Hi all,

I find myself in a situation that I never anticipated, but I want to do this the right way-- the atmosphere on these boards seems particularly welcoming, so here I am.

In a nutshell, a few months ago my 14-yr-old son decided he wanted to learn to play golf. Typically (for him) he bought himself some clubs and has been playing on a local course with a friend (who is on the golf team at their high school). I insisted that he take some lessons before he developed bad habits and originally his dad was going to take some lessons with him. But life intrudes and now his dad is dad is ill, so I have offered to step in and take his place.

I only mention this to underscore just how rank a beginner I am --- I have never stepped on a course in my life and until this weekend, never envisioned learning. But I am motivated and luckily at least somewhat athletic and in good shape, so I want to make a go of this. My son is quite thrilled, so that is good.

We live in lower Westchester, NY and I am quite flummoxed by the learning options, especially given the very wide price fluctuations. While I had originally thought about starting with a series of semi-private lessons with a pro, the initial outlay is quite high (some of the pros at Chelsea Piers come highly recommended and I figured my boy and I could make a Sunday AM routine of it for a few weeks this summer). So now I am wondering if a 3-lesson pack for each of us at Golf Galaxy would be a better start, and if it really grabs us -- follow up with some semi-private lessons downtown.

From reading the forums here I already know to start with a set of used irons at some point <grin>.

So I would really appreciate some input regarding my approach or if someone has a great instructor rec, that would be great. One last question-- is there any book/DVD that anyone could suggest so that I can at least have a partial clue before I start this?

Much appreciated,

JT

First off. Welcome to the site, glad you decided to join us here. And a big Happy Mother's Day to you while I'm thinking of it. There is one book you might want to get, and it's Ben Hogan's book, Five Lessons, The Modern Fundimentals of Golf. The book will teach you the proper grip of the club, and the proper posture you should have when you setup over the ball. The book can be a little on the technocal side at times. but it should get you started on the right foot. After that, you should hit some balls at a local driving range a few times, Before you take a lesson. This will allow you to develope a natural swing for your body. Then a good instrutor will be able to look at your swing, and help you with any corrections that you may need to make.
As for lessons at Golf Galazy, I'd want to make sure the instructor is really good with a beginner or not. Some of the people working in these types of stores are not what I'd call very good at teaching golf. I'd rather see you take some lessons from a good instructor that you have gotten some good reposts on. You might ask around about who a good instructor is in your area, and get a few references I'd think some lessons for the two of you would be a better way to go than one on one lessons at this point. And if you can VIDEO THE ENTIRE LESSON. This will allow both of you to go back and watch the lesson again later, and see what you may have forgotten, or what you missed the first time around. Be sure to get some good video of the proper grip and stance, so you can watch it again and make sure you have it correct. This is especially important, as over time most every golfer will start using a less than optimun grip and stance. It just seems to creep in some how, but with a video, you will be able to check your grip and stance to what you were taught in your first lesson again and again as needed. I hope this helps a little. If you have any other questions, please feel free to let us know and I'm sure someone will be glad to offer some adviee.

Welcome JT. Glad you found us and sounds like you're doing a really nice thing for the child. That's super.

My concern about a Golf Galaxy's style of lessons is if you're always hitting into the net, you don't get the visual of what really happens to the ball after that first 10-15ft. I think going to a course or driving range where you get the real feel of things would be my suggestions. You can usually split a lesson between the 2 of you. So 1 hr hour lesson, you'd both get about 30 minutes with the instructor. Not sure if they offer that there but here they do. I would try to see what you can find at a real course though.

Also, after the lesson is over, you might plan to stay a little longer, hitting balls and stretching out the time together.

Let us know how it goes....

Tremendous help guys-- exactly the input I was looking for and yes, I was a bit leery re: the Golf Galaxy approach.

I hadn't considered trying a driving range first and my son is all revved to "teach" me (hmmmm). So we have a date later this week, luckily there are 2 driving ranges nearby.

Re: Lessons, it seems like the instructors at the Chelsea Piers come highly regarded (and they do video as Don suggested), so we are going to start with a 1-hour semi-private lesson for the two of us after a couple of trips to the driving range. If we enjoy it and find it helpful we will invest in a few more lessons and then spend the summer playing together.

And Don, I have a copy of Ben Hogan's book on reserve for pickup on the way home from work tomorrow -- thanks for the suggestion.

I will definitely keep you posted on our progress, I've been chuckling to myself about this all day, my late father was a avid golfer and while the two of us played together as a pretty serious doubles team in tennis, he could never entice me to play golf. Somewhere he is cracking up at this.

