Improving at golf is like building muscle. You have to break it down and then build it back up.
In other words, you have to get worse before you can get better.
Agree, but this is also going to depend on the teacher. My hope is teacher would only work on 1-2 things each lesson and NOT move on to anything else until those 1-2 things are ingrained in the student. It's up to the student to spend time on their own ingraining those things before the next lesson. No one should be trying to re-build a swing in one lesson. Way too many things for the student to think about and/or focus on and it'll all go to shit.
Exactly. I did 6-7 30 minute lessons biweekly throughout the season last year and it was great because we only worked on one thing each time. It was up to me between to actually work on those things. Crazy part was it really was only directed to basic things, e.g., takeaway, backswing turn, wrist hinge, tempo. Simple is the best for 90% of us.
100%. Lesson 1. Fix and work on grip. Lesson 2. Address whatever major weakness you feel needs work/they see as a big issue. While also making sure your grip is correct each shot. Lesson 3-4 continue working on lesson 2 stuff while implementing other small tweaks. They should build on each other, addressing new issues/tweaks while continuing to implement past lessons.
As having only one real set of lessons in my life, this is what we did (GolfTec, close to 20 years ago) and it worked well. We didn't make wholesale changes, just a few small things here and there and I was able to simply things enough I was able to go from a 7 back to a 3. It's also why I'm going back for my first lesson since then in a few weeks.
My only lesson was kinda off putting. On one hand I had some good tips and basics taught, I am a better golfer after those small tips. On the other... he spent 20 minutes talking about his teaching system and telling me I should book more lessons so I can learn X, Y, Z. I hit like 5 balls the whole lesson.
This is the flip side of the same coin in my experience. I have no idea who this instructor is or was, but sounds to me like they just wanted your money instead of making you better. Knowing what I know now, here's how I'd go about it.
1. I don't want an instructor who teaches one swing. What if you can't physically get into those positions?
2. I would be up front with them that I only want 1-2 things to build on from the first lesson, and I'll book the next lesson once I practice those enough where I'm comfortable with it. Yes, I could spend a bit more money not buying a "book" of lessons, but this allows me to go at my pace and have confidence in what I'm doing
3. Depending on your existing level, an on course lesson in management might be WAY more beneficial than working on a mechanical swing
The point of lessons should be improvement, not perfection. Everyone is different and the best teachers can adapt. Maybe someone just wants to go from a 30 handicap to a 15. Cool! Help them get there. That might be all they want. Bring scratch ain't easy and it's not everyone's goal
This is only true for higher hcps imo. Once you get better changes should result in instant improvement or they aren’t worth pursuing. Bryson said that in his lesson to gm (Garrett)
Instant improvement (as in during the lesson and immediately after), sure. But undoing old muscle memory and making a new move permanent takes time. Not even the pros are immune to that process.
I’ve known a few people this has happened to. I think it’s because you’re thinking so hard to do all the things you were taught. This puts way too many swing thoughts in your head.
My best recommendation for this is take a bunch of swings practicing all the form and techniques you were taught without a ball in front of you. Then have at most two feels in your head when you approach your ball.
Swing that swing and let your swing hit the ball. Don’t try to hit it.
Golf is hard. Full of ups and downs. When you think you’ve figured it out, it humbles you real quick.
Keep grinding, stay patient. That’s the beauty of the game.
I just saw a vid of Bryson explaining pretty much the same idea here. He practices a repeatable swing with his eyes closed over and over and over to establish the feel of the swing. When he addresses the ball, he doesn't "focus" on the ball. He focuses on repeating that same swing path/motion/feeling.
Also yes, golf is about the ups and downs for sure. Happens to even the pros. I'm high handicap, was breaking 90 for a couple weeks. Regressed all the way back into the low 100s for a few weeks after that lol. Evened out and back into the 90s where I was. Wild ride.
That Bryson video is 💯 spot on.
I was exactly where you are last year. Just when I thought I was on the right path.. I was fighting to stay in the 90’s.
I just kept grinding and staying patient.
Worried less about my overall score but each hole was a new hole and tried to enjoy my good shots and understand why they were good.
This year my “bad” rounds are 90’s I’m usually in the 80’s and even shot a 79.
Enjoy the process even when you want to snap every club in your bad and your umbrella. 🤣
This was my thought and something I have just begun to get over. When I am playing my worst the best way to describe it is I'm playing "golf swing" not golf. I typically try not to have ANY thoughts about my swing in my head once I address the ball.. it's literally just: target... ball... target... ball... target... ball.. GO.
Yes! Then my swing becomes all arms, no body because I’m trying to “hit” the ball and guide it.
Like lean back to lift it.
Nope… that’s a chunk!
Let the loft do what the loft does.
Because you are changing things…
Some tips can immediately impact performance.
If you want to keep shooting the same terrible scores you have been ur entire life, just go back to hitting the ball the way u were before lol
Yeah, you're changing your muscle memory. There's going to be a period where you're trying to get your body to do something it doesn't want to and it's going to fight back. Grinding through that and making new, better muscle memory will improve your game.
Too many people take 1 lesson and when they don't see instant results, they just go back to their old shitty swing. Lessons are a journey, not a quick fix
This is it. I was experiencing the same as OP taking about 1 lesson a month. Then I would work on incorporating that into my swing and play like crap immediately after. It'd be about the end of that month and I'd start hitting the ball pretty well, only to go work on something else and start playing like crap again.
In the long run, it is worth it. But it can be frustrating undoing the old habits and relearning new. OP might just need to relax and play for a while until he's comfortable and things start to click for him.
I had this issue as well and it's mainly because you can't see what you're doing on a range by yourself. Take a video or get your instructor to record you doing what he's showed you and then if you start missing or reverting back on the range take a video of yourself and compare them. You may not be able to feel the difference but you'll see it.
The golf course is very different than practice.
But I would expect your swing to be getting better on the range and at practice with all of those lessons.
Maybe try a different teacher? Though that does not sound fun to start over again.
You should see some improvement but it also depends on how well you’re practicing what you’re learning in the lessons. I finally just had a bit of a breakthrough myself where I’m able to diagnose what I did wrong by my misses. Prior to the lessons I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I actually got way worse after my initial few lessons before I started to see any improvement. Lots of changes to my swing and breaking bad habits. When you’re a high handicapper it’s generally not a great idea to keep track of score. It’s more important to keep track of fairways and putts and getting your game solid from the green back.
I feel there is a disconnect. I’d do something that feels good and works that doesn’t disrespect your lessons. Like going to a 10 finger grip so you can actually close the club face. And remember, golf is an athletic endeavor where some people are just more gifted than others.
Professional golfers do nothing but hit golf balls as their full time job and even they say it takes a full year or so to even make the smallest swing changes. It's why, if something isn't broke, don't fix it.
Tiger went into a slump after a swing change. I believe he eventually went back to his old coach. Same with Rickie Fowler. And I think Luke Donald too, just to name a few.
