Off season lessons

As we are heading into our winter, golf lessons are offered at a discounted rate. Is it a mistake to take lessons during the off season when you can’t get out to a course and golf…..


Thanks,

James

What kind of lessons? Are you going through a major swing change? If so, this is a good time because it will keep you off the course. All you can do is drills and not worry about your score yet. Big changes take a while to become automatic. Playing while you are going through this change AND expecting success in terms of score is rare. You usually see scores increase a bit before reaping the benefits of this new change that eventually becomes ingrained. So, doing this in the off-season can force you to stay off the course and test the new swing out too early and cause doubt setting you back a bit.

Little tweaks here and there are not that big of a change, so you probably would be better doing that at the beginning of the season where you can put them right into test. Otherwise if you do that in the off-season, you might forget them when the season starts.

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I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Good points -this would be a series of 8 half hour lessons, to be concluded by the end of December. I suppose they wouldn't hurt too much! I would have to see wha the instructor had in mind.

I played a round the other day - the course was so back up we left early. It was incredible. My driving was not very good and I thought of GregJWillis' post regarding wedges:

"So play with these variables, and really practice them. Instead of going to the range and hitting 100 drivers, hit 100 chips. Your next round will benefit from it more then 1000 drivers."

So I am off to practice and my driver aint' comin with me!

James

There are two schools of thought (and I'm not sure which one I subscribe to).

1) Any practicing is good. Grooving any swing is fine as long as you play the results of that repeatable swing.

2) Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice is beneficial if you're practicing the correct movements.

In this instance, we're discussing practicing swing mechanics. As a basketball coach, I'd rather see players subscribing to #2. However, all practice is tough on your own if you can't see yourself making the correct movements. This is where a video camera and a monitor help (I've used my cam and V1 with some spine angles drawn on to help with my posture).

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[quote=LowPost42;10546080]
2) Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice is beneficial if you're practicing the correct movements.[quote]

Do we have a correct movement in golf? I mean a swing that works anywhere? I think that the swing is all most the same, but varies uphill, downhill or sand - rough - forest:-) . Maybe even morning - afternoon. It's almost the same, but not.

What if trying to do a one perfect swing means that you'll not make a perfect swing to a given situation? Same swing that you use in the driving range might not work during a round of golf?

hi
winter is a really good time to work on your short game as you can use a wedge and the soft practice balls in the house when its raining or snowing, if you have a garage then thats a good place to chip balls out into the drive into a basket.
getting a few lessons on the short game takes a few shots of your handicap and i took a 1/2 hour lesson on sand play which was a really big help to me and i fell i can always get out the sand now.
cheers
bill

Any ideas on how to practice mental game during winter?
Kind of concentration and awareness type of training?

hi Hannu
sit in your chair and try and play the first 3 holes of your golf course, think of every shot and why you want to play it that way. even think of the walk to the next tee, also think of the green and how they break. if you get to playing 3 holes you will find it will after a few times it lock in you mind and when you go on the course for real you can stand on the tee and see the shot your going to hit, not only see it but feel it too, and i find the body and mind take over and most times i play well.
i find if i get distracted by the TV or the wife then i have to stop and start again for it to work, i often do this the night before a big game when laying in bed, i find it does work and it also helps you get a game plan in your mind, the next thing if getting yourself to stick to that game plan no mater what.
cheers
bill

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ping ist 47% wedge
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Sounds good.

It's a concentration exercise. It develops your mental ability to be focused. I am not sure if my technique is stable enough for me to imagine my swing. I have not found my way of playing yet.

I'll try it. I think I might have one round of golf before club closes. I'd like to do the exercise and also try a round of golf after it.

I found the exercise very difficult - or my concentration "not so good". It's easy to let your thoughts wonder. BUT I managed to mentally play 3 first holes and today I played them for real.

Mental image and realism did not meet. It had a good round, but it was nothing like my mental image.

This just means that I need more mental training and more rounds to play. I'll try to do the exercise of 3 holes at least once a week - maybe even more often. I know how to practice muscles - but what is the dose for mental training - how often is the best frequency?

hi hannu
i find i can sometimes play a whole round in my head now if laying in my bed if sitting i get distracted to easy. what i did at first was to concentrate on the holes i use to find hard, you often can work out how to play them by thinking them through and i also think of having bad shots too and playing the next shot from rough or bunkers.
i found it hard to concentrate more when on the golf course when i had to see the shot before i played it, that took more time to develop but will come with time if you keep doing it, you sometimes get the feeling you have played the hole before you have hit the ball and its surprising how often you see the shot before hand and you feel relaxed and hit the shot as planed.
i think the big benefit is in relaxing your body and mind and it lets your mind take over the shot and you mind reacts so much faster then if you try and command it to do something.
i have been using this system over 20 years and it was Jack Nicklaus that that i copied it from.
cheers
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag

I am not sure if this golf swing instruction company is available in Europe, but I use them every so often when traveling around the USA. Build a game you can trust from tee to green with GolfTEC, America's #1 Golf Lesson They are associated with Golfsmith, but also have a few independent stores around the country.

The part I like about their process is being able to pull up a swing, or putting stroke training session after the fact on my computer and review what the instructor and I found, and discussed. This to me is a good off season training scenario, since you can revisit your instruction anytime you want, no matter how far you are from the instructor.

They are a bit pricey, but good at what they do. Then again unless you are a golf phenom with natural abilities, at some point you are going have to get quality, personal instruction to be able to play golf with the top 5% golfers in the world on an every day basis. GJS

Yeah'n take lessons any time of the year... the more golf you play, the better you'll be.

It responses sound good.

I have a lesson every 2 - 3 months. I don't see my coach until I think I have fixed the problem we are working on or confidence is an issue. Every month though I get a mate to put me on video so I can have a squizzy taylor.

I know in winter I'm the type to chip and putt balls in the house and work on mechanics of my swing. If it's a good day I'll try and get out and hit a handful of shots.

I'm lucky the weather is Aussie is generally pretty good. I have 4 great courses within 120k from home. All in good condition in winter.

In winter, I must be getting old, but I am getting into reading golf psych books and alike. Actually just finished Harvey Pennicks lil red book (combination of his books), Every shot must have a purpose - Vision 54 and Elements of Scoring by Ray Floyd.

Previous winters Dr Bob's books and enlightment for golf (the latter too deep for me).

One thing I would add when Summer comes - get your grip checked.

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