Why Most Golf Lessons Aren’t Making You Any Better

Of all the things I teach on a daily basis, I think this is the most important: It’s not what we teach/coach in a lesson, it’s what you discover about yourself.

Some years ago, I had a student in golf clinic for a few days. She was topping every single shot. Zero were airborne. I explained that she was opening her body and moving forward before her arms and club were coming down. “Late” we call it. I had her feel like her arms were coming down first and her body was staying behind, a common correction for late tops. Bingo! Every ball went up into the air. She was ecstatic.

Some time later, I ran into her on the range and asked how was her game, she said she was topping every shot. She scheduled a lesson and sure enough she topped every shot. I asked her why she was topping the ball. “I think I’m picking up my head,” she said to my look of utter disbelief!

I had another student who was shanking the ball. At least 3 out of 5 came off the hosel with his wedges. It was so bad he was starting to be afraid of even standing over the ball. I explained that his golf club was pointed seriously left at the top of his backswing. It was positioned well OUTSIDE his hands, which caused it to come down too wide and swing OUTSIDE his hands into impact. This is a really common cause of shanking. We were able to get the club more down the line at the top and come down a bit narrower and more inside the ball. No shanks… not a one!

He called me sometime later. The shanks had returned. You get the rest. When I asked what was causing him to shank, he told me “I guess I get too quick.”

If you are hitting the golf ball better during a golf lesson, you have proven to yourself that you CAN do it. But what comes after the lesson is out of a teacher’s hands. It’s as simple as that. I cannot control what you do after you leave my studio. Now, if you are NOT hitting the ball better during a lesson or don’t understand why you’re not hitting it better, I will take the blame. And…your lessons are FREE. That is the extent to which I’ll go to display my commitment and accept my responsibility. By the way, in 38K lessons given it's never happened. What we as teachers ask is the same level of commitment from the learners.

Improving at golf is a two-way street. My way is making the correct diagnosis and offering you a personalized correction, possibly several of them that are Guaranteed to make your swing more efficient. The more efficient the swing the better you'll hit the ball, period! Here's a few way to almost guarantee you won't get better from ANY golf instruction:

• If you are taking a lesson at 10 a.m. with a tee time at 11 a.m. and you’re playing a $20 Nassau with your buddies, you pretty much wasted your time and money.
• If the only time you hit balls is to warm up for your round, you have to be realistic about your results.
• If you are expecting 270-yard drives with an 105 mph club head speed, well… let’s get real.
• If you “fake it” during a lesson, you’re not going to realize any lasting improvement. When the teacher asks if you understand or can feel what’s being explained and you say yes when in fact you DO NOT understand, you’re giving misleading feedback and hurting only yourself. Speak up!
• If you think one lesson will fix everything, it likely won't. One lesson is good, two lessons are better and a customized lesson plan over a series of weeks is the best. You can't learn to play the piano in an hr.

In addition to those above here’s a piece of advise I have NEVER seen fail. If you don’t get it during the lesson, there is no chance you’ll get it later. It’s not enough to just hit it better; you have to fully understand WHY you hit it better. Or if you miss, WHY you missed. That cause and effect is relationship is critical to long lasting results.

I have a rule I follow when conducting a golf lesson. After I explain my swing assessment and the diagnosis and offer the correction, I’ll get some better results right away. So I continue to offer that advice swing after swing. But at some point in the lesson, I say NOTHING. Typically, before long the old ball flight returns and I wait– THREE SWINGS. If the student was a slicer and slices THREE IN A ROW, then it’s time for me to step in again. I have to allow for self discovery at some point. You have to wean yourself off my guidance and internalize the corrections. You have to FEEL THE DESIRED CHANGES, because if you can feel something you can replicate it.

John Jacobs, the world hall of fame coach famously said, "golf is what the ball does". So when you can say, “If the ball did this then I know I did that” you are likely getting it. There is always an individual cause and effect you need to understand in order to go off by yourself and continue self improvement. If you hit a better shot but do not know why, please speak up. What did I do, or what didn't I do? That way you’re playing to learn, not simply learning to play.

A great golf lesson is a guidance, not an hour of how to do this or that. And it shouldn't be filled with any quick fix or band-aid solutions that will only make the root cause of the problem worse. In my lessons I'm trying to get you to discover what YOU need to feel to get more desirable outcomes. If all you’re getting out of it is “how,” you are not likely to stay “fixed.” Remember this: It’s not what we teach in the lesson; it’s what you discover about yourself!

This is Golf as You've Always Imagined!

Daniel is a Top 100 golf Coach, PXG Staff Pro, World Long Drive Coach and the Head of Golf Instruction at IMAGEN Golf the area's leading golf instruction and advisory firm, host of the IMAGEN Golf podcast and Best-Selling Author of "Unleash The Golfer Within".

For more information visit www.ImagenGolf.com or call 215-595-6299 Reach out to Daniel directly at:Daniel@ImagenGolf.com

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