Yes, for amateurs, more often than not, lessons and slight tweaks can help us (has def helped me but I'd say it took years to the point where I didn't have to think about it anymore)...but they take time. And more time than you think.
Self taught starting at 20-21 y/o. Learned through youtube (video jug back then) videos. I learn kinesthetically very well so was able to make improvements steadily over the next decade or so. Kinda ran into an improvement wall a couple summers ago. Got one lesson last summer (they're hard slots to get where I live), she filmed me on her ipad, told me I lined up too far right to play a big dramatic draw I don't have, but that was it really. Not a lot you can really get into in 45 minutes. Though admittedly I have become a fade player so she was definitely on to something there. So, I went out 2 days later to a long, linksy course I know pretty well, but is definitely more scorable than my tight-treed, crazy greens home courses. I shot my only even par 72 that day. That's it. Senior tour look out in 20 years, right? Then. Game disappeared. And I mean like can't break 85 disappeared. For a couple weeks at least, took a break from swinging and came back totally normal and have steadily worked my 10 down to an 8. But I'm now terrified of what another 45 minute block with a pro will do to my game. I am the internet-taught generation of golfer, and perhaps I should embrace it.
Look up Dana Darqhilst on YouTube and digest everything he says. This is a good video where he shows Jarome how to close the club face. Look up the rest of the videos to see how he continues to build upon that.
If you’re slicing, your club face is open. Check your grip at address but also check it during your back swing. Make sure lead wrist is cupped and right wrist is fully flexed in backswing. As flexed and as closed as you can. Once face is closed you can address where the ball is going by pivoting more, etc.
After this video look up the other videos they shot together.
https://youtu.be/xiKa_TAhNEM
Just because you’re slicing doesn’t mean the clubface is open. You can have an extremely closed club face and still hit a massive slice if your plane is too far out to in which is the primary issue for most amateur golfers.
When I took lessons, I was so focused on doing everything “right,” that I could barely hit the ball anymore. I eventually learned that I needed to shut my brain off, and trust that my body will know what to do.
It comes and goes really. Some lessons I feel like I pick up quickly on what I’m being taught and I feel confident as a result. Other times I feel like I’ve never held a golf club before. I feel bad for my coach sometimes because I can see he is running out of ways to explain something to me.
People are wired differently. Lots (most) of golfers face huge mental challenges, and offers are just oblivious and don't care.
The mental thing is a huge struggle when starting out, and you're going to have bad days, but they're just your "school fees", and the sooner you have them, the sooner your debt to the golf demons is paid off.
You will get to the point where your mind is thinking more about where the ball lands than if you're going to hit it. There's no hard and fast rule about how long this will take, but it will happen.
100%. It’s tough to change what might feel natural to you, though inefficient for your game.
I’ve heard the line to getting better in golf described as more of a scatter plot than a smooth, gradual improvement.
Good days and bad days, but it’s about practicing the right things so eventually you have more good than bad.
Yes, I committed to getting better this year and bought 15 lessons, got much, much worse. Couldn't find the sweet spot of the club from January to May included several bouts of shanks. I canceled the few that were left on my calendar and the further away I get from my last lesson the better I'm getting. 10 of my last 11 rounds have been hdcp rounds and I haven't seen my instructor in over a month.
And yes to head off all the comments - I was practicing between sessions all the drills my instructor gave me.
If there’s any option for your coach to join you on the course, take that. I offer that for my students.
Usually what’s happening is my players end up reverting to their previous swings when they get on the course and do their own old swing. How’s your routine? Is it including enough stuff to remind you of what you’re trying to accomplish?
That's normal... to analogize it to jiu-jitsu. When you first start, you can be athletic and strong, use effort an energy and perform ok against a lot of the white-belts. Eventually, you learn that you won't progress relying on athleticism and have to focus in on technique. In doing this, you slow your pace and you go through a period of time where people you could otherwise overpower with brute force will start to gain advantages on you. But eventually, once your technique catches up, at that detailed pace you can have more success consistently.
I haven’t been able to hit my driver since this Winter since I slow mo saw I was bending my arm. Used to blast it far and straight regularly. Now I just use my 7 wood (blast the shit out of that though)
Something people don't like to admit is I've found a lot of instructors who only try to fix the symptom, not the cause. So fixing the one symptom ends up causing another manipulation in the swing.
I don't know if they do that to keep you coming back or they themselves truly don't know the root cause of the issue. But finding a good instructor who fixes the root cause of your flaws is essential
It's like learning a new opening in chess. You're going to suck at it because it's new to you. You haven't gone through the same motions over and over again and conditioned yourself to what you've learned. You'll gradually get better until one day it all just clicks, and then you'll need to learn new things
WE have all been there. It can be very difficult to get the hang of the inside out swing. Because if you are slicing everything, that is where your main problems lies. Film yourself and then compare your swing to that of your favorite golfer.
Yes, I’ve got a lot worse. Can barely hit a ball at the moment.
The big difference between now and before lessons is I can get to a place where I play my best golf and feel I have good control over the ball.
I just need to invest time into practicing what I have learnt, which sadly I don’t seem to be able to do.
I can’t just turn up and whack the ball around anymore but also I now know how I was limited by the way I hit the ball before.
This happened to me. I was working with a coach for a while and thinking too much about every change I needed to make.
I went out on my own to the range and cracked a few hundred balls downrange and that really helped. There wasn't the pressure of somebody telling me to change something every swing. I just got into the groove of my own swing and started feeling it
I’m going through the same thing right now, I was playing consistently high 80s/low 90s but did not have the distance or the ability to control shots over 100 yards very well. I took some lessons to help with consistency and to hopefully gain distance and found out that a lot of bad habits were creating a ceiling for me. Now I have a new swing and am trying to commit it to muscle memory. When I get it right it’s a much better shot, and I got my distance, but I’m having a lot of bad hits as well.
It’s a process.
The first person I got lessons from this year wasn’t the greatest and that happened to me. The second guy I went to improved my game. I guess it depends
That's normal and is a sign you are actually working on the material in the lessons and are making improvements. When you start doing things different in your swing, that's inherently uncomfortable. You swung the way you did before for a reason. Chances are, it's what felt right and comfortable to your brain. It was probably completely wrong. Now, you have to teach your brain a new way. There's a tendency to try to hang on to old ways. Revert to the past. So, things can become a mess for a minute. The more you slow down and focus on the right way, the easier and more painless the changes are. Slowing down is hard, though.
Perfectly normal. Change is rarely easy, or smooth.
Abandon the net!
I put one up in my backyard and hit everyday for a few weeks, went out to the range and while I hit everything hard and solid. I had ZERO consistency. I lost what little I had before practicing into the net.
