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You should ask for Larryrsf's advice and do whatever he recommends. Whether it's get together with an officially licensed or certified PGA professional, not play anything other than a Par 3 course because you don't hit the ball straight every time, listening to his words of advice are bound to get you to hitting every fairway and every green time in and time out. Following your obliging to his words, you will soon find yourself with an assortment of human powers (not just golf abilities) unknown to pure mortals that walk this earth. You will become twice as powerful as the Greek gods, and be worshipped much like the ewoks found their savior in C-3PO. Praise Larryrsf! PRAISE HIM, AND BEG FOR HIS MERCY.

Anyways, I was with GolfTec for 6 months in 2012 and really got my game in gear. You live close to me, check out the guys at Park Meadows (pretty sure there's a location there) or the DTC place where I was at.

One of my good friends is a GolfTec pro and they are good. As far as finding a good pro, word of mouth is a pretty good barometer. How many lessons will it take, well that depends on what you wish to accomplish.

Golf is essentially about your goals and your time. I honestly believe that anyone can get down to a single digit handicap in a year given the time and energy.

My kids just started taking lessons at the ages of 5 and 8. 90% of their lessons over the past 2 weeks have been putting and chipping which in my opinion is how the game should be taught.

Most pros teach the full swing and while that is fine they generally neglect the most important shots in golf...the scoring shots. Of course there is nothing sexy about chipping and putting, but birdies and pars look better than bogies and doubles.

As you work on your lessons the main thing is to practice between lessons. If you can't get to the course or the range then practice with a club in hand without a ball. Swing in slow motion. Also I am a huge fan of getting your lesson on video so that you can review it.

Listen to LL and COG. Golf Tec is a great place but spread the lessons out so you have time to work on what they teach you and be sure you get nailed down each thing they teach before you take on another one. Nice thing about Golf Tec is you get to use the facilities for practice as part of their packages, or at least that is the way it is here in the north west. For me I found a pro at a local course that has a great practice facility and I am not talking mats, I am talking grass range, 3 practice bunkers, two very large practice greens. I golfed for 3 years before I finally went to Scott and the first thing he did was take me to the greens to putt for an hour, then next hour we worked on pitches/chips, the third hour bunkers, and the 4th hour we worked on short and long irons. The 5th hour was the driver and woods. That was over a 3 month period in the winter. Cold, rainy, but in 3 months I went from a 22 to a 13. He refused to teach me anything new until I had put in 20 hours of practice on what he last taught me.

He told me he could give me just normal lessons, or if I wanted to get real serious about my game, that I would have to put in the time. Scott is tough on me, and worked me hard but it was well worth it and the best $500 I spent on my game. Nice thing is when I go to the range he will watch me and correct things here and there without charge. Every year now before I start the season I take a tune up lesson with him. After my surgery this year I did 2 hours with him to adjust my swing to my physical needs. He has gotten me back most of my distance on all my clubs, has improved my short game way beyond what it was before my surgery and slowly but surely my scores are coming back down in fact I have dropped by handicap from a 13.5 to a 12.9 and it is still coming down.

I got a lesson at the Swing Doctor and though they were great it kind of messed me up. Once you find a pro that works good with you stay with him/her. The key is finding someone that you can work with but someone that will take you as far as you want and are willing to go. Scott is convinced (as LL stated) that I will get to single digits and some time this year will break 80 which has eluded me for 2 years now. Its a big hurdle but with my pro behind me how can I not get there.

I was at a golf show a few years back. They had a GolfTec booth set up to demo their system, and I took a whack at it. At the same show was the PGA 10 minute lesson range, so I did my own comparison.

They both asked what I was working on, what I thought my problems were, what I wanted to improve. The PGA lady watched me hit a few shots, the GolfTec dude hooked me up with the fancy sensor vest... Both of them told me I was doing the same things and offered pretty much the same advice on how to fix it.

I try to take a lesson package at the beginning of each year. I have not taken the GolfTec package, but I'm not opposed to the idea. For now I have a pro at a local course I'm very happy with. We work well together and for the time being I'll stick with him. I still feel like the best lesson I ever took was the first one, 45 minutes on the range and I was a better golfer. I was very hesitant to take lessons, after that first one I was all in!

