Do I need golf lessons and do they work?

“Don’t be too proud to take golf lessons; I’m not”

Jack Nicklaus, 18-time major winner and GOAT!

Whether a seasoned golfer or a complete beginner, improving at golf can be an equally frustrating adventure, especially when you attempt to uncover its secrets all on your own. As a result, you have probably landed on the same question and predicament every serious golfer asks themselves at some point, “Do I need golf lessons” and if so, “Do golf lessons actually work!”

If that sounds familiar, we have the answers:-

When should I consider golf lessons?

• Are you a beginner golfer?
• Your golf game has plateaued, or you are getting worse
• You’ve tried to learn on your own with no success
• The wheels fall off and you don’t know how to fix it!
• The advice from others isn’t working!
• You are totally lost with your golf game

Do golf lessons work?

• Do golf lessons work and are they worth it?
• Case study of the benefits of golf lessons
• Our final thoughts

Are you a beginner golfer?

As someone new to the game, if you didn’t know already, golf is hard! The technique needed just to get the golf ball up and sailing through the air consistently is widely considered the most difficult of any sport, by quite a distance!

Because of this, it’s important that you learn the fundamentals of a sound golf swing early, as it’s very easy to get frustrated and give up before you get going!

Even things as simple as how you hold the golf club are not intuitive. And if you don’t have these correct initially, your chances are very slim of hitting even one good golf shot to get you coming back, let alone a bucket full. As such, we strongly suggest that if you are new to the game of golf, you start researching how much golf lessons for beginners cost near you as soon as possible.

Has your golf game plateaued, or getting worse?

Despite watching every YouTube golf video, reading every book on the mental game and visiting your driving range frequently, you still aren’t getting any better, in fact, you might be getting worse. Does this sound familiar? If so, it might be time to consider taking a golf lesson. But first, let’s discuss what may have stopped you from improving previously despite your hard work, so you can settle on whether now is the right time to start taking lessons

Tried to learn golf on your own

As the old saying goes, “practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent”, so no matter how much you practice if it’s not quality practice, you are either not going to get better or hit a roadblock with your improvement.

Even if you are lucky enough to have learnt the correct grip and setup fundamentals of the golf swing from the start (Which most people don’t!), those are simply the fundamentals to hitting good consistent golf shots. They are by no means a guarantee. The rubber truly hits the road as soon as you drag the golf club away and hope that your playing partner is paying attention.

So why is improvement on your own so difficult?

The reason is the difference between hitting 210 yard repeat slices with your driver, to consistent 275 yard high drawing bombs, boils down to a lot more than just a slight tweak. And although it’s possible to hit both relative “good” and “bad” shots on any given day for most golfers, the level of technical changes needed to take your golf swing to this next level, can be both extremely complex and variable for each golfer. So much so, that without the necessary expertise in your corner, it’s virtually impossible to achieve the results you crave on your own, leaving you going round in circles looking for a magical fix.

BETTER GOLF, STARTS WITH A BETTER SWING

The wheels fall off with your golf and you don’t know how to fix it!

You’ve just done the first 9 holes in “4 under” your handicap, only to capitulate on the back 9 and wish you’d never taken up this infuriating game. If that sounds familiar, before you throw your clubs away, maybe we can shine a light on the situation.

Although your mental game of-course plays a part in this capitulation, your mental game is only as good as your golf swing. As Golf Digest Top 50 US instructor Brian Manzella once famously said:-

“The quickest way to improve your mental game is to sort out your golf swing”…And we couldn’t agree more.

One thing the greatest golfers of all time have been able to do is grind out a good score, even when they start playing poorly. The reason for this is mental strength, but more importantly, because they understand their golf swing inside out. They understand when it starts going wrong, how to fix it, and can nurse the golf ball around in a good score as a result

The majority of golfers are the complete opposite. When things start going inevitably wrong, whether at the golf course or even at the Driving range as they so often do, they have no real idea about how to fix their “slice”, or “hook”. As a result, they try every tip/trick they think of to keep the golf ball in play, but ultimately, end up making things worse and feel mentally frazzled/weak as a result

This brings us to the second goal of taking lessons. As well making gradual improvement over time by setting and implementing a plan of action, your aim from lessons should also be to learn as much about your swing pattern and tendencies as possible, so when it does go wrong, you know the exact fix. This will enable you to steady the ship as quickly as possible when the wheels start falling off, and still put a respectable card in even when you aren’t at your best. As Hank Haney, Tiger Wood’s former coach once famously quoted

“My philosophy as a teacher is to teach my students to become their own best coach”….wise sentiments!

