golfrewind.com

I started playing golf for the first time last August at the age of 56. Since retirement I now have the time to take up something I have wanted to do for years but just couldn't make the time. I took five lessons from one instructor at the very beginning almost all with driver and long irons. I shoot fairly consistently in the 90s and break 100 every now and then. I try to play at least twice a week. While I have seen some good tips on this Forum I also have my golf buddies giving me tips all the time which have helped some but I decided to take a couple more lessons from someone different since what my buddies tell me isn't consistent with what my first instructor showed me. Guess what? They were right and the current instructor has already improved my glaring faults significantly. I still need a lot of practice since I've now been doing it wrong for a year - I still have a lot of fun! SO after golfing for a year I need to change my swing significantly to get rid of a pretty persistent slice due mostly to very little hip turn and not rolling over my arms after hitting the ball, leaving the club face open. Guess I should have figured that out sooner, huh? I know a great deal of this is my fault but having never golfed before what the heck did I know other than what I picked up watching matches on TV. The point I'm getting at is if you're new like me to the game and looking for lessons ask around a lot before you decide on who is going to teach you the game. Don't just go to one of the first places you hear about because they offer "Golf Lessons." In my case I feel strongly now that it was someone more interested in making a dollar than teaching the game to a novice and started me off with some terrible flaws by not even mentioning what I was doing wrong. He just moved me around a little in my stance so I could hit it "fairly" straight on occasion. Amazingly I have a very good short game. Maybe from all the practice I get recovering from bad lies! And my putting is very good also. I have had no lessons in either of these areas. Hmmmm... Thinking....

Good suggestions BenzGuy.

Golf instructors are just like anything else you would pay money for, and shopping around is always a good idea. Sounds like you've got yourself squared away with this new guy. A swing overhaul is a daunting task, however your newness to the game will actually benefit you in this situation, in that at least you haven't been swinging incorrectly for 15 years. By the way...focus on that short game. If it's good now, you'll be deadly in another year if you keep on it. Good luck. Glad to have you around.