It's completely normal. It has to get worse before it gets better. You're just undoing years of ingrained bad habits and trying something that doesn't feel completely natural or second nature now. Plus, you end up thinking more after you've taken a lesson. The lessons give you things to work on and improve over time. They aren't like going to the doctor and getting a prescription that heals you in a day. The coach isn't there to make you better at golf him/herself. Think of it like therapy sessions, really. They give you the tools, not the cure.
100%, unfortunately got a shit instructor who was so intent on going thru his one size fits all lesson plan that was came out of the lessons with a much worse swing. Have since fixed all that without help of lessons and will be more diligent when finding an instructor this time around
Think of it this way, your mind and your body are fighting each other. Your mind is trying to make your body do what you learned, your body is trying to do what’s comfortable.
When you’re on the course and the two are in conflict, it’s going to result in alot of goofy swings and bad shots. You just need enough *concentrated* reps downloading the new swing, without focusing on (or fearing) the results until the swing change is comfortable enough to where your body does it naturally.
Not sure it's necessarily the case here, but it could be you're not clicking with your current instructor. Different instructors describe things differently and sometimes it takes some trial and error to the find the instructor who connects with you the best.
You mean you struggle with taking your poor swing and completely retraining all of your muscle memory to swing a drastically different way? Join the club. Like anything, if you out in the work, it’s worth it.
Oh for certain.
When you dig a nueral groove the wrong way, it takes a long time to fill in that trench and start digging a new trench closer to where you want it. You're brain is full of cognitive dissonance after a lesson. It wants to swing the old way but knows it needs to swing a new way..takes awhile to work out the old
Anytime you're unlearning the bad habits you've implemented as a crutch there's going to be an adjustment period. Keep at it. The muscle memory will kick in for the good habits with practice.
I've worked with a few tutors/coaches - you kinda have to shop about I've found. Once you find the coach that has 2-3 different ways to help you get the desired feel, you'll stop being overwhelmed or coming away from a lesson that makes you feel like you've gone backwards.
Lessons are tough. In order to break habits in your swing you have to actively think about changing your swing during your swing. Thinking about anything mid swing is going to make the swing worse. Stick with it until the new swing becomes habit and you aren’t thinking anymore and it will get better. Also while on the course dont work on your swing thats for practice. Mid round just go put there and do what feels natural
are you actively trying to implement what you learned in lessons on the course? if yes, that's why you suck.
the course is not the time to be thinking about swing mechanics. Get up there and swing with whatever swing you have goin.
Yeah man, every time I go in I’m expecting 4-6 weeks of pain for each lesson if it’s a grip or posture change. Putting/chipping I’ve seen instant results but the grip changes really bone me until it starts to feel natural.
I've been playing about 18 months after a 25 year break. Was shooting 120-130 last year but have gotten down to 100-105 after a lot of practice and playing time. Have broken 100 once and 50 for 9 4 times.
Golf is really hard. You see the pros on TV and better players at your course and it all look so easy, and you convince yourself its just a matter of a few tweaks and you'll be stripping the ball down the fairway.
It is SO not like that. You're trying to get a rapidly moving club head to a 2mm impact zone on the back of a golf club. It defies logic. And that's before you consider all the mental challenges.
Right now, your mind is controlling your body, but at some point, that will invert, and your body will start ignoring your mind, as you've built up enough muscle memory so that no matter what your mind is saying, your body remains dominant.
You need to go through months and months of trial and error and countless reps until you get to a point where your swing just happens, and even after that, you will still play plenty of bad golf.
The golf swing is like a Rubiks Cube. Along the way, you will discover things that "work", and then find they don't work the next time you try, or suddenly things that didn't work before will start working. Progress is really, really slow, and you will go backward as well as forward.
My advice would be:
- Be patient
- Accept that you are the golfer you are right now and there is nothing wrong with that
- Focus on your technique, not your scores. If you're 9th shot on a par 4 is a dinger, that's progress.
- Remember that every golfer has been where you are right now
- Get on the course, however and whenever. The range is a nice easy option, but it doesn't train you mentally, which is 70% of the game.
From a technical point of view, the Big Leap forward is understanding that you are punching the ball not hitting it. That gets your weight forward, which is the key to the golf swing. This one video taught me more than several hours of lessons.
https://www.tiktok.com/@dannymaudegolf/video/7379246459381681441?_r=1&_t=8nCcojVRLaS
I read Ben Hogan’s ”Five Lessons;The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” a few times every year, and other than that, I ignore everyone else’s teachings and tips. I think there is a lot to when Ben Hogan said”you have to dig it out of the dirt” which I’ve always believed means you have to hit a lot of balls and figure it out.
Maybe look into a golf fitness trainer like TPI instructors. Sometimes swings can't be fixed because of mobility and suboptimal mechanics. Golf fitness trainer can help you figure out what's limiting you and help create a more efficient swing
First set of lessons I was told your next few rounds would be the worst of your life. Concentrating on every little thing that was said. Keep working on it until you don't have to think about it anymore and it becomes more natural.
I think this is almost a universal. At first you have a swing that is home made, the flaws you have you have found band-aid fixes. Now you get lessons and they teach you the proper swing which is vastly different than your original. This causes all kinds of problems until you start developing a good swing then it gets better. Even a grip change from my first lessons messed up my swing for a while until I got used to it.
I had an instructor telling me my club shaft has to be perpendicular to my spine at address, which is bullshit. I'm 6'3 and it was so hard for me to rotate because i was crouching down so much. I played like this for a month that led me to back pain that sidelined me for couple of weeks, then relearned proper setup through youtube and i play significantly better. Golf lessons are extremely expensive and i can't afford to waste $160 on someone who doesn't even know split hand drill, and lowering hands at start of backswing was new concept to him until i showed him youtube video. I can't believe he's been an instructor for 4 years.
You get worse before you get better.
However, the irony with lessons is that it makes people think too much about their swing which will be a KILLER to your game when you’re out on the golf course.
When you’re playing golf, it is supremely important that you don’t really think about what you learned during your lesson. All you have to focus on is sending that ball to the target with the shot shape that you create.
That happened to me. I contemplated quitting altogether. It was extremely frustrating. I felt like the guy was trying to create a new swing rather than help me understand what I already had. I think I landed somewhere in between which was a disaster. I ended up finding a different instructor who gave me simple things to work on that helped me work my way back, or at least start to. I have a better understanding of what works with my swing now and how to use my body effectively. Golf is a never ending journey of peaks and valleys.
It will really depend on the type of instructor you are going to, but yes it's super common.
With more old-school instructors (which tbh, is most), they'll often compare your swing to a "model" that they consider to be correct. Usually some PGA tour pro that they view as being ultra-neutral; David Leadbetter used to use Aaron Baddely, as an example.
If, compared to the model, you have several things "wrong," it's going to be really difficult to see immediate improvement. Say that your natural tendency is to line up with a closed stance and a strong grip, but you also have an outside takeaway, an out-in clubpath at impact, and a cupped wrist at the top.
