When to take a golf lesson

     As a golf instructor it may sound peculiar that I would say not everyone needs to take a golf lesson. However, I will say that probably ninety percent of the players I see on the practice tee and golf course do need to take a lesson.  If you can identify with any of these situations I would suggest taking a lesson.

1.  " I can't keep my tee shot in play."  The driver may very well be the most important club in the bag. To score in golf a player must be able to keep the ball in play off the tee. Penalty shots are killers to scoring well and most occur with the driver.

2. "Once I get within 50 or 60 yards of the green I either hit the ball fat or skull it over the green." 
75 percent of your strokes in a round of golf take place inside of 60 yards of the green. It is imperative on short approach shots to get the ball on the green in one stroke.

3.  "I am taking over 40 putts every time I play 18 holes."  Putting is 40 percent of your score. To score well in golf a player must eliminate three putts.

4. "I am hitting shots in both directions and I have no idea why."  If you want to improve your game it is important to understand why the ball goes different directions. Your shot pattern is the result of the impact conditions between the clubface and the ball. Once a player understands this "impact geometry" the instructor can then explain what they are doing to put the clubface in that particular position.

5. "I am new to the game and all my buddies are trying to help me."   The best thing a new player can do is get some professional instruction early on. By establishing proper fundamentals you will improve faster and have more fun. It is no more difficult to learn the right way then it is the wrong way.

6. "I'm reading the magazines and trying all the instruction tips."  Trying to learn golf by trial and error - that is trying one thing one day and another the next is a recipe for failure. Because their swing has not been developed on correct principals, it is unreliable. They have to depend on the next tip or idea with no basic principal to back it up.