All the best,

Jil

Jil,
Welcome to the site and a belated Happy Mother's Day. I'm in Southeastern CT and know a little about how pricey NY golf can be having worked on a couple of country clubs in Westchester. I think your approach is the right one and Chelsey is highly recommended. The driving range is also a good place, thats where I took my initial lesson package with a PGA instructor. In terms of lessons you might see if a "playing lesson" at one of the area par 3 courses might be available with your instructor. Sometimes its not so easy taking lessons to the course and having one with you can go a long way with the course management stuff.

As a follow up to your lessons, may I offer a bit of advice? I'd like to recommend that you take the time to learn how to hit the ball pretty well on the driving range first, and forget about playing golf on a golf course. The golf course is NOT the place to learn how to hit the ball. Once you both learn how to hit the ball pretty well, you should then practice putting and chipping at the practice area of a golf course. Then, and ONLY then, should you play golf on a course. And at this point, I'd recommend you play a 9 hole par 3 course, and forget about playing a full size course. Again, once you can get around the 9 hole par 3 course in decent style, you will be much better prepared to play a full size course. This is the way I learned how to play golf, and it worked out very well. An added bonus is that you don't NEED a full set of clubs to play the par 3 course, just a decent set of irons and a putter. Good luck with you upcommng lessons, and be sure to let us know how it goes. If you have your own video camcorder, nothing says you can't make your own video of your lesson. Wouldn't hurt to video your practice time at the range as well.

Another idea, for when you decide you're ready to take your game to a real course, is to go during the off peak times. So late Sat or Sun afternoon and play 9 holes. And I would suggest you do a little research on etiquette too, like when to let other groups play through or when to pickup, that sort of thing. There's lots of web resources for basics like that.

In fact, maybe Chris, we need to have a thread on etiquette somewhere on the site.

Check out the Play Golf America website. Lots of good resources for beginners!
http://www.playgolfamerica.com/

All this month the PGA and LPGA professionals are offering fee 10 minute lessons - follow PlayGolfAmerica.com to see if there is a professional near you.

JT, I'm looking forward to hearing about your golfing experiences. I'm a 52 year old female who took up the game with no prior history about three years ago. I wish I'd gotten into it with my son when he was home, but I wasn't interested back then, and my parents took him out to play.

I take a lesson every week. My teacher is my father's age, and has become a dear friend. I got lucky; my boyfriend happened to know the teacher's reputation for understanding the golf swing, and he knew that our personalities were a great match. I agree with the others -- ask around to find out who is good, and talk to them to see who seems like a good fit.

After reading a bunch of books and internet sites and forums, I've realized that every author/pro has his/her own theory of the swing. I quit reading about golf (I'm an avid reader) and just focus on understanding it the way my teacher teaches it, to cut down on confusion.

Sorry for the delay in writing. Please keep up posted. It can be a great adventure if the game grabs you.

Boy, am I glad that I checked out this thread. I've been out on the course a few times now and learn here that I'm going about it the wrong way - no wonder my game is rather dismal. I was going to go to the golf shop this weekend to see about getting fitted for clubs. I think I'll ask about instruction while I'm there.

BallChaser, you might also check around the local golf courses and see what they offer in terms of instruction. The golf stores guys are probably ok, but they probably are not as good as some others.

Good Luck

Rule of thumb for golf instructors: if their "main" job is working as a clerk in a retail store...run. Good instructors are found by word of mouth (look for PGA Professional) and usually work at golf courses or driving ranges.

When I first started I took a course at the Local community college. it was pretty cheap (35dollars) and got me 5 1 hour lessons. There were 6 of us in the group but we got the basics like stance, grip, and etiquette and such.

Maybe look into something like that?

Good point 87. That isn't a bad option either if a local college offers something like that.

That's a great option if you have zero experience, I started out in a group class held indoors at a local high school during the winter. We hit off mats into nets with wiffle balls and a 9i just to learn the fundamentals of grip, stance, and basic swing mechanics. It was pretty bare bones but got me started. Getting into a smaller group, like 6 people, works well so the instructor can still spend some time with everyone.

Definitely great advice when it comes to choosing an instructor. Just because a person sells medical equipment doesn't mean I would want them treating me.

I echo the need to have someone who can really look at your swing. I tend to really, really lead with my left side in all sports, and direct assistance and understanding of body mechanics really helped me! A video is a great idea, though I can't stand how I look on video.

Here's a tip for any of you looking for an instructor.

As soon as you hit a ball, look at the person who is giving you a lesson and see if they are looking at you or the ball you hit. You'll find most instructors will be looking at the ball.

Now, this beg's a question???????????????

If they visually follow your ball from impact, how can they watch your swing?

A really good instructor can watch your entire swing and, most of the time, know where your ball went and how it reacted without watching the ball, or they will ask you where it went.

Ah! But they have video and they can analyze it for you................Ain't life grand?