My girlfriend was talking about getting lessons so she can come play golf with me, and my Dad made mention about lessons. Personally I hate being told what to do and how to do it. Ive played plenty of other sports successfully without lessons.

So out of interest how many of you have had lessons? And to get a better indication, what is your handycap?

2B
You want your girlfriend to play golf WITH YOU are you crazy, I regret the day I encouraged the missus to take up golf….well not really BUT SERIOUSLY…. anyone can play golf without lessons its simple really, see white stationary ball hit white stationary ball, what could be easier….HEH, HEH
Lessons: around 30-40 over a number of years, still happening ( yeh I know, slow learner )
Handicap:11
Baz

Haha not a good move I’m guessing? Hopefully she gets over it. Mind you i’d rather play with her than my old man. I have a short fuse but his is shorter so I prefer playing with someone who can stuff a shot and go “oops” rather than hit the deck from flying clubs and stuff

had about 15 lessons over the past 2 and a half years. Handicap 12, and if my home course wasn’t Kooralbyn it would be in single figures easily.

Handicap 12, and if my home course wasn’t Kooralbyn it would be in single figures easily.

That is a big call to make!

Oh well it’s been made now. I regularly play other courses and play under my handicap.

But not impossible, that course is one tough mother. They used to have a monthly comp called “Copperhead” I think….prizes for just playing to your handicap from the back tees.
Some resort /club courses in SE Qld would be way easier than Kooralbyn if played as home course.
Baz

i started playing in december and have played once a week since and am very seriously considering taking up my first lesson. have taken 20 or so shots of my score but i know my swing is very ordinary. After reading articles and views i am pretty much just deciding whether to take a private lesson or just go for the group thing…

benny,
one lesson now is way cheaper than five later to fix up all the bad habits you develop in the meantime, trust me some bad habits can be difficult to reverse.
make further decisions on lessons etc after you have had the first private one.
Good luck,
Baz

Well thankfully one of my mates is a golf pro at a coarse in Brisbane so I might make a call to him coz then i’m technically getting lessons but not…haha. Confused?

Even if you are off scratch there is room for improvement. Handicaps don’t come into it. Even Tiger has a coach to look at his swing for any possible improvements. Get a lesson but choose carefully, you don’t want someone who just compares your swing to Tigers. If they try to change more than 2 things find someone else, you are best to work with what you have.

I had 8 lessons last year and it was worth every cent.
It took all the guess work out and saved heaps of time as i never practiced the wrong thing.

I have been playing for about 12 months. Iv had 3 lessons, 2 from one coach and 1 from another. The first 2 lessons were good and got me swinging alot better. I got the 3rd lesson from another pro about 3 months ago and he just pushe dme to buy Henry griffits clubs. Wasnt happy with the lesson. Havent had one since and im swinging the club pretty well. I am oing to see another coach again soon and see how my swing is progressing. HC is 12 and moving down.

if you wanna improve u should get lessons….

on a scale of importance:

lessons would be a 9/10
and
clubs would be the extra 1/10

saying you have half decent sticks to begin with..

I agree. You might look the goods but there are plenty of guys with it all…... the sticks, the bag, the get – up, the talk….. but not the game.
I play with a guy who is a dreamer.He has spent in excess of $2500 on gear & plays off 26. If he spent half that money on lessons instead of clubs he would be 5-10 shots better off.
I was playing off 12, had 2 lessons & went straight to 9, all he fixed up was Alignment & Grip….. simple.
You cant go wrong. All the pros have coaches, yet for some reason we think we dont need ‘em!

I pl;ayed for 10 years before I had my first lesson.Was the biggest mistake, ( in golf that is ) I ever made. I am now trying to fix up 10 years of ingrained bad habits. After 3 lessons I am beginning to see the light. My advice to anyone just starting out . See a teaching pro & learn how to play the game right from the start. Then go out & get yourself a good quality set of clubs FITTED .

Used to have one every 4-6 weeks, but since dislocating my shoulder, haven’t as I can’t get a full swing due to current shoulder immobility.
Has improved to about 80% of prior to dislocation, but is in essence long pitches for every club and shot.

Get lessons. I was playing off of 15 then had 4 lessons in 4 mths. My handicap went to 9 a mth after the last lesson. I’ve only started playing again after a good 6 year lay off and am planning to get lessons. They were worth every cent to me.

Lessons are the way to go. If you want to become a better golfer, 9 times out of 10, the way to go is to swallow your pride and listen to what the pro has to say. Watch your missuses progress through the lessons and I reckon she will improve very quickly because of them.

P.s. I have had 3 or 4 lessons to date. Definitely recommend them experience!

Had lessons as a teenager when I first started out and started playing some very good golf (I am now 33 and can’t remember what my handicap was). Stopped playing for 10 years when I joined the Air Force and took it up a few years ago socially. I have only just joined a club and looking to get some lessons again. I have been told my swing still looks the goods however without lessons I doubt I will gain the consistency I need.
We don’t have a pro however there are a number of players on 3-4 hcps. Given that this is the only club in the country would lessons from a good player “without the training background” be worth it or should I wait until I return home in a year or 2???

All the pros have coaches, yet for some reason we think we dont need ‘em!

So very very true, never looked at it in that light.

After this thread I have spoken with my mate who is a golf pro and will be going over to have some lessons.

Thanks guys

I played on Friday with a guy that hadn’t played in 8 years or so, and he was carving perfect divots, and sending his 5-iron 180m+ in a straight line every time… If you’ve got that freakish sort of natural ability, and you don’t have serious goals about reducing your handicap, then you don’t have to bother with lessons…

IF, on the other hand, you can’t do things like that, and DO have a goal of improving your h/c, go spend the money… I’m in the latter group, and I’d definitely say it was worth it.

I played on Friday with a guy that hadn’t played in 8 years or so, and he was carving perfect divots, and sending his 5-iron 180m+ in a straight line every time… If you’ve got that freakish sort of natural ability, and you don’t have serious goals about reducing your handicap, then you don’t have to bother with lessons

lol… watch him the next day hitting shanks….

lessons are the way to go. No question.

the hard thing is finding the right pro to learn from!

I guess thats like anything though. When I was playing cricket, one of my coaches used to play for Australia in the 80’s as a bowler and was brilliant for moral and for pace bowlers but as a spinner at the time I learned more and achieved more learning from a previous coaches husband (yes I had a female cricket coach) on spin bowling than any other coaches have been able to teach me.

So achievements dont always mean they’re the best to learn from