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03-16-2005 07:32 AM #1
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What to look for in an Instructor/Pro?
Hi everyone,
I am looking forward to my 2nd golf season this coming summer and am thinking of getting some lessons.
There are so many golf schools here in Ottawa with so many qualified instructors. What should I consider when choosing an instructor? Also, what can I expect from these lessons as far as training on course management? Do any of them actually take you out on the course? Or do most of them just teach you how to swing a club?
As a beginner golfer I think I have a decent swing, although it still obviously needs some honing, but I feel when I go out if I managed the course a bit better i'm sure I could shave off a few strokes.
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03-16-2005 08:16 AM #2
Hi Styxx! Welcome to the forum.
I am not saying that you don’t have a good swing but a video lesson brings all our feet on the ground. Us amateurs all think we have decent swings until we see ourselves on video.
That said, Marc Peterson is a very good instructor. He is at the OAC in the wintertime and at Falcon ridge in the summer. He was 1999 CPGA teaching pro of the year, 2003 and 2004 golf digest top 50 best teaching directors.
He will go step by step with you to make you a better golfer. Course management, swing thoughts, posture, you name it he will do it.
You can look him up at the OAC.Strive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-16-2005 08:24 AM #3
i think a very important area to look at for teachers is how they teach. There are two different teachers, those who teach "systems" and those who tailor to each individual. I would make sure that you get an instructor who isn't teaching a method out of a book, or from a video. I haven't ever taken lesson before, but i have heard that this is very important. GOOD LUCK!!!
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03-16-2005 08:43 AM #4
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mberube said:
I am not saying that you don’t have a good swing but a video lesson brings all our feet on the ground. Us amateurs all think we have decent swings until we see ourselves on video.
Thanks for the suggestion of a video lesson, this is the kind of answer I am looking for since I have no idea of the techniques golf instructors use. If other people have benefitted from these techniques then I may aswell.
davevandyk said:
There are two different teachers, those who teach "systems" and those who tailor to each individual. I would make sure that you get an instructor who isn't teaching a method out of a book
I guess what I am really looking for is an instructor who will asses what I am doing right and wrong, fix what I am doing completely wrong, warn me about bad habits I may have developed in my short time swinging a club, and help me with playing the course more effectively.
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03-16-2005 08:47 AM #5Originally Posted by styxx_78
Run out to Pineviw and join their golf school. They still have a month left and its only a $100 bucks. You get unlimited CPGA instruction and video analysis. They are open 7 days a week and you can pratice 8am-8pm with instructors there for 7 hours a day/evening. The instruction switches days and evenings and they are great guys, best deal in the city.
(Put me on the payroll Marty!)
Denny
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03-16-2005 08:51 AM #6
Lessons are usually ongoing. Start with a video and identify one or two things to correct. Not too much, that would be confusing. Work with the pro to resolve the first issues, then move on to the next thing. Only keep one or two goals in mind at a time, and check in with the pro to monitor your progress. How often you do this depends on how much you practice and work on the drills.
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03-16-2005 08:56 AM #7Originally Posted by dbleberStrive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-16-2005 09:01 AM #8
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Originally Posted by davevandyk
Regardless, the teacher has to guide you to get your arms and club shaft "ON PLANE" in the downswing, a position from which straight shots can be achieved. And, it is assumed that they know what this term means. Achieving good golf swing fundamentals is not difficult to do and a good pro will give you the knowledge first, of what you are trying to achieve and then a means to achieve it.
There are pros who will teach you an upright golf swing with a "flying" right elbow. One can play good golf from this position but you had better have better than average athletic talent to get the club back down on plane. A teacher who tries to get you closer to the plane on the backswing, makes it easier to get on plane in the downswing.
FWIW: ON PLANE means that, when on the downswing, the part of your golf club that is closest to the ground, is pointing at the target line or the target line extended, from waist high before impact to waist high post impact. TGM, Chuck Evan's Golf, Mark Evershed, Mac O'Grady, John Dunnigan are examples of these "methods" that get you into this ideal position.
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03-16-2005 09:16 AM #9AndruGuestOriginally Posted by styxx_78
If you hear any of these things run.
1) You take 6 swings and he/she tells you 6 different things you're doing wrong
2) Tells you your elbow has to be at 90 degrees at the top of your swing.
3) Mentions the "X-Factor" or "Y-Factor"
4) "Hello my name is David Leadbetter"
5) "Hello my name is Jim Maclean"
6) "You should buy my 6 lesson program up front"
If you've taken a lesson and after 1 lesson you're not doing something, anything better don't return.
IE. I sent a friend to see Bob farant a few years ago. The first lesson was spent pitching balls 10, 20 , 30 yards. This person after one lesson was doing this much better. Learning how to make solid contact with the ball is a terrific building block.
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03-16-2005 01:17 PM #10
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Originally Posted by Andru
Add Dean Rieumuth between Leadbetter and MacLean.
Bobby Farant is one of the good local teaching professionals.
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03-17-2005 07:19 AM #11
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What kind of price can I expect to pay for a good instructor?
Where can Bobby Farant be found? Does anyone else recommend him?