There are lots of options, group lessons, private lessons, indoor, outdoor, video, on course playing lessons... Pick one and go for it!

Just my 2 cents...

1. Find a teaching pro that you like to work with. Build a plan and SET GOALS. It will hold both you and your pro accountable.
2. Make sure you can put in the time on the range to practice. If I can't hit the range at least twice a week for an hour each, I'll lose what I worked on with the pro and never build upon the lessons. At that point, you are wasting money.
3. I like the idea of golftec and i go to them once a year for yardage calculations. For me, I'd rather hit outside off grass or on the course with the pro.

The most important asset/skill the teacher should have is their personality and desire to make learning fun. My son has developed a love for the game because his coach/teacher makes it fun. He high fives my son an every good shot and teaches him etiquette in a fun way. The lesson should make you want to come back!

Some more points:

The best thing to know about your self is...how is the best way for YOU to learn. My professional is amazing because he can teach by example, he can break in down to point to point, he can help you visualize or watch video or he can walk you through it. The best way for me to learn something new is by image and to talk through it as I bounce ideas back and forth.

I generally do not like to take lessons during the golf season because I don't like to play "swing." So I take 2 lessons a month every month of winter to fine tune my golf game. Now I have no idea what I will do when we move to Florida where you can play golf every month.

I suppose they were pretty technical, but it wasn't overwhelming. It's not hard to understand, and they use top of the line technology to help communicate their message. I'd go with the 6 monther like I did. You'll be there long enough to really learn from them, but you aren't committed to them for a while at the same time.

All teaching pros are different. Though in theory, they are all qualified to teach sound principles, some teaching pros are better than others at adapting to the student's abilities. I would call this a more or less laid back approach, vs a very stern "my way or the highway" approach to teaching. So shop around for a teacher and get some lessons.
I would say take general lessons at the beginning, then go back for a few more when there is some part of your game you really want to focus on. If you play on the course regularly, then you will know what type shots you need work on the most.
Golf Tech?, I have no experience with them. But my brother did. He liked it. Its technical training. They wired him up and made a graphic of his swing, then overlayed it on top of a PGA player's swing, and showed him the differences. He chose Tiger's swing for a comparison. And surprisingly enough, the two were almost identical. But sometimes you can't force yourself to swing one way just because someone else better than you does.
My advice to you, (and I don't give it freely here like Larry, unless someone asks), is to go to one pro and tell them what you want to accomplish. Take only a few lessons with them. Then later try another pro and see what they may tell you. Look for consistencies between them and focus on those.
But most importantly, you MUST practice between lessons.
and if you can practice where your teacher is while he/she is there, they will always come over to you and keep you on track when they see you maybe not swinging correctly. even when they are not getting paid for it.
It all boils down to something simple. Good swings vs bad swings. Muscle memory. You don't want to go off by yourself thinking you are practicing what you were taught, when in actuality you are doing it wrong. Stay close to the teacher until you have the swing buried into muscle memory.
Good luck whichever way you decide.

I've taken enough lessons from enough places I could write a book (maybe I will). I started playing 6 years ago after watching my daughter take lessons from the pro at the nearby golf course. She decided not to take up golf but I started taking lessons and became infected.
- I would recommend you watch some PGA pros in your area give lessons to other students and see if the pro's style is in synch with you. Are you a visual learner, auditory learner, kinetic learner - are you a quiet and watch or talk and do? Make sure the pro you pick matches your learning style. Watch to see how the pro deals with difficult students, what aids does the pro use?
- Check to see if the pro teaches a certain style (Stack and Tilt, Golfing Machine, X-Factor). Check these various teaching styles out and see if they make sense to you.
- If you spot a Pro you like, interview him or her. Ask what their experience is, how may years teaching, any formal schooling, what is his or her style? Does the pro teach green to tee (I've come to believe it's how it should be done), tee to green? Only at the range, on the course? Does the course have practice bunkers, chipping/pitching areas, putting greens? Will the pro teach you etiquette, how to get around the course, how to set up tee times, etc? Does the pro use video, Trackman, etc.?
- One-on-one is going to be the most effective way to learn. I've done golf schools, they're not that effective. It's mostly band-aid teaching to groups of differing ability. I once did a Peltz half day short game school which was a complete waste of time - pushed us through the 'curriculum' even if we weren't getting it. GolfTec is expensive - I checked it out. The swing analysis was amazing and I did fix somethings but the cost was prohibitive compared to a series of lessons from a Pro.
- Don't buy equipment from your instructor. If you dissatisfied with what you've been sold your relationship with the pro will be strained.

