My first lesson

[Big Johnny69]

Just booked my first lesson. Never thought it would come to this. Anybody ever get instruction by Joe at Raceview/Falcon Ridge? If I knew his last name I'd have typed it.

[Kilroy]

You are in fantastic hands. Say "Hi" for me.

[1972Apex]

Just booked my first lesson. Never thought it would come to this. Anybody ever get instruction by Joe at Raceview/Falcon Ridge? If I knew his last name I'd have typed it.

Don't know Joe. Only one I have taken lessons with in the Ottawa Area is Cody Barbeau from Pineview, who is a fabulous instructor.

[Big Johnny69]

You are in fantastic hands. Say "Hi" for me.

You know him Dan? Any chance you know his last name? A friend of mine knows him rather well, so he recommended him to me. Sounds like a nice guy. Just got off the phone with him not too long ago.

[Ginker]

Good luck Geoff..

[1972Apex]

One thing I like about you Geoff is that when you struggle with your golf game you don't panic. You just look at it calmly and coolly.
A lesser man would be looking to unload all his current sticks, buy new clubs, book a series of lessons and contemplating quitting golf .

[Kilroy]

Joe Dubinski. He and Colin Orr are now managing the OAC school now that Marc Peterson has moved on to the head pro position at Rivermead.

[Big Johnny69]

Good luck Geoff..

Thanks, gonna need it. My only concern is that I don't practice on the range much. I usually try new things when I'm on the course. So hoping what he helps me with can be taken to the course to practice.

[Big Johnny69]

One thing I like about you Geoff is that when you struggle with your golf game you don't panic. You just look at it calmly and coolly.
A lesser man would be looking to unload all his current sticks, buy new clubs, book a series of lessons and contemplating quitting golf .

Sure, kick a man while he's down.

[Kilroy]

BTW: Colin Orr was the head pro at Mountain Creek for several years before Steve Hall and for a season was helping out here in the instruction forum. I found Colin to be my favorite at the OAC winter school for the last sevral years, but that is a personal thing. Joe is excellent too.

[Big Johnny69]

Joe Dubinski. He and Colin Orr are now managing the OAC school now that Marc Peterson has moved on to the head pro position at Rivermead.

Thanks Dan. Interesting, if I remember correctly from conversations at up at my club, Colin used to be the pro there. I'll be sure to say hello for you. Have you taken lessons from him before? What kind of teacher is he if you have? Theory? Mechanical? Adaptation?

[1972Apex]

Sure, kick a man while he's down.

Sorry man, but the key to your problem is to start laughing at the whole thing .
Tension leads to bad shots and shanks. Just relax, listen to what Joe says and you will be fine (well, at least once he fixes that Charles Barkley transition ).

[Big Johnny69]

BTW: Colin Orr was the head pro at Mountain Creek for several years before Steve Hall and for a season was helping out here in the instruction forum. I found Colin to be my favorite at the OAC winter school for the last sevral years, but that is a personal thing. Joe is excellent too.

You are too quick on the draw Dan. Thanks for answering my questions.

[Big Johnny69]

Sorry man, but the key to your problem is to start laughing at the whole thing .
Tension leads to bad shots and shanks. Just relax, listen to what Joe says and you will be fine (well, at least once he fixes that Charles Barkley transition ).

You just can't help yourself can you?

[1972Apex]

You just can't help yourself can you?

I really can't you know ...

[Golfbum]

Atta Boy Geoff. Finally you have booked that first lesson. I played the game for 23 years without a formal lesson. My wife bought me one lesson last summer with the Pro at Union. I must admit what he taught me helped, eventually. I did play the following day after my lesson and man I was hooking wedges
But I soon ironed that out and put his teachings to work and played fine after that.
So be warned, what he might teach you could totally screw you up for awhile, but stick with it and sooner or later it helps. It might be something so simple in your swing that he will pick it up in less than 5 swings and have you on the road to lower scores before you leave the range.
Just listen to the man, that is why he is a Teaching Pro................Good Luck.................Rick

[GarthM]

Joe is a very good teacher. While he does subscribe somewhat to the Evershed philosophies he is not entrenched in them (i.e. he will do what it takes to fix your swing). He is a bit of a gadget guy in trying to get you to feel where the club is in the swing. He has definitely helped my swing over the last 3 years.

Say hi for me too!

[Big Johnny69]

Now that the match play and Intersectionals are out of the way, its time to get the game back in shape for the rest of the tourneys later in the year. I know, I know, I'm putting pressure on myself. Well, I'm not. Next big tourney isn't until Aug, so lots of time to forget about the start of the season, work on my game and get back to having fun. Already optimistic with the booking of the first lesson. This game won't get the best of me yet.

[Big Johnny69]

Thanks for the support guys, appreciate it.

