Getting Your Money's Worth...2
Here's a lesson on taking a golf lesson
There are thousands of golf lessons conducted every day around the globe. Of those thousands, too many of them will prove unsatisfying. The golfer’s golf shots don’t improve.
I have given and observed golf lessons for 30 years. There are 3 keys to “getting your money’s worth” from a lesson:
90% of all golf lessons are to correct ball flight. Ball flight is exclusively a function of the interaction of the club and the ball. Unless the lesson changes that interaction, the ball flight cannot change. Understand specifically how the club is producing the ball flight you don’t like and understand specifically how you are to change the club’s action to fix the problem.
The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. By the conclusion of the lesson, you should see the ball flight corrected or substantially improved. If the ball flight problem isn’t fully resolved, it should be apparent that it is only a matter of fully mastering the lesson will produce the desired ball flight.
People forget 50% of what they hear right after they hear it. We forget an additional 20% in the following two weeks. A golf lesson teaches a player “what” to do but the lesson does not erase the swing habit that resides in our brain. Through “conscientious” practice (20 reps a day for 20 days) we can establish a new habit based on the golf lesson. But conscientious practice is not possible we have forgotten over half of what was taught. Imagine trying to bake a cake using only half the recipe. Before you leave the lesson, get it in writing. Write down those changes that you need to make and have the instructor confirm your notes. Alternatively, make a video of the instructor demonstrating in slow motion and narrating the swing.
Bottom Line: Your own efforts at fixing ball flight seldom work. As skilled and knowledgeable as they are, golf professionals seek teaching professionals when they want to improve their ball flight or solve ball flight problems. If they can’t solve their ball flight problems, it is unlikely that you can. Take a lesson and get your money’s worth.
Each Thursday we’ll bring you a helpful insight.
Swing to the Target,
Ed
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