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03-17-2005 08:04 AM #12Originally Posted by styxx_78
A good teacher could cost you from $30 to $80/h.Strive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-17-2005 07:57 PM #13
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This little bit of information I got from a website and seems to be apropos.
There are 5 things that you absolutely, positively must look for with any golf instruction:
1. Does the Teacher KNOW what the swing plane is and can they correctly describe it?
2. Can the Teacher explain the ONLY three things that MUST happen in a proper golf stroke?
3. Can the Teacher define and demonstrate what the options are for taking the club back and down?
4. Does the Teacher use video? Probably so, but do they know WHERE to place the camera(s)?
5. Finally, does your Teacher know how to teach "LAG" or even what it means.
Number 2 I find fascinating and helps to indicate why a good golf swing is relatively easy to achieve if one has the knowledge and understanding of what needs to be developed. It also puts the complicated methods of Leadbetter, Maclean and the boys in their proper place, inspite of the name pros who are in their camps.
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03-18-2005 08:02 AM #14
And why do you think that Leadbetter, Maclean and the boys are not able to answer to all those questions?
I think that a guys like Faldo is a lot more qualified to know if a teacher is a good one or a bad one then any of us in this forum. Els, Norman, Price is to name a few big names that worked or works with Leadbetter.
Personally, I don’t like the way Leadbetter and Maclean teaches but they are still top 50 in America. I don’t think that Golf digest and Golf Channel would promote them if they had no clue and I don’t think Leadbetter is on TV and in magazines for he’s pretty face cause he in ugliest SOB if have seen on TV.Strive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-18-2005 08:26 AM #15Originally Posted by mberube
Denny
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03-18-2005 08:39 AM #16Originally Posted by dbleber
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03-18-2005 06:08 PM #17
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Originally Posted by mberube
I am no expert, but I have looked at a large number of methods taught over too many years and have pigeon holed them into two boxes. Those who teach a method based on perception and feeling, and those who teach a method based on some sort of science. The former group seem to teach a swing that is very upright which requires a lot of lower body movement to get the club square at impact. If you are highly talented, it's not a problem. The latter group seem teach a flatter swing, one where the body is used for balance and stablization. The net difference is that the golfers of the latter group are more consistent ball strikers, while the former group seem to be streakier players. For we hacks, my guess is that most would like to be more consistent.
Originally Posted by mberube
That they teach Tour pros reminds me of a professer at Teachers' College who once said to our class, "Anyone can teach the smart ones, but it takes a teacher to teach the slow ones." IMO, this applies to golf students, as well.
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03-18-2005 07:00 PM #18Originally Posted by BC MIST
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, there may be different things.
E.g. hitting a blast from a greenside bunker vs. tee shot with driver vs. mid iron from the fairway.
Perhaps over simplifying, I can only think of two:
1. The clubhead need to be in the correct position WRT to the ball at impact.
2. The path of the clubhead in the moving in the correct direction wrt to the ball at impact.
Note that these can be different depending on the shot you are trying to accomplish and do not necessarily imply that you hit the ball first or squarely. I guess if you seperate angle of attack from path that would become three things.
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03-18-2005 09:02 PM #19Originally Posted by jbrace
Denny
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03-20-2005 12:32 AM #20Originally Posted by styxx_78
1) KNOWLEDGE: You need to know what a good golf swing is before you can teach it. I think you could pick almost any CPGA pro and they would have this.
2) ANALYTICAL ABILITY: This is the ability to see the TRUE problem in order to figure out what the solution may be. This is where the use of video really helps, but IMHO it is equally important if the teacher can understand the way the student sees/feels/thinks about the golf swing. Many times changing someones perceptions and thoughts about the swing is as important as working on the physical stuff.
3) COMMUNICATION: It's no good knowing the answers if they can't get it through to you. If understanding what your teacher is saying is a problem, it is time to get a new teacher.
There are lots of instructors out there that have these things, and with #3 above the right person for me may not necessarily be the right person for you. Pick someone and try one lesson and then take it from there. Good luck![COLOR=green][B]Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of bagpipes.[/B][/COLOR]
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03-21-2005 09:26 AM #21
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el tigre,
Yes, I am still here...although I did take the weekend off from the forums.
Reading through this thread, i see everyone has there bit to say and there is a lot of advice here...almost too much to take in.
I guess I am just going to have to go out and speak to some instructors and see if they have what I am looking for.
A lot of what I am looking for is what has been mentioned in here and I appreciate everyone comments.
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03-21-2005 10:46 AM #22
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Originally Posted by dbleber
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03-21-2005 11:31 AM #23Big_duckGuest
I want to use Kenny Perrey's swing coach. Anyone who could get a player to play that well, with a swing that bad is aces in my book.
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03-21-2005 11:52 AM #24Originally Posted by Big_duckStrive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-21-2005 02:50 PM #25
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Originally Posted by Big_duck
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03-21-2005 03:13 PM #26Originally Posted by BC MISTStrive for perfection, but never expect it!
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03-22-2005 06:31 PM #27
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Originally Posted by dbleber
Denny, is this deal offered every year, for the last week of the school ? Or was it this year only? What is the price of the school starting at the beginning of winter?
Any info appreciated, thanks.Last edited by Golfpeasant; 03-22-2005 at 11:14 PM.
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