Why Golf Lessons Don't Seem To Help As Much As They Should

I've been giving golf lessons since 1970. Some students improve more than others, even if some golfers don't realize it at first. However the break down is in maintaining the improvement. Both students and golf professionals alike need to pay more attention to how the student is going to continue to maintain the improvement and not fall back to old habits and tendencies.

I've seen golfers improve from a golf lesson in less than an hour, only to fall right back to their old habits two or three days later.

The practice you put in right after the lesson, (within the first 60 hours) is crucial. You need to repeat the new motion again and again until it begins to "sink in", (some call it muscle memory my wife calls it nagging).

The proper way to do this is NOT at a driving range or with a golf ball. In your lesson your professional should have assigned drills that isolate the specific area in your swing motion that you are trying to re-program. You should have a point of reference assigned so you can tell whether you are accomplishing the goal.

I like a full length mirror, maybe clubs on the ground as a reference point or maybe a stick in the ground that forces you to take a new path to the golf ball. The more you practice with isolated drills and some kind of reference point as a guide the better off you'll be.

Yes a golf lesson can get things started in the right direction but the golf lesson only serves as a map to follow. Most of the results will come far after the lesson with the continued nagging of your isolated motion drills.

A word of caution here…do NOT carry over the drills to the golf course. I like to call it drill, drill, drill and forget it.