Golf Lessons are for you and me~

After much procrastination and conflicting schedules, I just managed to squeeze in my golf lesson yesterday evening. I went back to my old pro, Steve Tan.

Steve was previously from Bigwin Keppel, but he left when they closed down and join Star Golf. After a decent stint at Star Golf, he again upped and left and is now with Poh Bros at Toa Payoh Range. His teaching style and techniques are still the same all these years.

I basically went to him to fix my slice problems. After taking some videos and making comparisons, we determined that I have an inside-out swing and I use too much of my upper body to make my shots. This is also very bad as I am stressing alot on my shoulder blades, back and rib cage. It is really scary to think that if I continue playing this way for a few more years. I will not be able to play for even more years after that. What really fascinates me is that just a simple video clip with lines drawn here and there can show you that 2 similar looking swing is actually damn flipping different.

After making some adjustments, I find myself hitting the ball better. I can feel much better and more solid contact and best of all, a complete swing can be made without any difficulty. My ball flights is also lower but my ball is still not that straight yet as a timing issue has to be perfected. I am definitely hitting the range more to try to work this out.

Anyway, this is not a promotion for my pro. I also believe not many people will like him. He is just blunt and hard-assed. Just a reminder to you folks that we need to once in a while go back and be students to assess if anything is wrong.

Now comes the most difficult part; practice, practice and even more practice. The worst part, just make sure you do not practice the wrong thing. :p

Great ! Which range is the lesson conductor ? Can pass me the contacts ?

Steve is at Toa Payoh range. You can do down there anytime to look for him.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

I also believe not many people will like him. He is just blunt and hard-assed. . :p

Plus he took $50 off me at Sentosa....

Hahaha...

Have you checked out his new toys?

Burner Irons with R9 Driver, 3 and 5 wood..

It finally arrived after so long.

i am sorry but isn't the inside out swing the correct way?

if not, what is?

inside, along target line and inside again... the problem is try doing that in last than 2 seconds...

Agree...but the prob in Singapore is that 1) hard to find a good and dedicated coach and 2) too expensive to try (pls note the word try).

siaw8 wrote:

Agree...but the prob in Singapore is that 1) hard to find a good and dedicated coach and 2) too expensive to try (pls note the word try).

I think you are wrong, you can many good and dedicated coaches, but finding a student that will practice properly and put in the hard work needed is difficult...

They all want it in a half hour lesson!!!!

Yes, lessons are a must Especially for those who want to pick up this game.
We often see folks giving lessons, ok, TIPS, as they told me, to beginners. Get a real pro, and set yourself realistic goals...
Like Shortie said, they want everything in 30mins.
If one doesn't have the time to practise and play, why do you get angry when you shoot in the 100s or even high 90s?

I play once a mth w/o any ranging and I am very happy when I come back with avg scores of 90... I just had a game with a banker ( 50+yrs old ) who has part of his colon and liver removed because of cancer. I admire his spirit and enjoyed playing with him. He used to play in the low 80s, I think he played 110 today but I can see he had fun... I did.

If U dun practice in between lessons (lessons twice per month max is enuff), then U R paying the coach just to watch you practice on the driving range.

My wife moans and groans about not improving, but she only takes lessons when she does badly during a recent round of golf (+120 gross usually), and she finds practicing at the range or even on the putting green boring!

Her pilotes and SkyGym sessions help, but I tell her nothing can replace practicing swinging a real golf club or putter with some realistic goals in mind.

Many coaches tell me the same thing about students. Like anything in life, it takes a lot of hard work to be good at something--10% talent & 90% effort.

CK

Do we have more Reviews for coaches?
Me intro by Uncle Lau into Forum, hopping to find some guildline to picking up this wonderful sports, now still looking for a coach, me just a noob, never been to the range, never hold a club, never hit the whiteie ball before.

I am also thinking of engaging pro to fix my slices.
In the past, I have problem only with my driver (super slice).
No problem in irons & woods (quite consistently straight, more confident with wood than long iron)

Nowadays, seldom practise due to frequent oversea trips.
My irons & woods started to slice
Wood distance is getting shorter and shorter...
Iron getting more and more inconsistent...
and there is a wierd feeling about my swing now... just something is not right... something is different from the past.

Clarence is right.. we need time for practice in between lessons..
that's why I haven't decide on getting coach to analyse and fix.

roystonnn.. sounds more like u needed more practise..


for me... i was still sticking to my once-a-week routine... but i still kept playing from worse to worst.



my game now is still not that good. i never have much opportunity to range/practice as much as i'd like to. in my past games, i only hit 2 straight arrow drives that ended on the fairway with my driver. most of my other shots are straight into the boonies...

i totally agree on taking lessons at least once a month, at least for those who can hit about 6 - 7 good shots out of 10...
nothing like seeing yourself on video, and seeing where the setup, grip, posture, swing plane etc is off.

recently, i thot i was hitting not to badly, till my driver suddenly went off... i went from hitting 12/14 fairways one sunday to 4/14 the next wed (at keppel)... went back to see my coach, and everything that could go wrong was wrong. it was my 1st lesson in 4 mths...

maybe it's just me but imo... it'll be good to have at least basic understanding of golf prior to taking lessons (if you're totally new to the game), or at least have a go at driving ranges just to get a feel. This way, you can at least understand better on the stuffs that the coach is trying to get thru to you and i think you'll benefit more from the lessons rather than picking it up along the way.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

.. but i still kept playing from worse to worst.

in my past games, i only hit 2 straight arrow drives that ended on the fairway with my driver. most of my other shots are straight into the boonies...

setzer wrote:

maybe it's just me but imo... it'll be good to have at least basic understanding of golf prior to taking lessons (if you're totally new to the game), or at least have a go at driving ranges just to get a feel. This way, you can at least understand better on the stuffs that the coach is trying to get thru to you and i think you'll benefit more from the lessons rather than picking it up along the way.

Reading up and understanding what the game is all abt wld be fine, but to go to the range and allow the fellow weekend warriors give you tips? ( besides disturbing the rest of the range rats )
It's a big no to me.( see signature ) See a gd pro, they should be able to teach you the fundamentals of this beautiful game..

benhogan wrote:

setzer wrote:

maybe it's just me but imo... it'll be good to have at least basic understanding of golf prior to taking lessons (if you're totally new to the game), or at least have a go at driving ranges just to get a feel. This way, you can at least understand better on the stuffs that the coach is trying to get thru to you and i think you'll benefit more from the lessons rather than picking it up along the way.

Reading up and understanding what the game is all abt wld be fine, but to go to the range and allow the fellow weekend warriors give you tips? ( besides disturbing the rest of the range rats )
It's a big no to me.( see signature ) See a gd pro, they should be able to teach you the fundamentals of this beautiful game..

Any good pro to recommend.
Thanks PM if sensetive