Golfer invest a lot of money to join a club. After joining a club, they invest a lot of money in buying golf equipment and skip the most important part – investing in golf lessons. I have always told anyone who can listen that after joining a club, the next most important investment you can make is in golf lesson. Before you invest in equipment you need to invest in the knowledge of how to use them.
In golf lessons, you are most certainly investing in yourself. Whether you are a beginner, low handicapper, or professional you need to get golf lessons from a qualified golf teacher. The best golfer in the world have golf instructors in their team. Some of these golfers, like Tiger Woods, have played golf since they were two. They live and breath golf. They practice for 8 hours a day. But they still see value in having a golf instructor. You should too! Here are the reasons you should get regular golf lessons
1. You’re a beginner
A golf lesson is the biggest investment you should make when you’re just starting out in golf. Golf is the one sport that you truly need to learn the fundamentals the right way from the beginning. Some of the fundamentals of golf are grip, posture, aim, alignment. It is very hard to change some of these fundamental once you start on the wrong path. The grip is arguably the most important thing to get right but the hardest to change. So it’s important you get it right from the beginning.
2. To fix flaws in your swing
If you’re struggling with a certain aspect of your game, a golf lessons from a qualified teacher will most certainly help you. You might be playing and you feel like you’re doing all the right things in your swing. However, the results do not match what you feel. You obviously cannot see what you are doing right or wrong. A second set of eyes are required to help you figure out what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.
A qualified golf teacher will be able to see your faults, explain them to you, and give you drills you can use to fix them. It might be as simple as adjusting your grip, alignment or posture. But it takes experience, understanding of the golf swing, and practice to identify these faults. Otherwise, you’ll go out and try to fix the wrong things and end up worsening your problem and, even worse, creating new problems in the process.
There is never lack of people in your circles who will be very willing to give you solutions for your swing issues. It can be a friend, playing partner, a caddie or total stranger. It can be on the range, on the course or even the club house. Avoid taking advice from unqualified people. They might lead to more issue rather than solutions for your problem.
3. You have plateaued
The beauty of golf is that there’s always another challenge even when your game improves. IT can be to break 90, 80 or even 70. It can be moving your handicap form the 20s to the teens to single digit or even plus side. It can be improving your chipping, eliminating 3 putts or keeping your putts under 30 per round. Whatever it is, every golfer will always have a challenge regardless of how well they’re playing.
If you’re playing decent golf but are stuck at a certain range with your scores or handicap, it might be time to take lessons. A qualified golf teacher will be able to assess your game and give your tips on how best to break your next ceiling.
There are many things a qualified instructor can do the help you improve. It can be as simple as giving you new drills to use in your practice session, or helping you see the game in a different light, or a simple on course lessons that helps you approach certain scenarios that can’t be replicated on the range differently.
There’s no doubt, golf lessons are the best way to improve as a golfer.
4. For regular check up
Even a well maintained car requires regular checkups. The same goes of golf. However good you think you’re playing, it’s always a good ideas to pick a point in the season for your swing check up. Jack Nicklaus, one of the greatest golfer of all time and an 18 time major champion, used to have annual checkup with his instructor every season. They used to look at all aspects of the swing starting with the basics – grip, posture, aim and alignment. You too can benefit from a regular checkup.
This helps in two ways. If you’ve started picking bad habits unknowingly, you get a chance to get back on track before they become permanent. Secondly, it helps reinforce the things that you are doing right. A good instructor will not just focus on the things that are wrong in your swing, but they’ll also tell you what you are doing right so that you don’t think about changing them on your own.
5. Before purchasing new equipment
Many golfers buy new equipment to help improve their games. Newsflash! Not all new equipment are good for you. New equipment will not fix the flaws in your swing. They will not fix your grip or your posture or you alignment.
Granted, technology has made it easy to design equipment that can be used to help play better. However, you need to understand what you’re problem is before you can use the new technology/equipment to fix it. A good instructor will be able to help you identify your swing flaws, give you drills to fix them, and guide you on what equipment will help you further.
Conclusion
Jack Nicklaus once said “Don’t be too proud to take lessons, I’m not”. It takes a lot of experience and trainmen to properly teach and/or diagnose a golf swing. This is why you should avoid taking tips from unqualified persons. If you are going to invest in yourself by taking golf lessons, get a qualified golf teacher.
Caddies are not generally trained to teach. They’ve probably never taken a golf lesson. There interaction with golf is by observing golfers they caddie for and the weekly privilege they get to play their courses. They can only pass on the information based on what they see without really understanding the concepts behind them. Many times they are wrong. In addition, they’re not really motivated in seeing you improve, their goal is to earn their daily bread. A qualified teaching pro on the other hand cares about their students improvement and their brand.
Just because someone is a low handicapper or a playing pro does not also mean that they can teach. Playing and teaching golf are two very different skills.
For this reasons, it’s important that you carefully select a qualified golf teacher. Find an instructor who’s been trained or who has verifiable track record in teaching. This can make or break your love for the game. It’s also important to note, that not every qualified golf teacher is right for you. Here’s a guide to help you select the right golf teacher for you.
