Instruction
Ask the right questions to make sure you’re with the right coach
I have been teaching golf for more than 10 years, and I have given a lot of lessons. In that time, I’ve learned that golfers choose to play golf for many good reasons: maybe they like the challenge, the social aspect or enjoy being active outdoors. But they don’t always have a good reason for taking a lesson, and that can lead them down a path of making swing changes without really knowing why they’re making them.
It’s this disconnect of reasoning that bothers me on the lesson tee, and why I advocate that golfers ask the appropriate questions when they’re instructed to change a part of their swing. The three most important are: Why am I doing this? What is it going to help? How is it going to help me play better?
If your instructor will not or cannot answer these question, you should move on to an instructor who can and will.
Treat lessons like a class from when you were in school. A great student makes a great student. Make sure that when you go to the lesson you can properly represent your golf game. Know where you customarily miss your shots (short, long, left or right), and let the instructor know this. Now being prepared for a lesson is great, but don’t go into the lesson and dominate the airways with the instructor. Tell him/her what your goals are and let the instructor tell you the best way to get after the issues. After all, you are seeking the advice of an expert. Do not worry about being nervous during the lesson, as I will tell you from my perspective it actually helps when the student is nervous because their bad tendencies tend to come out.
After every lesson you take, you should also be asking yourself: What did I learn about my game? Where is the direction of my golf game headed? What am I going to do going forward to keep my progression on a positive path?
Here’s another tip: If you are a serious golfer, and since you’re reading this on GolfWRX you probably are, avoid the big, discounted package without taking a few lessons prior. I cannot remember how many times I’ve given a lesson and the student tells me he wishes he hadn’t bought the package from “Teaching Group X” or “Instructor Y” and now he has a credit of lessons that he never intends to use or he feels that he has to use. Taking a few lessons with an instructor before you commit to a package will save you money and a fair share of headaches in the long run.
Why would you sign up for a discount on long-term lessons when you don’t know if your goals match the instructors plans, or you don’t know if your personalities match up to the point where it can be a great working environment? I say “working environment” because anytime you pay big money for a golf lesson it should be taken seriously, not only by the student but also the instructor. Once you find the right fit/learning environment, then go ahead and work out a prepaid lesson discount if the instructor will do it. If the instructor does offer you a discounted package take it as a compliment. He/she is probably excited that you have chosen to make a commitment to your golf game and is rewarding that decision with a discount. Nobody really wants to discount the value of their time.
Now I am not writing this to bash any specific type of instruction or method, but rather to educate the weekend warriors who wakes up one day and want to take lessons to improve their golf game. It’s not that there aren’t bad teachers out there, because there are, but the lesson I am conveying is to find someone who is willing to understand your goals and use them to create or devise a plan for positive progression. Don’t let the plan get out of hand and ask the right questions to get yourself on the path of improvement.
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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Instruction
The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic
My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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Willyg
Feb 27, 2014 at 11:12 am
What do you do when you live in an area like Dallas where there are intructors everywhere? Everyone has a different price, method, etc. It is very overwhelming to start from scratch and norrow it down to even 3-4 to interview.
Thoughts and advice are appreciated!
Jeremy Anderson
Feb 27, 2014 at 11:50 am
I would consider it fortunate. There a lot of great instructors in the Dallas area. If you want to shoot me an email and I’ll refer you to a few to try.
Thx
[email protected]
Jeremy Anderson
Feb 26, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Philip, a good one wears both hats at once. For example, as a general rule I coach and teach all of my students but when I am with someone that I have been working with for a while we really only work on what works for them (it is mostly coaching). It is very rare, and would probably take a serious off the course injury to the player, for me to break down someone who I have been coaching for a while. I typically look at things with new students as how can I get them hitting the ball better the fastest. I rarely work with the backswing. Mostly work on adapting thru swing tendencies to what they do going back.
Hope this clarifies.
~JA
Philip
Feb 26, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Good advice. It can be difficult if you’re in an area without a lot of obvious choices. You start with mentioning a coach, but quickly switch to instructors. Are they really interchangeable terms.
I see a coach as someone who can put on the instructor hat when needed to cover the fundamentals, but is more of a guide. Someone to discuss ideas with and to guide you in your own journey (finding true cause and effect) of discovering your own swing while ensuring you do not get too far off track. My preferred method of learning anything. Whereas an instructor tends to be someone who is teaching you a method and uses drills and exercises for repetition that may or may not be correct for you. I understand this approach which is used in many disciplines and is quite effectively, especially with people who may lack a natural aptitude.
I think it is important for a person to be honest with themselves on their current level, what they need, and whether they are willing and able to invest the time necessary with either approach.
For myself, I have put on the coaching hat using the immense resources available to us and applied my work skills of managing projects and problem solving to the task of golf. Not for everyone and not my first choice, but it’s working and lots of fun.
Robert Jan
Feb 26, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Great information, remember most teachers are not club professionals, club professionals spend a lot of time telling people what they want to hear. I know I did it for 20+ years. Improving is a process and commitment with the help of a qualified instructor you can get better and achieve goals, huge tip, look outside your club pro for the answer.
Jeremy Anderson
Feb 26, 2014 at 9:43 pm
Bob,
There are plenty of qualified teachers who work as Club Pros that are very honest and upfront with their students. I don’t think every player has to go elsewhere to get honesty. I like the comments.
tom stickney
Feb 26, 2014 at 3:48 pm
It’s always a good idea to interview the teacher before you even take that first lesson…it’s your swing, you must take ownership of it as the player
Jeremy Anderson
Feb 26, 2014 at 9:47 pm
I completely agree.