Fixing Myself

[Diane]

I was reading mr3856a's thread about Basics and it got me thinking about when I mess up. Sometimes I feel that I can't fix myself on my own no matter how much time I spend practicing. There are times when things have gotten so bad - I need professional help. To that end, I've scheduled a lesson for next Saturday. I've been playing/practicing all Winter, but want to start the season right. Do you ever feel this way or can you fix whatever needs fixing yourself?

[coralpro]

I can fix just about everything for 1 shot then I got to work to fix the next.

[Leaguegolf]

I rely on a couple of long-time playing partners to let me know what they see that might have me off track. My set-up and swing are a bit unorthodox and most of the teaching pros I've played with just shake their heads when they see me play for the first time. They've been known to $hake their head$ at the end of the day too.

[90civicracer]

I can't say that I've ever had a lesson at the beginning of a season. For what its worth, I've never had a lesson. I'm self taught and would rather try to fix my swing with my own work rather than paying someone even more money to try and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I'm just stubborn, but it works alright for me. At most I'll ask my friend to take a look at my swing and see if he notices anything, but he isn't a pro by any means.

[straightshooter]

Taking the lesson is a great idea. That's what Jack Nicklaus used to do at the start of his season. I can fix myself fairly efficiently now, but in the past I have struggled with fixing myself for weeks and weeks sometimes, when a lesson might have taken care of it in 30 minutes.

[Bigvivec]

If I had a Jack Grout, Butch Harmon or the like in my life, I would go see them...I occassionally go to get a lesson, but to be quite honest, although I take many good things away from the experience, I don't think I am the best student (anxious, surly, stubborn, hard headed, etc) and it will usually take trial and error with the instructor's suggestions in mind over a period of months to get it straight...I have cataloged all of the lessons that I have had on my computer and now just re-read the instruction, go over my setup and alignment (the two things that go awry most often) as well as a list of other checkpoints and I find my way back...

[Bulls9999]

I've brought my camcorder on a tripod to our club driving range. Sometimes it's easier to spot something while you are not doing it, and especially if I play it in slow motion. But I often say, knowing what you're doing and trying to implement the fix are 2 completely different animals, but at least knowing what is going wrong puts you in position to try do remedy it.

I thought it was funny seeing the ending of the Doral tournament where the announcer said after this I can see Adam Scott dialing 1-800-ButchHarmon.

Originally Posted by Diane

I was reading mr3856a's thread about Basics and it got me thinking about when I mess up. Sometimes I feel that I can't fix myself on my own no matter how much time I spend practicing. There are times when things have gotten so bad - I need professional help. To that end, I've scheduled a lesson for next Saturday. I've been playing/practicing all Winter, but want to start the season right. Do you ever feel this way or can you fix whatever needs fixing yourself?

[Golfaddict]

I've had one lesson and it didn't work out. The teacher was excellent, but I'm just not a good student. I rely on friends, golf discussion boards, and watching lots of swings on the internet to try to key on something I'm doing wrong.

A couple of weeks ago I posted that I was having problems of hitting some major hooks. It didn't stop until I watched a few videos of some swings and realized that I was not keeping my head as still as possible.

[indacup]

No one is too good to not need a golf instructor to assist them.

The best golfers in the world, still rely and pay for professional assistance with their swing.

I can perform "Band-Aid" repairs to keep my swing on "crutches" till the round ends...but if there's a flaw, I would prefer an objective person (professional) look at it as opposed to myself doing it.

Even a camera/video can be deceiving.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Diane

I was reading mr3856a's thread about Basics and it got me thinking about when I mess up. Sometimes I feel that I can't fix myself on my own no matter how much time I spend practicing. There are times when things have gotten so bad - I need professional help. To that end, I've scheduled a lesson for next Saturday. I've been playing/practicing all Winter, but want to start the season right. Do you ever feel this way or can you fix whatever needs fixing yourself?

I usually work through problems myself. I know my swing better than anyone else, and I can usually tell by feel and results where my problem is. I've had a harder time than usual lately because the problem has been a hook/pull hook, and that is a departure from my normal swing history. The difficulties were induced by an injury to my right elbow that developed about 8 years ago, requiring surgery 7 years ago. Then as I was just starting to come around, I broke my left wrist, causing another delay in my comeback effort. Finally last year I started to see some real daylight, and it has thus far carried over into the early season, with my first round below 80 in about ten years. I'm actually feeling excited about the coming season, and I've done it all so far without professional help. I practice my short game on the chippiong, then work on grip and setup on the course while playing, and that has always been sufficient.

I have to qualify it by saying that I don't set my sights too high. If I can reach and maintain a 10 handicap or slightly better, I'm happy. I have no illusions if ever being a scratch golfer, and I can have plenty of fun at a 10 with a minimum of extra effort (outside of playing lots of golf).

[Darth Fader]

I can generally fix one thing,just as something else is falling apart.

[Leaguegolf]

Originally Posted by Darth Fader

I can generally fix one thing,just as something else is falling apart.

We're talking about your golf game here Darth.......Don't let your physical problems get you down.

[Darth Fader]

Originally Posted by Leaguegolf

We're talking about your golf game here Darth.......Don't let your physical problems get you down.

The joys of getting older League,i'm sure you know it well.

[Diane]

Well, I had my first lesson of the season yesterday and it went very well. I liked the pro a lot and he gave me some great drills I can do at home along with some good advice so I don't get discouraged on the course.

[alangbaker]

Originally Posted by Diane

I was reading mr3856a's thread about Basics and it got me thinking about when I mess up. Sometimes I feel that I can't fix myself on my own no matter how much time I spend practicing. There are times when things have gotten so bad - I need professional help. To that end, I've scheduled a lesson for next Saturday. I've been playing/practicing all Winter, but want to start the season right. Do you ever feel this way or can you fix whatever needs fixing yourself?

I've found that I can fix myself pretty well.

I think whether or not lessons will work out well for you depends a lot on your personality, and the way you mesh with the instructor's personality.

[Diane]

Originally Posted by alangbaker

I've found that I can fix myself pretty well.

I think whether or not lessons will work out well for you depends a lot on your personality, and the way you mesh with the instructor's personality.

I agree with you. I've taken many lessons over the years - some were a huge waste of time because the pro and I didn't mesh.