Will do on the hello Garth. What do you mean by the Evershed method? Not familiar with that.

[GarthM]

Mark Evershed is a Canadian Pro out of Peterborough/Toronto who has a distinct teaching methodology. His website is at http://www.markevershedgolf.com/ if you want to check it out. In my opinion it is a common sense approach to teaching golf, I just find some of the devices a little wacky...

Garth.

[Big Johnny69]

Thanks Garth. I'll check it out later tonight.

[sharkhark]

Hey when we played together and discussed our similar afflictions (no not that rash) and subject of lessons and you replied neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I thought you were missing out. Now that you have seen the light, they won't lengthen that 300 yard drive of yours, just make it 300 straight.
Good luck, patience young skywalker.

[el tigre]

BTW: Colin Orr was the head pro at Mountain Creek for several years before Steve Hall and for a season was helping out here in the instruction forum. I found Colin to be my favorite at the OAC winter school for the last sevral years, but that is a personal thing. Joe is excellent too.

BTW, Steve Hall was the head pro at Raceview before Mark Peterson. As I recall Steve went to some course near Pembroke (Whitetail maybe?) for a season before coming back to Mountain Creek.

Good luck with the lesson(s) Geoff. If Tiger can take lessons from time to time, then I think "it can come to that" for us mere mortals. Now if we can just get you to practice more...

[Nat Williams]

Thanks, gonna need it. My only concern is that I don't practice on the range much. I usually try new things when I'm on the course. So hoping what he helps me with can be taken to the course to practice.

Forget the range, you're a member of a course. A few evenings a week head out to the 2nd hole @ Mountain Creek w/ a few cases of balls and drop a 1/2 a dozen every 10 yards from 100 to 200 yards. It's a much better way to practice. Just don't forget your pivot tool, otherwise you will make an enemy w./ the greenskeeper in record time

When I usually do this I play 2 balls with the club that I would hit full to get there, then 3 balls with a club 1 too long (so an 80% shot) and 1 ball with a shorter club (110%-120%). Helps me practice the shot I want to make (the 80%'r), but also lets me feel confident for those times when you need to hit a 100%'r, or really chase one for whatever reason and hit 110-120% (heavy rough, need to get over something fast, etc etc).

p.s. I just went through lessons, well kinda... tips/discussions w/ a few pros etc and stank up my last few events, but after yesterday, around the 13th hole something finally clicked and I think i'm ready ... there's light @ the end of the tunnel

[leftylucas]

Nat, help me please, I cannot even find the damn tunnel!!

Way to go Geoff, I also took lessons this year and it is now paying off. I am getting more confident in the swing and knowing what your supposed to do is half the battle. Now when I miss or make a shot I know what I did right or what I did wrong. I was never able to do that consistently before.

I am sure it will work out, I guess that means the clubho meter will be howvering at a lower level now that you have to give some time to lessons

[DavidY]

I believe that Costco still sells a $14.99 64 page book called Simply Golf, Back to Basics by Steve Bann. Off the top of my head, the package includes aids like DVD, grip, putting saucer, alignment chart for your feet, etc. It should be located in the music, video or book section at your local Costco. Currently, I am reading the book....so far, I like the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method that Steve uses. It's great for a hacker like me who is not even close to breaking 100 over 18 holes.

They also have a 3 DVD set by Golf Magazine's Top 100 Golf Teachers for around $25. Lots of individual lessons by various instructors. I haven't had the time to go the discs yet.

Dave

[leftylucas]

Sounds Cool Dave I will check it out. Gotto love Costco!!

[Big Johnny69]

Just got back from my lesson.

The good, there wasn't much:

1) Good extension on backswing
2) Great follow through (like a pro was his exact words )
That's about it.

The bad, many more points:

1) Not enough shoulder tilt at address
2) Too quick to open my shoulders on downswing
3) Too much head movement
4) Not coming from the inside enough
5) Swing a little too steep


Remedies:

More tilt at address and hold throughout the swing.
Flare my front foot a bit to prevent the quick upper body transition.
Focus on inside quadrant of the ball when striking.

Drills:

Right hand only swinging of club, to generate inside approach to ball.
Left hand on club to lean against and pretend to throw a ball with my right hand under my left arm. Again to generate inside approach.

All in all it was an eye opening experiment when he put my swing on the computer against Ernie's. A whole lot more movement in mine than his. So no biggie, I'm a work in progress.

Joe, btw, if anyone is interested is a super nice guy. He didn't try to change too much, just tweaked a few things here and there. Anxious to get working on the drills to see where I can get my swing to.

Oh yeah, Dan and Garth, he remembered you guys when I mentioned your names.

[1972Apex]

Very cool Geoff. Sounds like you are on the correct path to enlightenment.

[The Saint]

Take it all in stride my friend. Wouldn't want you getting frustrated and throwing your clubs