None of these moves may be "correct" as per the model swing, but the first two will tend to produce a draw, and the latter three will tend to promote a fade, so they might be neuatralizing each other to different extents when all combined.
If your swing instructor tries and changes all 5 things at once, that will be super overwhelming so that's almost certainly a terrible idea. If he tries to change just one at a time, you'll probably see immediate deterioration. The best he can probably do is to choose 2 neutralizing moves and change them at once. But it's still going to feel unnatural to you at first and there's a chance that your short-term results suffer.
If you are able to find a more "modern" golf instructor you might theoretically have less of this issue. Instead of "correcting" any move that isn't neutral, they'll try and actually diagnose your impact issues and work backwards. Maybe you come to the lesson, not struggling with a specific ball flight but more of an issue with strike; say that you are hitting a lot of tops and thins. OK, *now* we can make changes that might help. Your instructor might try and have you "swing for right field," neutralizing your out-in path. And in doing so, your low-point will move backwards, potentially allowing you to make more solid contact.
Once that's more engrained, you might find yourself hitting hooks; after all, your clubface is probably more closed now *relative* to path. So *now* is a good time to maybe intervene again and try opening your stance, making it more neutral.
Rather than changing your swing just to emulate a model swing, they'll make changes that positively influence your impact conditions.
I couldn’t hit an iron shot to save my life after some lessons. It takes a while to ingrain the changes and adapt to the new swing you have. For me it was grip change and takeaway that felt completely different and new after a lesson. Those are now feeling automatic like muscle memory but it was rough for a bit there. You break it down to build it up correctly, and once you do that you hope for better results.
I'm concerned that you've taken 20+ hours of lessons and are still slicing the ball. I have taken 5 lessons since September, with a lot of practice and play time, and I rarely fade or slice the ball with anything but driver anymore.
What has your instructor done or changed when you've gone back for another lesson and the same issue persists? Have you considered switching instructors? Has your instructor given you specific drills to work on to reduce the issue? All good questions to ask yourself so you can find some improvement.
I usually make progress during lessons but struggle to replicate the progress when I’m by myself. Also my chances since I’ve started taking lessons to play and practice were slightly limited because I had my final exams.
Probably have way too much to think about. Get your fundamentals down and just think about hitting the ball
square. The big killers in golf are lateral movement and
coming over the top. Elimate those and you can find
consistency.
I'd also suggest less range and more course.
Golf improvement often comes in leaps when you are
young. You are intent on improving and you will find
a way.
20+ hours of lessons + consistently going to the range + practicing at home…. be absolutely sure you have gotten worse and you’re not just feeling that way bc your buddy is improving at a faster rate than you.
Im still relatively new. And like you I went out on the course slicing balls. Put in countless hours on my sim and had a couple lessons. Right after that round I realized a number of things that I typically do during practice that hadn’t even crossed my mind.
On the course, id hit a slice, track the ball, be dissatisfied for a moment, then go find it. Whereas on my sim immediately after a bad hit Im noticing/feeling what I did wrong then back to hitting a nice fade on the next swing.
Sounds obvious, but if you’re still *only* going downhill, with no improvement, you need to try something different. Idk what that is… but you might seek a new voice from having a lesson with another coach, be more deliberate about your practice with quality over quantity. You shouldn’t still be making no progress. That goes for all sports. I’d say the same thing to a baseball player which is a sport I played at a high level for the majority of my life.
I was taking lessons this year and my game got worse (like shooting high 90s and low 100s again after being a bogey golfer) but recently has been better than it's ever been recently after some stuff clicked on the course. Keep grinding. Before the lessons I never envisioned myself breaking 85 but now I feel like if I had my best round ever I could potentially break 80. Keep doing the lessons. Once the mechanics of the golf swing start to click in your head its the best feeling ever standing confidently over the ball.
For me, it was a mental thing. When I got on the course, I was worried about keeping up with pace and always feeling rushed. Pretty much worried about everything else rather than focusing on hitting a good shot.
I came to this realization because I started going out to my local muni during super twilight on a Tuesday or Wednesday and even by myself without anyone behind me and/or with me, I was still worried about what I said above. After doing this a few times, I was able to focus on hitting a good shot. When I started hitting good shots, I realized I had better pace of play and things naturally went away.
Today it still applies when I hit a bad shot, instead of the hero shot, I’ll hit a shot that will put me back in play so I can keep up with pace.
Straight up most teachers will just confuse you. One teacher told me Never break your wrists, they should be fixed through the impact area. I met Rory McIlroy and he told me literally the opposite, he said All great golfers rotate 'break' their wrists through the impact area aka. release the hands. I asked my teacher about this and his response was "well, YOU'RE not Rory McIlroy" and basically fired me as a student because I challenged him on this. Lessons can absolutely screw you up if your teacher is an ass.
This is well understood and pretty universal from my perspective. You get worse before you get better because you are breaking the bad habits that led you to seek lessons in the first place with new habits that are uncomfortable to your muscle memory. You have to break that memory and create new memories so it feels natural to initiate a technically sound swing.
If your hands know what direction they are pointing you could hit it square with any club, any silly swing. It comes down to educated hands. Work on what the hands and wrist position FEELS like at impact, get into impact position (use camera, mirror, references, coach, etc) and feel the wrists ands hands. Program your mind to duplicate that feeling at impact. Swing coach will get your a more efficient more balanced more repeatable swing, but your hands do all the work in clubface control. You almost want to make everything else as repeatable as possible (which is usually synonymous with most-efficient, least-dynamic) SO THAT you can use the hands to control clubface at impact. I mean try it out what do you have to lose? Active clubface awareness through hand feel.
I’ve seen people who have taken countless lessons and still be shooting 35+ over after years of playing. Meanwhile I know people who almost never take lessons, have a somewhat ugly swing, and somehow shoot in the 70s/80s all the time.
I believe that instructors should be teaching on the course just as often ad they do at the range. Instructors should be seeing a student’s bad habits on the course just as much as they see the bad habits on the range.
It’s like in basketball, you can be a lights out shooter when you’re just shooting around at an empty gym, but that changes when you’re actually in an actual game.
This maybe sounds stupid for some people but what works for me is: Only think about your golfswing and what you learned before the swing and not during the swing,
Improving at golf is like building muscle. You have to break it down and then build it back up. In other words, you have to get worse before you can get better.
Agree, but this is also going to depend on the teacher. My hope is teacher would only work on 1-2 things each lesson and NOT move on to anything else until those 1-2 things are ingrained in the student. It's up to the student to spend time on their own ingraining those things before the next lesson. No one should be trying to re-build a swing in one lesson. Way too many things for the student to think about and/or focus on and it'll all go to shit.
Exactly. I did 6-7 30 minute lessons biweekly throughout the season last year and it was great because we only worked on one thing each time. It was up to me between to actually work on those things. Crazy part was it really was only directed to basic things, e.g., takeaway, backswing turn, wrist hinge, tempo. Simple is the best for 90% of us.
