Golf Instruction – Why Most People Don’t Improve
Like anything else, most golf instruction requires practice, repetition and more practice. It’s no coincidence that the people who improve the most are the ones that practice the most outside of their golf lessons. For the vast majority of people taking golf lessons, they’re going to struggle to improve unless they have the time to actual practice what they’ve been taught. And that applies to beginners, hackers, better amateurs and professionals.
The hardest students in golf instruction are the ones that expect change with no effort and expect you to somehow miraculously fix their golf swing and shave 10 strokes off their game in a one hour golf lesson. Yeah, sometimes we can apply what’s called a band aid or quick fix but it’s nothing more than that, a quick, temporary fix that might cover up broader issues. For beginners, think of learning golf just like learning anything else. Do you think you’re going to get good at learning a new language or musical instrument by only taking a 1 hour lesson once a week for 5-10 weeks and not doing anything outside of that? Highly unlikely. And that’s the problem, unless you’re prepared to put in at least a bit of time outside the actual golf lessons, you can’t realistically expect to get any serious improvements.
Yeah, you’ll probably start hitting the ball better as the golf instruction progresses but in golf you can lose it as fast as you get it. People get frustrated because during the lesson they start to see improvements, don’t practice at all and the next time you see them they’ve reverted back to their old habits, and wonder why. This is just one reason why we at Delaney’s Golf Lounge offer some free practice sessions with our lesson packages – to try and encourage people to come in and practice outside of the lesson.
Hong Kong is particularly notorious for these types because it’s such a transient population, especially working professionals who often travel every week. Yeah, it’s difficult trying to make time with work and family commitments but I strongly recommend if you’re serious about either learning golf or getting better, you devote some time every week outside of the lesson, regardless of who you’re taking lessons with. It’s difficult to play golf in Hong Kong but not impossible and we can all find excuses why we can’t practice but in the end, unfortunately this is what’s required.
Tiger Woods, the greatest player ever to play the game, takes 1-2 years to make a swing change and feel comfortable with it. He’s playing golf, or used to play golf, all day, everyday, and it takes him years to make a change permanent. Yet most amateurs expect to make a swing change in a few hours, and with them playing once a month or once a week at best. It’s not easy to see why people give up golf so easily. Just have realistic expectations when taking any form of golf instruction and if you’re going to commit, do just that, commit some time to getting better just like anything else.