The caveat being, the only way you will gain this insight is by visiting a highly qualified golf professional!

The advice from others isn’t working!

With the above in mind, it goes without saying that the chances of you stumbling across the magical cure for your golf game online, or from your 16 handicap playing partner, is very unlikely. Although the internet can be a vibrant source of content for your golf game, it can also be a minefield. If golf lessons are not in your budget, we completely understand and fully encourage you to find the best information you can online. However, if you can commit to lessons, we fully encourage you to find the best possible golf coach in your area and put a plan in place for your golf improvement.

You are totally lost with your golf game

Even if you do get lucky and find the perfect fix for your golf game, it can be tough to know whether you are making the moves correctly or not. Thanks to smartphones filming your swing is easier than ever, but even then it can be challenging for the untrained eye to tell whether you are doing what you are supposed to or not. As a result, you can become confused about your golf swing and go on the hunt once again for the next fix!

Do golf lessons work and are golf lessons worth it?

The simple answer to this is, yes, absolutely they can! Even the best players in the world take lessons.

“A good golf lesson can be worth a 1,000 range balls!” Lee Trevino

However, like in most industries, there are good, average and bad eggs, and golf coaching is no different. So when searching for the correct golf lessons for you, make sure you do your research!

Because of this, there is a growing misconception amongst not just golfers, but some golf coaches that accepting you are going to get worse before you get better is all part of the process with golf lessons, of which we could not disagree more.

If you receive the correct technical advice, no matter how different or complicated it is, you will get better, and fairly quickly!

Yes, sometimes if you make a change in your golf swing, it will not fit with the old compensations, and you can hit it worse, but more often than not you should be hitting the golf ball better at the end of a lesson than at the beginning. At worse, you might have a few bad rounds and practice sessions, but hopefully with the odd glimmer of brilliance that you know with further practice will bloom into your “new normal.”

In fact, in some lessons, the improvements that it’s possible to make after just one change is incredible, and make you wonder what on earth you have been doing for the past 10 years.

With the correct plan in place initially, others will result in gradual improvements that although advanced and not without their setbacks, will bring great fulfilment and encouragement that your to practise is paying off. At Tee Box London, we are lucky enough to be able to quantify our golfers improvement, which is extremely important and one of the benefits of using technology in golf lessons. Below is just one example of what it’s possible to achieve by following a structured golf lesson plan with a highly qualified golf professional

Case Study

This golfer really struggled with weak fades/slices with every single club in his bag, which were very unpredictable and difficult to manage in the wind. With his 7 iron above, he was only carrying the ball 142 yards, despite having an 84 mph clubhead speed! This was because his clubhead was travelling 9.3 degrees to the left and his clubface was 5.5 degrees open at impact, meaning he was cutting right across the golf ball. After his free 50-minute swing evaluation, we put the following plan in place for his improvement:-

• Gripping the Golf Club in the fingers
• Stopping spine from tilting towards the target on the backswing
• Get him to apply more positive gamma rotation of the club on the backswing
• And finally, Increasing his pelvis turn on the backswing.

It took 4-5 lessons to implement all of the above, but as you can see from his improvements below, they worked extremely well and he was very happy. We increased his average 7 iron distance by 25 yards by reducing his club path to just 1.7 degrees left and his clubface to 0.2 degrees!

Hopefully, from laying out his improvement plan, you can see the detail and expertise needed to accurately diagnose a swing and put the correct improvement plan in place. This is just one example of many improvements we are able to make with our clients at Tee Box London and it’s worth noting, not everyone would need these exact changes, they are bespoke to this individual

Final Thoughts

Despite what Lee Trevino said, a golf lesson can be worth alot more than a a 1,000 range balls, as more often than not, no amount of practising is going to get you to the correct fix without expert advice

If you fall into one of the above categories and are now convinced you need golf lessons, that’s fantastic. Before doing so however, we strongly suggest that you do your research and look for the best golf lessons near you

If you are considering Tee Box London for your golf lessons, we’d love to offer you a complimentary 50-minute swing evaluation. Every new visitor to Tee Box London starts their journey with us by completing this session, as it enables us to put a plan in place for your golf improvement before starting any golf lessons. Click here to claim your free session now

BETTER GOLF, STARTS WITH A BETTER SWING