100%. Lesson 1. Fix and work on grip. Lesson 2. Address whatever major weakness you feel needs work/they see as a big issue. While also making sure your grip is correct each shot. Lesson 3-4 continue working on lesson 2 stuff while implementing other small tweaks. They should build on each other, addressing new issues/tweaks while continuing to implement past lessons.
As having only one real set of lessons in my life, this is what we did (GolfTec, close to 20 years ago) and it worked well. We didn't make wholesale changes, just a few small things here and there and I was able to simply things enough I was able to go from a 7 back to a 3. It's also why I'm going back for my first lesson since then in a few weeks.
My only lesson was kinda off putting. On one hand I had some good tips and basics taught, I am a better golfer after those small tips. On the other... he spent 20 minutes talking about his teaching system and telling me I should book more lessons so I can learn X, Y, Z. I hit like 5 balls the whole lesson.
This is the flip side of the same coin in my experience. I have no idea who this instructor is or was, but sounds to me like they just wanted your money instead of making you better. Knowing what I know now, here's how I'd go about it. 1. I don't want an instructor who teaches one swing. What if you can't physically get into those positions? 2. I would be up front with them that I only want 1-2 things to build on from the first lesson, and I'll book the next lesson once I practice those enough where I'm comfortable with it. Yes, I could spend a bit more money not buying a "book" of lessons, but this allows me to go at my pace and have confidence in what I'm doing 3. Depending on your existing level, an on course lesson in management might be WAY more beneficial than working on a mechanical swing The point of lessons should be improvement, not perfection. Everyone is different and the best teachers can adapt. Maybe someone just wants to go from a 30 handicap to a 15. Cool! Help them get there. That might be all they want. Bring scratch ain't easy and it's not everyone's goal
Spot on, my coach is doing micro changes. Focus on one issue, I go work on it and when I come back he makes another change. So far it’s going great.
Nothing like waking up the next morning with a severe case of driver DOMS after a heavy lesson.
im pretty sure the driving range gave me scoliosis over the years. im not kidding
While true, after 20 lessons with no improvement I think the problem is mental.
Came here to say this
100% this
This is the only answer you need. Happens to everyone after a lesson.
This is only true for higher hcps imo. Once you get better changes should result in instant improvement or they aren’t worth pursuing. Bryson said that in his lesson to gm (Garrett)
Instant improvement (as in during the lesson and immediately after), sure. But undoing old muscle memory and making a new move permanent takes time. Not even the pros are immune to that process.
Ill agree w that for sure in terms of a permanent change but you should notice a positive change in ball flight or something when struck well
I’ve known a few people this has happened to. I think it’s because you’re thinking so hard to do all the things you were taught. This puts way too many swing thoughts in your head. My best recommendation for this is take a bunch of swings practicing all the form and techniques you were taught without a ball in front of you. Then have at most two feels in your head when you approach your ball. Swing that swing and let your swing hit the ball. Don’t try to hit it. Golf is hard. Full of ups and downs. When you think you’ve figured it out, it humbles you real quick. Keep grinding, stay patient. That’s the beauty of the game.
I just saw a vid of Bryson explaining pretty much the same idea here. He practices a repeatable swing with his eyes closed over and over and over to establish the feel of the swing. When he addresses the ball, he doesn't "focus" on the ball. He focuses on repeating that same swing path/motion/feeling. Also yes, golf is about the ups and downs for sure. Happens to even the pros. I'm high handicap, was breaking 90 for a couple weeks. Regressed all the way back into the low 100s for a few weeks after that lol. Evened out and back into the 90s where I was. Wild ride.
That Bryson video is 💯 spot on. I was exactly where you are last year. Just when I thought I was on the right path.. I was fighting to stay in the 90’s. I just kept grinding and staying patient. Worried less about my overall score but each hole was a new hole and tried to enjoy my good shots and understand why they were good. This year my “bad” rounds are 90’s I’m usually in the 80’s and even shot a 79. Enjoy the process even when you want to snap every club in your bad and your umbrella. 🤣
Analysis Paralysis - the bane of golf
Analysis Paralysis sums it up perfectly!!
This was my thought and something I have just begun to get over. When I am playing my worst the best way to describe it is I'm playing "golf swing" not golf. I typically try not to have ANY thoughts about my swing in my head once I address the ball.. it's literally just: target... ball... target... ball... target... ball.. GO.
Yes! Then my swing becomes all arms, no body because I’m trying to “hit” the ball and guide it. Like lean back to lift it. Nope… that’s a chunk! Let the loft do what the loft does.
Because you are changing things… Some tips can immediately impact performance. If you want to keep shooting the same terrible scores you have been ur entire life, just go back to hitting the ball the way u were before lol
Yeah, you're changing your muscle memory. There's going to be a period where you're trying to get your body to do something it doesn't want to and it's going to fight back. Grinding through that and making new, better muscle memory will improve your game. Too many people take 1 lesson and when they don't see instant results, they just go back to their old shitty swing. Lessons are a journey, not a quick fix
This is it. I was experiencing the same as OP taking about 1 lesson a month. Then I would work on incorporating that into my swing and play like crap immediately after. It'd be about the end of that month and I'd start hitting the ball pretty well, only to go work on something else and start playing like crap again. In the long run, it is worth it. But it can be frustrating undoing the old habits and relearning new. OP might just need to relax and play for a while until he's comfortable and things start to click for him.
I had this issue as well and it's mainly because you can't see what you're doing on a range by yourself. Take a video or get your instructor to record you doing what he's showed you and then if you start missing or reverting back on the range take a video of yourself and compare them. You may not be able to feel the difference but you'll see it.
Are your lessons off a mat? Are you hitting off a mat at a range? I find the mat gives you false confidence
The golf course is very different than practice. But I would expect your swing to be getting better on the range and at practice with all of those lessons. Maybe try a different teacher? Though that does not sound fun to start over again.
You should see some improvement but it also depends on how well you’re practicing what you’re learning in the lessons. I finally just had a bit of a breakthrough myself where I’m able to diagnose what I did wrong by my misses. Prior to the lessons I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I actually got way worse after my initial few lessons before I started to see any improvement. Lots of changes to my swing and breaking bad habits. When you’re a high handicapper it’s generally not a great idea to keep track of score. It’s more important to keep track of fairways and putts and getting your game solid from the green back.
I feel there is a disconnect. I’d do something that feels good and works that doesn’t disrespect your lessons. Like going to a 10 finger grip so you can actually close the club face. And remember, golf is an athletic endeavor where some people are just more gifted than others.
