Taking lessons to improve my game

‘Practice makes perfect’ is something I heard regularly as a youngster. Whether it was trying to play a song on a guitar or hit a ball down the middle of the fairway, ‘practice makes perfect’ is a phrase that has stuck with me.

With that in mind, I took the plunge at the start of the year and bought myself some lessons with my local pro. The reason behind the decision to start lessons, though, was my aim to start 2015 with a single figure handicap.

Currently playing off 12, it should have been a realistic target last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, too.

I tend to hover around the 12 mark, occasionally I’ll have a great round and my handicap will go down. Then I won’t play for two weeks and wonder why I’m not playing as well as I was before. All the while my handicap rising in the background.

For me, it’s important to keep things simple when it comes to my golf. Too many swing thoughts at once had gotten me into this situation, I needed a clear and simple way out of it.

I’m putting my foot down this year, 2014 WILL be the year I get to single figures. How exactly do I plan to do this? Lessons and practice. That’s the theory anyway. Practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?

Off I popped to the local pro in the first week in January, looking forward to getting started. From that very first lesson, though, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a quick fix.

First thing I was asked to do was hit some balls. When I go for a lesson, I tend to play better, no idea why, I just do. I absolutely smashed my way through 10 balls, every single one of them sweet as a nut, straight down the middle.

Typical, just when I was reaching out for help, everything sorts itself out. Thankfully, the pro recognised where I was going wrong.

For me, it’s important to keep things simple when it comes to my golf. Too many swing thoughts at once had gotten me into this situation, I needed a clear and simple way out of it. Thankfully, my local pro is particularly good at that.

Posture was first. I was too hunched over. That was easy enough to sort. A few quick drills, a bit of practice in my own time and we’re on the right track where that’s concerned.

Next up was the real problem area. I’ve been taking the club away from address well inside where I should have been. I was still managing to hit the ball well the majority of the time, but recently, I’ve also been prone to the occasional shank. A horrible shot, that no one ever wants, the issue with the take-away has been the reason it has plagued me.

I’ve had two lessons so far, managed to fit in many practice sessions, and improvement is coming. I know there is still more to work on, but hopefully that improvement will continue. Just have to keep reminding myself: Practice makes perfect.

Are you getting lessons at the moment?

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