

Best of luck with the game, hope it continues to improve.
Bill

PARlance

Arsenium wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys. I went ahead and had the lesson Weds. A few things were shown up. But nothing I would have worked out.

It seems it's not really a slice I have as I start the ball off to the right and it stays going right.

Set up fine. Grip fine. Take away fine. First problem is as I moved my shoulders in the take away, I turn a certain distance then stop turning and continue to move the club with my arms. Causing the club to go off the correct line and come back down on the wrong line. So the first step is complete the shoulder turn. Working on this. Video analysis showed very simply what the issue was. I doubt I would understand the issue without the video and the lines etc. Felt like being on Sky sports for a minute :-)

Second issue. Very obvious when it's pointed out but again I wouldnt have considered it. At the point of impact, practically all of my weight stayed on my right foot. Effectively meaning I was scooping the ball rather than driving through it. The inevitable result of this apparently is a high weak fade. Homework now is to work on turning the hips and getting the weight onto the left side so I can drive into the ball instead of falling back from it.

Went to the range yesterday evening and hit 50 balls (mainly irons) to practice this weight shift / hip turn. I know its only 1 practice session but the difference in the way the ball left the club was very noticeable. That feeling of the ball going away from the club if you know what I mean. And the ball flight was quite different also. It was a piercing ball flight that drove into the wind rather than my normal very high ball flight that gets caught in the wind.

Very happy with the results so far. There was very little tampering done so hopefully it wont be a huge job to bring the changes to the course. Fingers crossed.

Next up...the damn putting !!

Great stuff Arsenium, I really think you'll benefit from going whilst in a "good place"

Re the weight transfer, I had a similar issue, however it was my left leg that was carrying all the weight, a very simple technique I used to help me to get used to the weight transfer was take practice swings where I lifted my left leg off the ground on the back swing and then do the opposite of the downswing.

Second tip, don't take any tips from anyone including me

If you're happy with the lesson and happy with what you have got to work on for it then keep it simple and stick to that