Professional golfers do nothing but hit golf balls as their full time job and even they say it takes a full year or so to even make the smallest swing changes. It's why, if something isn't broke, don't fix it. Tiger went into a slump after a swing change. I believe he eventually went back to his old coach. Same with Rickie Fowler. And I think Luke Donald too, just to name a few. Yes, for amateurs, more often than not, lessons and slight tweaks can help us (has def helped me but I'd say it took years to the point where I didn't have to think about it anymore)...but they take time. And more time than you think.
Self taught starting at 20-21 y/o. Learned through youtube (video jug back then) videos. I learn kinesthetically very well so was able to make improvements steadily over the next decade or so. Kinda ran into an improvement wall a couple summers ago. Got one lesson last summer (they're hard slots to get where I live), she filmed me on her ipad, told me I lined up too far right to play a big dramatic draw I don't have, but that was it really. Not a lot you can really get into in 45 minutes. Though admittedly I have become a fade player so she was definitely on to something there. So, I went out 2 days later to a long, linksy course I know pretty well, but is definitely more scorable than my tight-treed, crazy greens home courses. I shot my only even par 72 that day. That's it. Senior tour look out in 20 years, right? Then. Game disappeared. And I mean like can't break 85 disappeared. For a couple weeks at least, took a break from swinging and came back totally normal and have steadily worked my 10 down to an 8. But I'm now terrified of what another 45 minute block with a pro will do to my game. I am the internet-taught generation of golfer, and perhaps I should embrace it.
Look up Dana Darqhilst on YouTube and digest everything he says. This is a good video where he shows Jarome how to close the club face. Look up the rest of the videos to see how he continues to build upon that. If you’re slicing, your club face is open. Check your grip at address but also check it during your back swing. Make sure lead wrist is cupped and right wrist is fully flexed in backswing. As flexed and as closed as you can. Once face is closed you can address where the ball is going by pivoting more, etc. After this video look up the other videos they shot together. https://youtu.be/xiKa_TAhNEM
Just because you’re slicing doesn’t mean the clubface is open. You can have an extremely closed club face and still hit a massive slice if your plane is too far out to in which is the primary issue for most amateur golfers.
Me!
When I took lessons, I was so focused on doing everything “right,” that I could barely hit the ball anymore. I eventually learned that I needed to shut my brain off, and trust that my body will know what to do.
https://preview.redd.it/1mn51xf1m5ad1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b662c4bd38d9906575e620fadc12c8ab208e1d1d You’re on step 4, have patience
I love this
Are you better during lessons?
It comes and goes really. Some lessons I feel like I pick up quickly on what I’m being taught and I feel confident as a result. Other times I feel like I’ve never held a golf club before. I feel bad for my coach sometimes because I can see he is running out of ways to explain something to me.
People are wired differently. Lots (most) of golfers face huge mental challenges, and offers are just oblivious and don't care. The mental thing is a huge struggle when starting out, and you're going to have bad days, but they're just your "school fees", and the sooner you have them, the sooner your debt to the golf demons is paid off. You will get to the point where your mind is thinking more about where the ball lands than if you're going to hit it. There's no hard and fast rule about how long this will take, but it will happen.
Sounds like a mental thing. You’ll maybe have to seek out something other than just a swing coach.
100%. It’s tough to change what might feel natural to you, though inefficient for your game. I’ve heard the line to getting better in golf described as more of a scatter plot than a smooth, gradual improvement. Good days and bad days, but it’s about practicing the right things so eventually you have more good than bad.
Yes, I committed to getting better this year and bought 15 lessons, got much, much worse. Couldn't find the sweet spot of the club from January to May included several bouts of shanks. I canceled the few that were left on my calendar and the further away I get from my last lesson the better I'm getting. 10 of my last 11 rounds have been hdcp rounds and I haven't seen my instructor in over a month. And yes to head off all the comments - I was practicing between sessions all the drills my instructor gave me.
If there’s any option for your coach to join you on the course, take that. I offer that for my students. Usually what’s happening is my players end up reverting to their previous swings when they get on the course and do their own old swing. How’s your routine? Is it including enough stuff to remind you of what you’re trying to accomplish?
That's normal... to analogize it to jiu-jitsu. When you first start, you can be athletic and strong, use effort an energy and perform ok against a lot of the white-belts. Eventually, you learn that you won't progress relying on athleticism and have to focus in on technique. In doing this, you slow your pace and you go through a period of time where people you could otherwise overpower with brute force will start to gain advantages on you. But eventually, once your technique catches up, at that detailed pace you can have more success consistently.
I haven’t been able to hit my driver since this Winter since I slow mo saw I was bending my arm. Used to blast it far and straight regularly. Now I just use my 7 wood (blast the shit out of that though)
What you're taught in lessons will feel weird and wrong until you get used to it
Something people don't like to admit is I've found a lot of instructors who only try to fix the symptom, not the cause. So fixing the one symptom ends up causing another manipulation in the swing. I don't know if they do that to keep you coming back or they themselves truly don't know the root cause of the issue. But finding a good instructor who fixes the root cause of your flaws is essential
Rory Mcilroy
It's like learning a new opening in chess. You're going to suck at it because it's new to you. You haven't gone through the same motions over and over again and conditioned yourself to what you've learned. You'll gradually get better until one day it all just clicks, and then you'll need to learn new things
WE have all been there. It can be very difficult to get the hang of the inside out swing. Because if you are slicing everything, that is where your main problems lies. Film yourself and then compare your swing to that of your favorite golfer.
Whatever you’re working on needs to be able to be distilled into a single swing thought for your round. Nothing more
Yes, I’ve got a lot worse. Can barely hit a ball at the moment. The big difference between now and before lessons is I can get to a place where I play my best golf and feel I have good control over the ball. I just need to invest time into practicing what I have learnt, which sadly I don’t seem to be able to do. I can’t just turn up and whack the ball around anymore but also I now know how I was limited by the way I hit the ball before.
This happened to me. I was working with a coach for a while and thinking too much about every change I needed to make. I went out on my own to the range and cracked a few hundred balls downrange and that really helped. There wasn't the pressure of somebody telling me to change something every swing. I just got into the groove of my own swing and started feeling it
I’m going through the same thing right now, I was playing consistently high 80s/low 90s but did not have the distance or the ability to control shots over 100 yards very well. I took some lessons to help with consistency and to hopefully gain distance and found out that a lot of bad habits were creating a ceiling for me. Now I have a new swing and am trying to commit it to muscle memory. When I get it right it’s a much better shot, and I got my distance, but I’m having a lot of bad hits as well. It’s a process.
The first person I got lessons from this year wasn’t the greatest and that happened to me. The second guy I went to improved my game. I guess it depends
That's normal and is a sign you are actually working on the material in the lessons and are making improvements. When you start doing things different in your swing, that's inherently uncomfortable. You swung the way you did before for a reason. Chances are, it's what felt right and comfortable to your brain. It was probably completely wrong. Now, you have to teach your brain a new way. There's a tendency to try to hang on to old ways. Revert to the past. So, things can become a mess for a minute. The more you slow down and focus on the right way, the easier and more painless the changes are. Slowing down is hard, though. Perfectly normal. Change is rarely easy, or smooth.
