Professional Instruction

You may want to work on your game by taking lessons from a professional instructor. One of the best things about taking lessons is it will speed up your results. An instructor can help you identify root problems instead of just the symptoms. That way you’re not spinning your wheels working on the wrong issue.

I was, and still am, a very good golfer. But the first time I taught a golf lesson, I realized I wasn’t a good instructor. I have since remedied that situation, and I am now an excellent instructor, of course.

A warning about taking lessons from a friend who’s a fantastic golfer, but not a professional golf instructor. Good golfers aren’t necessarily good instructors. They play golf intuitively. They may be able to describe the way their swing feels, but that movement may feel differently to you. And what they think they’re doing, may in fact be very different from what they’re actually doing.

Whether you look to your local golf course or driving range for instruction, I have some general recommendations for choosing a golf instructor.

Golf instructors training may vary from years of apprenticeship to none at all. Some instructors have no other qualifications to teach other than their own ability to play, and some don’t even have that.

If your instructor is a PGA Professional, you can be assured they’re qualified to teach. PGA professionals go through an extensive training program and testing process. All you need to find out about a PGA professional is if your personalities work well together, and do you like their particular style of teaching.

Does the Instructor

  • Want to teach you and believe you will improve? If the instructor is more interested in showing off, find another. You need an instructor who can properly demonstrate the swing. But they should focus on the mechanics of the swing in a demonstration, not how great their own swing is. When they’re giving you a lesson, you and your swing should be the number one priority.
  • Act like a professional?
  • Have a good grasp of the fundamentals?
  • Recite clichés like, “Keep you head down, and keep you eye on the ball?” These clichés do have truths in them, that’s why they’re clichés. But you need an instructor who can explain why you’re moving your head, since it’s usually the symptom of another problem, not the true problem itself.
  • Focus on one area with you, and conquer it? If the instructor gives you ten things to work on in each lesson, you’ll never be able to focus and improve.
  • Tell you what your lesson plan will be, and how long it will take to get results? If they tell you they can fix a problem in one lesson, run! That means a quick fix, and that only adds to your problems. An instructor should evaluate your swing and work on the fundamentals. That may take a summer, instead of an afternoon, but the results will last. Short cuts may seem to help temporarily, but they can destroy some of the good things that you do.

Ask the instructor if you can observe a lesson. A good instructor will be pleased to have you watch a clinic or lesson, as long as the student doesn’t mind. The instructor’s actions during a lesson will tell you more than anything they say about the way they teach.

Improving your swing is rewarding, fun, and fundamental. With a proper golf swing, you’ll be able to enjoy and play golf the rest of your life.

You can’t buy a golf swing with a new gadget, or an expensive set of clubs, although it’s a lot of fun to buy those things. But you can buy good instruction. Then take the time, even five quality minutes a day, to practice properly. With an excellent approach, you’ll get excellent results.