Many of my friends have taken lessons, but I’m fairly sure the majority haven’t. That’s a small pocket, of course, so I asked the Google+ Golf Community if they’ve ever taken a lesson. The results:
Have you taken a golf lesson?
Yes 63%
No 37%
Personally, I’ve never taken a lesson. I’ve watched instructional videos, like Tom Watson’s Lessons of a Lifetime, and read myriad articles in GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest, but never took the time for some one-on-one feedback.
At my age - I'm in my 40s now and have been playing for 30+ years - I think a full-swing lesson would mess me up more than help. That said, I'd like to get the pro out for a 100-yards-and-in lesson - more swing thoughts and strategy than actual mechanics.
Ricky Potts is in the same boat ... Never taken a lesson. “Not sure I ever will,” he said. “Dan Attaway is my golf professional, but he gives me more mental advice than anything. He is also my personal trainer. Maybe I should stop calling him my golf professional and start calling him my mental coach or life coach.”
Funny.
David Bastyr is on the fence. “Just a few brief lessons and tips, nothing extensive like a real lesson. Purely self-taught otherwise.”
That leaves all the other comments on the “Yes” side.
“I started golf 18 months ago and never played before,” Tracey Pogson said. “I have my bad moments and excellent moments in golf like us all. But I would not have had them excellent moments if it was not for the instruction from John Watson.”
Victor Calderon said he’s taken lessons from Jim Cropper at Deer Valley Driving Range in Roswell Ga. “He's very good with beginners like me.”
Jeremy Black also has had a positive experience with golf instruction.
“Neil May was my Alabama History teacher & the golf coach at the [high school] I went to,” Black wrote. “He showed me how to play the game & he taught me the rules of the game. He was a detail guy, he taught me how to get the ball out of every possible lie you could get in. He taught me what red hazard stakes & yellow hazard stakes meant. He taught & showed me how to play golf & love the details. He was a patient man that I'll never be able to repay.
“I've had hundreds of lessons by one old golfer who smoked like a tar-kettle ... [Thank you], Mr. May,” he added.
Fred Win had mixed reviews.
“Father-in-law bought me lessons when I started the game 28 odd years ago,” Win wrote. “I didn't think much of him or the instructions, but I tried. It gave me such a bad taste that I didn't get another lesson for 25 years. I lucked up and my club pro asked me a couple of questions when I shot 78 then 103. After a few conversations came the lessons and it's taken me a few years to make it mine. I'm playing better now at 50+ than I did at 20 something. I think if you find the right coach your game can only improve. But it may be a tough search. My 2 cents.”
Frank Hoxsey also had a bad experience.
“I took a series of lessons,” he wrote. “I listened and work feverishly on the things that we went over in our sessions. I found myself not liking or wanting to play. So, I abandoned the lessons and stopped playing the game for a year.”
Not good, but hope for Hoxsey came in the form of a book.
“I picked up [Ben] Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf and never looked back,” Hoxsey added. “Self taught from now on.”
Darrell Williams, unfortunately, followed in Hoxsey’s footsteps.
“Yes, and he [expletive] me up so bad I quit the game last weekend,” Williams wrote.
That was a week ago. I’ve sent him a note to see if he’s been drawn back to the game, as another commenter suggested would happen. Will post when/if I receive an answer.
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