RE: First Coaching Lesson - Takeaways.

[maveric74]

Hey all,
Haven't posted in a while. While I have still not stepped on a golf course and played a round of 9/18 holes, I have been visiting the driving range and getting used to my brand new golf clubs. But I was keenly aware that as a beginner/casual player, I needed to take some lessons. Which I finally did..today! Here's my thoughts.

1. I should have booked this (my first lesson) as soon as I got the clubs! Get a lesson, not a clinic first.

Got the clubs around Jan but with a combination of work/personal life/complacency/a bit of fear, I waited until now. I also opted for a lesson over a clinic. A few reasons. Being time-poor, I could choose when I went to a lesson. With a clinic, I had to commit to 4 weeks (at least) of turning up at a set time each week and having already paid for it not having the option to change that. My work-life balance is not regular 9-5 so the individual lesson suits me great. Besides the 1hr I spent today (Yarra Bend, Peter Knight - exceptional coach!) with the coach was one on one and focused solely on improving aspects of MY GAME alone. Yep, a bit selfish but sheesh! I'm not much of a social butterfly anyway

2. All those years wasted Get a lesson. Even if you have been playing for years.

Just getting the fundamentals right felt so damn good! And I had all these years even when I did play casually admittedly that I could have taken ONE lesson! It would have made a world of difference. I plan on continuing my coaching for a while, let's put it that way

3. The correction felt so ALIEN, so WEIRD...at first.

Yep! I listened, really listened and put into practise what the coach and the video analysis wouldn't lie about The swing I had been swinging with all my life was basically inefficient. We just needed to eliminate all the extra bits and trim it to the most essential bits and that was that. It felt weird and foreign and alien at the time, but after the session I still had close to 50 balls left to hit. So I took to the driving range and practised my new found skills and what was weird and foreign and alien 5 minutes ago now started feeling, weirdly enough, ok. Just breathe, focus, set, execute. Repeat.

4. Today was the worst. EVER..But next time will be better

The first 30 minutes of my lesson, I was wondering what the hell was going on. Even with my bad swing and posture, I could hit the ball reasonably well. But now with the correct posture and the swing I was spraying them left, right and some in the centre! I wanted to give up but kept faith (go back to the coach's words of wisdom and the video analysis) and soon enough I was middling them ok. It clicked in my head and it made sense and then I wasn't reaching out or trying to hard, I was just a good robot

5. Practise! Practise! Practise!

This will be different for each one of us. But if you have bothered to get clubs, have got a lesson etc. why do you play golf? For me, it's focus and concentration and peace and quiet from my maddeningly busy work-life balance. I mentioned selfish earlier. This is purely for me. Something I want to do for myself. Just to see for once how good I can be with some coaching and actually enjoy playing golf and look forward to getting out there for a hit There's no competition..just me trying to beat me

Here's a few before/after comparisons just as a reference.

Enjoy!



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[3Puttpete]

Is that a man bun?

[maveric74]

Ahh..the horror! The horror! lol...

[highballin]

Good work Mav getting lessons. There is a journey in front of you that will be frustrating,rewarding & downright impossible sometimes!

But like you said if it just you trying to see how good you can be, then learn to laugh at the bad ones and really enjoy p*ssing off your playing partners with the good ones.

[oldracer]

great writeup. Letus know how you go when you actually put pencil to score card. What track are you going to play on?

[maveric74]

Thanks oldracer for the confidence boost Yeah, happy to share when I do get out on the course and put pencil to scorecard. I'm going to be playing Yarra Bend predominantly. Just got a membership there so spending most of my evenings there on weekdays and most days on weekends..lol (The Mrs. will suspect I'm having an affair!!)

[mrbluu]

Thanks oldracer for the confidence boost Yeah, happy to share when I do get out on the course and put pencil to scorecard. I'm going to be playing Yarra Bend predominantly. Just got a membership there so spending most of my evenings there on weekdays and most days on weekends..lol (The Mrs. will suspect I'm having an affair!!)

Nah, she knows you have a man bun, so safe as houses

Great work getting lessons mate, have you planned to get short game lessons as well???

[Slothman]

Nah, she knows you have a man bun, so safe as houses

Great work getting lessons mate, have you planned to get short game lessons as well???

This post contains so much truth......

I am still searching for that "how low can I go" but the short game improved my game out of site. I am a below average driver, below average iron striker but put a lot of work into my short game from 100meters and in.

