I’ve heard a lot of mixed opinions about whether or not golf lessons are worth the money. I’ve taken a few lessons, tried a lot of training aids, and practiced a lot, so I have a pretty good idea of what works best. In this post, I’m going to be talking about whether or not golf lessons are worth it and if so, how many you should take.
If you’re a beginner, golf lessons will be well worth the money. A lot of it will depend on how good of a coach you have but it is a great way to shortcut success. Just like with any other sport, you always had a coach. Golf shouldn’t be any different. I think a beginner should take 3 lessons to start and then spend a bunch of time practicing. One lesson for the basics, one lesson for the swing, and one lesson for putting.
If you want to quickest results you can take more but I think this is a good starting point. Lessons are expensive so most people won’t continue with them but they’re probably the best way to learn the fundamentals. You’re going to suck at first and if you don’t know the basics, you’ll never know how to practice effectively. Want to know what you should be working on if you take lessons? Continue reading.
Lesson #1: The Basics
The very first lesson you’ll want to take should cover the absolute basics of golf. You’ve probably heard a golfer say they need to get back to basics when they’re struggling. They seem simple but they really are important.
In your first lesson, you should focus on having the proper grip. The grip is incredibly important in the golf swing and the more you can do right before you swing, the better. If you have the wrong grip you’ll have to develop bad habits to compensate.
The next thing you should learn is the stance. You need to have a solid foundation to have balance and power throughout the swing. If you have a stance that’s too narrow, you’ll have a tough time with balance. If you have a stance that’s too wide, you’ll have a hard time rotating your body.
After that, you’ll want to learn where to place the ball in your stance. You need to know how far you should be standing from the ball and you need to know where the ball should be placed (center, forward, back). If you don’t know this it makes a hard game even harder.
Lesson #2: The Swing
Now that you understand the basics, the next lesson should be covering the swing itself. This should cover your driver swing, iron swing, and wedge swing. This is going to be really hard to do if you don’t understand the basics so that’s why we started there.
This lesson should cover the basics of the swing and shouldn’t be too complicated. You need to know the right tempo and how long/fast your backswing and downswing should be. It can’t be too fast and it can’t be too slow. Super important.
You’ll also want to cover things like keeping your head still and making a good weight transition. It might sound a bit complicated but it’s really not and all golf coaches should know how to make things simple.
Once you get the basics of your swing dialed in, you will then know how to practice the right way. There are a lot of little things that go into a good swing but you’ll never figure them all out if you don’t get advice from a coach.
Lesson #3: Putting
The last lesson you’ll want to do should focus on putting. Being good on the putting greens is the single best way to improve your game and lower scores. Most people overlook this but it’s the club you’re going to use the most each round.
Again, being able to have the right grip, tempo, and alignment is key to sinking more putts. You’ll also need to learn how to properly read greens because most weekend golfers actually read them completely wrong.
It might seem like a simple thing and all you have to do is tap the ball into the hole. If you try that with no technique you’ll probably never get much better. You need a second set of eyes to really get things dialed in and that’s one of the reasons pros have their caddie check their lines.
Once you’ve finished your three lessons, the next thing you’ll have to do is practice what you learned. If you only go to the course after that you probably won’t see much improvement. You’ll really need to work on what you learned and spend a couple of hours per week fine-tuning everything.
There are people who have never taken a lesson and are good golfers but it doesn’t happen often. You could read articles and watch videos and learn from that or you could just learn things from trial and error. The only downside to that is the amount of time it’ll take. Why spend three years trying different things when you could spend two weeks and a bit of money learning from someone who’s already good.
I’ve had a few lessons from a few different people and they weren’t all helpful for me. It’s all going to depend on your coach and how they fit your game. Some people will find someone awesome to work with while another person hates it. Try to find someone who focuses on the little details instead of someone who just gets you to hit a bunch of balls and gives suggestions.
Let me know your thoughts and any questions you have. Like this article? Feel free to give it a share!
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