Abandon the net! I put one up in my backyard and hit everyday for a few weeks, went out to the range and while I hit everything hard and solid. I had ZERO consistency. I lost what little I had before practicing into the net.
It's completely normal. It has to get worse before it gets better. You're just undoing years of ingrained bad habits and trying something that doesn't feel completely natural or second nature now. Plus, you end up thinking more after you've taken a lesson. The lessons give you things to work on and improve over time. They aren't like going to the doctor and getting a prescription that heals you in a day. The coach isn't there to make you better at golf him/herself. Think of it like therapy sessions, really. They give you the tools, not the cure.
100%, unfortunately got a shit instructor who was so intent on going thru his one size fits all lesson plan that was came out of the lessons with a much worse swing. Have since fixed all that without help of lessons and will be more diligent when finding an instructor this time around
Think of it this way, your mind and your body are fighting each other. Your mind is trying to make your body do what you learned, your body is trying to do what’s comfortable. When you’re on the course and the two are in conflict, it’s going to result in alot of goofy swings and bad shots. You just need enough *concentrated* reps downloading the new swing, without focusing on (or fearing) the results until the swing change is comfortable enough to where your body does it naturally.
Not sure it's necessarily the case here, but it could be you're not clicking with your current instructor. Different instructors describe things differently and sometimes it takes some trial and error to the find the instructor who connects with you the best.
You mean you struggle with taking your poor swing and completely retraining all of your muscle memory to swing a drastically different way? Join the club. Like anything, if you out in the work, it’s worth it.
Oh for certain. When you dig a nueral groove the wrong way, it takes a long time to fill in that trench and start digging a new trench closer to where you want it. You're brain is full of cognitive dissonance after a lesson. It wants to swing the old way but knows it needs to swing a new way..takes awhile to work out the old
Anytime you're unlearning the bad habits you've implemented as a crutch there's going to be an adjustment period. Keep at it. The muscle memory will kick in for the good habits with practice.
I've worked with a few tutors/coaches - you kinda have to shop about I've found. Once you find the coach that has 2-3 different ways to help you get the desired feel, you'll stop being overwhelmed or coming away from a lesson that makes you feel like you've gone backwards.
Lessons are tough. In order to break habits in your swing you have to actively think about changing your swing during your swing. Thinking about anything mid swing is going to make the swing worse. Stick with it until the new swing becomes habit and you aren’t thinking anymore and it will get better. Also while on the course dont work on your swing thats for practice. Mid round just go put there and do what feels natural
are you actively trying to implement what you learned in lessons on the course? if yes, that's why you suck. the course is not the time to be thinking about swing mechanics. Get up there and swing with whatever swing you have goin.
Yeah man, every time I go in I’m expecting 4-6 weeks of pain for each lesson if it’s a grip or posture change. Putting/chipping I’ve seen instant results but the grip changes really bone me until it starts to feel natural.
I've been playing about 18 months after a 25 year break. Was shooting 120-130 last year but have gotten down to 100-105 after a lot of practice and playing time. Have broken 100 once and 50 for 9 4 times. Golf is really hard. You see the pros on TV and better players at your course and it all look so easy, and you convince yourself its just a matter of a few tweaks and you'll be stripping the ball down the fairway. It is SO not like that. You're trying to get a rapidly moving club head to a 2mm impact zone on the back of a golf club. It defies logic. And that's before you consider all the mental challenges. Right now, your mind is controlling your body, but at some point, that will invert, and your body will start ignoring your mind, as you've built up enough muscle memory so that no matter what your mind is saying, your body remains dominant. You need to go through months and months of trial and error and countless reps until you get to a point where your swing just happens, and even after that, you will still play plenty of bad golf. The golf swing is like a Rubiks Cube. Along the way, you will discover things that "work", and then find they don't work the next time you try, or suddenly things that didn't work before will start working. Progress is really, really slow, and you will go backward as well as forward. My advice would be: - Be patient - Accept that you are the golfer you are right now and there is nothing wrong with that - Focus on your technique, not your scores. If you're 9th shot on a par 4 is a dinger, that's progress. - Remember that every golfer has been where you are right now - Get on the course, however and whenever. The range is a nice easy option, but it doesn't train you mentally, which is 70% of the game. From a technical point of view, the Big Leap forward is understanding that you are punching the ball not hitting it. That gets your weight forward, which is the key to the golf swing. This one video taught me more than several hours of lessons. https://www.tiktok.com/@dannymaudegolf/video/7379246459381681441?_r=1&_t=8nCcojVRLaS
I read Ben Hogan’s ”Five Lessons;The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” a few times every year, and other than that, I ignore everyone else’s teachings and tips. I think there is a lot to when Ben Hogan said”you have to dig it out of the dirt” which I’ve always believed means you have to hit a lot of balls and figure it out.
Maybe look into a golf fitness trainer like TPI instructors. Sometimes swings can't be fixed because of mobility and suboptimal mechanics. Golf fitness trainer can help you figure out what's limiting you and help create a more efficient swing
First set of lessons I was told your next few rounds would be the worst of your life. Concentrating on every little thing that was said. Keep working on it until you don't have to think about it anymore and it becomes more natural.
I think this is almost a universal. At first you have a swing that is home made, the flaws you have you have found band-aid fixes. Now you get lessons and they teach you the proper swing which is vastly different than your original. This causes all kinds of problems until you start developing a good swing then it gets better. Even a grip change from my first lessons messed up my swing for a while until I got used to it.
I had an instructor telling me my club shaft has to be perpendicular to my spine at address, which is bullshit. I'm 6'3 and it was so hard for me to rotate because i was crouching down so much. I played like this for a month that led me to back pain that sidelined me for couple of weeks, then relearned proper setup through youtube and i play significantly better. Golf lessons are extremely expensive and i can't afford to waste $160 on someone who doesn't even know split hand drill, and lowering hands at start of backswing was new concept to him until i showed him youtube video. I can't believe he's been an instructor for 4 years.
You get worse before you get better. However, the irony with lessons is that it makes people think too much about their swing which will be a KILLER to your game when you’re out on the golf course. When you’re playing golf, it is supremely important that you don’t really think about what you learned during your lesson. All you have to focus on is sending that ball to the target with the shot shape that you create.
Trust the process
That happened to me. I contemplated quitting altogether. It was extremely frustrating. I felt like the guy was trying to create a new swing rather than help me understand what I already had. I think I landed somewhere in between which was a disaster. I ended up finding a different instructor who gave me simple things to work on that helped me work my way back, or at least start to. I have a better understanding of what works with my swing now and how to use my body effectively. Golf is a never ending journey of peaks and valleys.