I don't hit many fairways (average 5 a round). I don't hit many greens (average 6 a round) but I do alright in the up and downs, and sand saves.

Enjoy the long game (lets face it, its way more fun hitting a driver than a putter) but work on the short game and your around the green game.

And above all, practice your club throws, there is nothing more embarrassing than witnessing someone losing their cool and not being able to get an effective helicopter throw that bounces off the ground and up into bushes/trees. Perfect this part of your game so your playing partners can really have a reason to laugh at you.

[maveric74]

Nicely said highballin! That is definitely the goal by next year..

[maveric74]

This post contains so much truth......

I am still searching for that "how low can I go" but the short game improved my game out of site. I am a below average driver, below average iron striker but put a lot of work into my short game from 100meters and in.

I don't hit many fairways (average 5 a round). I don't hit many greens (average 6 a round) but I do alright in the up and downs, and sand saves.

Enjoy the long game (lets face it, its way more fun hitting a driver than a putter) but work on the short game and your around the green game.

And above all, practice your club throws, there is nothing more embarrassing than witnessing someone losing their cool and not being able to get an effective helicopter throw that bounces off the ground and up into bushes/trees. Perfect this part of your game so your playing partners can really have a reason to laugh at you.

Thanks slothman. Yep, at this stage trying to get the posture, the swing and control of the flight path (words that I didn't know existed until 2 weeks ago!) with the coach but I am also practising the short game on my own (although don't know if I am doing it right simply because I haven't had lessons). Still, doing bunker work, chipping work and putting work everytime I go the range or get a lesson. Watching some YouTube videos as well (the good ones) and hoping I can affect some positive changes into the game soon.

I don't understand the reason for people to head to the driving range, getting a 100 balls, hitting 10-20 irons and then 50-60 driver shots and trying to thump it as long and as hard as they can. This is true for all ages btw. I'll spend most of my time hitting wedges/short and long irons, followed by my woods and then maybe 10-20 balls on driver at the end.

Will practise tossing that club too

[oldracer]

Thanks slothman. Yep, at this stage trying to get the posture, the swing and control of the flight path (words that I didn't know existed until 2 weeks ago!) with the coach but I am also practising the short game on my own (although don't know if I am doing it right simply because I haven't had lessons). Still, doing bunker work, chipping work and putting work everytime I go the range or get a lesson. Watching some YouTube videos as well (the good ones) and hoping I can affect some positive changes into the game soon.

I don't understand the reason for people to head to the driving range, getting a 100 balls, hitting 10-20 irons and then 50-60 driver shots and trying to thump it as long and as hard as they can. This is true for all ages btw. I'll spend most of my time hitting wedges/short and long irons, followed by my woods and then maybe 10-20 balls on driver at the end.

Will practise tossing that club too

gotta get the toss right!!! re: lots of driver hitting......it's the start or finish of most of the holes you play, by finish I mean if you don't find a playable second shot, you're finished, so you can practise long, short, wedges all you like and you certainly should, but getting a go to drive ingrained in the system is paramount. Your short game will salvage some of the damage off the tee but not all, so putting drive in play will make the difference between being a high single/low double figure golfer to a high teen hacker like me. This is really only accomplished by getting a rhythm, a swing that's comfortable and relatively successful through practise, keep up the good work, Al

[maveric74]

Hey all, just thought I'd update this thread. So far, I've had approximately 6 one on one lessons. Been heading to the range in between as well to practise. So, what do I have to show for 6 months of work/practise? I still haven't played a round! But I may suffer from OCD, I believe . On a serious note, the last few sessions at the range have been eye-opening and really rewarding. After a great session with the instructor last time, where I was asked to keep my swing compact and really up the tempo on my backswing, it's paying dividends. Previously, when I was mis-hitting the ball and didn't know why and now I know instantaneously and have the know-how and the ability to correct it within a few swings which is so hugely satisfying for me personally. So, overall, my hitting may not be 100% clean, but I am not getting frustrated with my game or lack of, hitting the ball crisp when I do middle it and practising lots which is really helping me with the mental side of the game. Having played for years before, standing on that first tee, I would be waiting for the errors to creep into the game and slowly unravel but now I feel like I can step up, stay calm and swing easily and not force it. Really enjoying going to the range and the sessions with the instructor and as soon as we have some reasonable weather here in Melbourne, I'm keen to play my first round and see how it goes.