Can Taking On-Course Playing Lessons Help Your Golf Game?
Posted on: 5 August 2015
When you think of golf lessons, you usually picture meeting your instructor on the driving range, then grinding away at swing after swing while you work to make some beneficial change.
For golfers who already have the fundamentals down, an increasingly popular option is to take on-course playing lessons. Your teaching professional accompanies you on the course for anywhere from a hole or two to an entire round, helping you master issues that come up during actual play.
Some of the problems that your pro can help you fix on the course, but that might not appear on the driving range, include:
1. Correct alignment
Once your instructor sets your feet and arms/shoulders while you work on the range, you're likely to keep them that way. On the course, you're walking between shots and have to set up afresh for each shot. Learning how to align yourself in real playing conditions can have a positive effect on your score.
As well, most driving ranges are pretty straightforward: You stand in one place and belt balls straight ahead. But on the actual course, tee boxes can be set up to trick your eyes and convince you to aim just a bit the wrong way. Your pro can help you learn to analyze course set-up so you aim for the right place, every time.
2. Course management
When you first start to play golf, you're happy just to move the ball forward. But as you advance in your skills, you may find that it's tougher to get to the hole from some places on the course.
A teaching pro can help you learn where to place the ball given the layout of the hole, your distance and your ability. Once you start to think about the placement and strategy of a particular shot, your results will improve. This is a hard lesson to teach on the range, though.
3. Reading the greens
You might be surprised to know that reading a green starts when you're 150 yards out. From a distance, you can often see the slope of a green more easily. An instructor can show you how to size up a green, make an approach shot that lands you in the best position and then assess the way the ball will roll when putted.
Finally, by watching you as you play a real round, a teaching pro can give you pointers on where to shave strokes. Are you always knocking your first putt a few feet past the hole? Work on putting tempo and distance. Do your knees shake when you're in front of a water hazard? Master some mental techniques to give you added confidence. Your pro can assess your strengths and weaknesses in order to give you a stronger game, both physically and mentally.
On-course lessons can cost a little more than a driving range lesson, but that's usually because they take more time. Talk to an instructor from a course or country club like Monticello Country Club to find out whether they give on-course lessons and when you can schedule one to improve your golf game.
Share