It will really depend on the type of instructor you are going to, but yes it's super common. With more old-school instructors (which tbh, is most), they'll often compare your swing to a "model" that they consider to be correct. Usually some PGA tour pro that they view as being ultra-neutral; David Leadbetter used to use Aaron Baddely, as an example. If, compared to the model, you have several things "wrong," it's going to be really difficult to see immediate improvement. Say that your natural tendency is to line up with a closed stance and a strong grip, but you also have an outside takeaway, an out-in clubpath at impact, and a cupped wrist at the top. None of these moves may be "correct" as per the model swing, but the first two will tend to produce a draw, and the latter three will tend to promote a fade, so they might be neuatralizing each other to different extents when all combined. If your swing instructor tries and changes all 5 things at once, that will be super overwhelming so that's almost certainly a terrible idea. If he tries to change just one at a time, you'll probably see immediate deterioration. The best he can probably do is to choose 2 neutralizing moves and change them at once. But it's still going to feel unnatural to you at first and there's a chance that your short-term results suffer. If you are able to find a more "modern" golf instructor you might theoretically have less of this issue. Instead of "correcting" any move that isn't neutral, they'll try and actually diagnose your impact issues and work backwards. Maybe you come to the lesson, not struggling with a specific ball flight but more of an issue with strike; say that you are hitting a lot of tops and thins. OK, *now* we can make changes that might help. Your instructor might try and have you "swing for right field," neutralizing your out-in path. And in doing so, your low-point will move backwards, potentially allowing you to make more solid contact. Once that's more engrained, you might find yourself hitting hooks; after all, your clubface is probably more closed now *relative* to path. So *now* is a good time to maybe intervene again and try opening your stance, making it more neutral. Rather than changing your swing just to emulate a model swing, they'll make changes that positively influence your impact conditions.
I couldn’t hit an iron shot to save my life after some lessons. It takes a while to ingrain the changes and adapt to the new swing you have. For me it was grip change and takeaway that felt completely different and new after a lesson. Those are now feeling automatic like muscle memory but it was rough for a bit there. You break it down to build it up correctly, and once you do that you hope for better results.
I'm concerned that you've taken 20+ hours of lessons and are still slicing the ball. I have taken 5 lessons since September, with a lot of practice and play time, and I rarely fade or slice the ball with anything but driver anymore. What has your instructor done or changed when you've gone back for another lesson and the same issue persists? Have you considered switching instructors? Has your instructor given you specific drills to work on to reduce the issue? All good questions to ask yourself so you can find some improvement.
I usually make progress during lessons but struggle to replicate the progress when I’m by myself. Also my chances since I’ve started taking lessons to play and practice were slightly limited because I had my final exams.
I lost my swing taking lessons. It’s difficult to make a swing change
Probably have way too much to think about. Get your fundamentals down and just think about hitting the ball square. The big killers in golf are lateral movement and coming over the top. Elimate those and you can find consistency. I'd also suggest less range and more course. Golf improvement often comes in leaps when you are young. You are intent on improving and you will find a way.
20+ hours of lessons + consistently going to the range + practicing at home…. be absolutely sure you have gotten worse and you’re not just feeling that way bc your buddy is improving at a faster rate than you. Im still relatively new. And like you I went out on the course slicing balls. Put in countless hours on my sim and had a couple lessons. Right after that round I realized a number of things that I typically do during practice that hadn’t even crossed my mind. On the course, id hit a slice, track the ball, be dissatisfied for a moment, then go find it. Whereas on my sim immediately after a bad hit Im noticing/feeling what I did wrong then back to hitting a nice fade on the next swing. Sounds obvious, but if you’re still *only* going downhill, with no improvement, you need to try something different. Idk what that is… but you might seek a new voice from having a lesson with another coach, be more deliberate about your practice with quality over quantity. You shouldn’t still be making no progress. That goes for all sports. I’d say the same thing to a baseball player which is a sport I played at a high level for the majority of my life.
I had this problem with running. Stop thinking and start swinging. Your subconscious will take over.
I was taking lessons this year and my game got worse (like shooting high 90s and low 100s again after being a bogey golfer) but recently has been better than it's ever been recently after some stuff clicked on the course. Keep grinding. Before the lessons I never envisioned myself breaking 85 but now I feel like if I had my best round ever I could potentially break 80. Keep doing the lessons. Once the mechanics of the golf swing start to click in your head its the best feeling ever standing confidently over the ball.
For me, it was a mental thing. When I got on the course, I was worried about keeping up with pace and always feeling rushed. Pretty much worried about everything else rather than focusing on hitting a good shot. I came to this realization because I started going out to my local muni during super twilight on a Tuesday or Wednesday and even by myself without anyone behind me and/or with me, I was still worried about what I said above. After doing this a few times, I was able to focus on hitting a good shot. When I started hitting good shots, I realized I had better pace of play and things naturally went away. Today it still applies when I hit a bad shot, instead of the hero shot, I’ll hit a shot that will put me back in play so I can keep up with pace.
All the time. I get in my head thinking about everything the teacher said and get overwhelmed
Straight up most teachers will just confuse you. One teacher told me Never break your wrists, they should be fixed through the impact area. I met Rory McIlroy and he told me literally the opposite, he said All great golfers rotate 'break' their wrists through the impact area aka. release the hands. I asked my teacher about this and his response was "well, YOU'RE not Rory McIlroy" and basically fired me as a student because I challenged him on this. Lessons can absolutely screw you up if your teacher is an ass.
This is well understood and pretty universal from my perspective. You get worse before you get better because you are breaking the bad habits that led you to seek lessons in the first place with new habits that are uncomfortable to your muscle memory. You have to break that memory and create new memories so it feels natural to initiate a technically sound swing.
If your hands know what direction they are pointing you could hit it square with any club, any silly swing. It comes down to educated hands. Work on what the hands and wrist position FEELS like at impact, get into impact position (use camera, mirror, references, coach, etc) and feel the wrists ands hands. Program your mind to duplicate that feeling at impact. Swing coach will get your a more efficient more balanced more repeatable swing, but your hands do all the work in clubface control. You almost want to make everything else as repeatable as possible (which is usually synonymous with most-efficient, least-dynamic) SO THAT you can use the hands to control clubface at impact. I mean try it out what do you have to lose? Active clubface awareness through hand feel.
I’ve seen people who have taken countless lessons and still be shooting 35+ over after years of playing. Meanwhile I know people who almost never take lessons, have a somewhat ugly swing, and somehow shoot in the 70s/80s all the time. I believe that instructors should be teaching on the course just as often ad they do at the range. Instructors should be seeing a student’s bad habits on the course just as much as they see the bad habits on the range. It’s like in basketball, you can be a lights out shooter when you’re just shooting around at an empty gym, but that changes when you’re actually in an actual game.
This maybe sounds stupid for some people but what works for me is: Only think about your golfswing and what you learned before the swing and not during the swing,
Never had one, still have a free coupon for a lesson from the club…probably should check it out