For the most part, I've stuck with the pro I started with 6 years ago. I go back periodically for brush up lessons or to learn new tricks. The advantage is the pro knows where I started from, has followed my progress.

I agree with most of what you say. But the teacher and the lessons are only the start. We actually teach ourselves to swing a golf club. He can't MAKE you practice.

Ideally, a teaching pro for late beginners would be a late beginner himself, someone who took up golf later in his life and experienced the struggles we encounter. He should be someone who took lessons and did the drills and now knows what actually works, and what is a waste of time. However, most teachers started playing as kids. They can't even remember when a correct grip felt weird. They can't remember training their lead side to lead, to "subdue" their dominant hand and allow their lead arm to control the golf club. So they don't tell students that FIRST they must ingrain this fundamental of fundamentals.

The fact is that MOST amateurs never improve. They start swinging "naturally" and never change because changing a backswing plane and downswing sequence requires weeks or even months of concentrated work, slow motion rehearsals, and forbearance from playing the course until the swing change is ingrained. Nobody does that. So nobody improves.

But it is only a game and most of us can't rationalize spending the time and effort required. It is fun to talk about, but very hard work to actually accomplish, much like learning to play guitar or piano well enough to entertain. Thousands start, buy an instrument and start lessons, and then encounter the necessity to do mind-numbing hard work, and quit.

So if you are NOT willing to grind like all good players did, then be happy with your 20 handicap and enjoy tramping through the rough looking for golf balls.

Larry

You can't break a 100 yet.. so, my best advice is this... start with short game.. on your own. .. no swing guru crap.. get a putter you like and fits you.. work on chipping, pitching, and putting... this will shave about 15 strokes off your score.. INSTANTANEOUSLY... Then we will talk about swing... by the way.. READ "Ben Hogan's 5 Fundamentals" You want putting and chipping drills. .there are a ton of them.. you tube it or look at any golf magazine.. I could tell you my favorites if you care...Welcome..

I shoot near 80 every time out. I hit MOST fairways and about half the greens. I can play decent golf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..

I agree that short game expertise is important. BUT if the golfer is in the trees or deep rough or OB off the tees, his short game really doesn't help much. Lowers the 8 to a 7.

So both skills should be developed together. Hitting it consistently straight off the tee requires good fundamentals. Advancing the ball from the fairway requires good fundamentals. And in fact, the same good fundamentals we use to hit our driver straight help us hit wedges and even sand shots straight. Fundamentals are fundamentals and high handicap amateurs make SERIOUS mistakes from the second they put their hands on the club. They put themselves in IMPOSSIBLE top positions from which only a lucky compensation propels the ball into the fairway. The shortcut to consistency is lessons. Learn correct setup, and backswing to a correct top position.

Larry

Don't shoot me but I agree with Larry this time. Long and short games are equally important. You have to have the fundamentals of golf down before you can work on a short game and you have to put yourself in a good position to capatlize on the short game. If the original poster is a 25 handicap he is probably having some initial set up difficulties and needs to gain some strong basic fundamentals along with basic short game fundamentals. That will get him under 100. Once that mark is busted then it is time to start narrowing down to specific flaws and strengths.

I didn't read the whole thread but there is a lot that goes into this game that we play and like many things in life, when things go bad coaches get too much blame and when things go good they don't get enough credit. as a 22.5 hcap you basically completely suck at golf. I don't say this to be condescending, I say this to paint a realistic picture. I started keeping a handicap within a month or so of when I first started playing 6 years ago and the worst I ever was was around an 18 or 19. As a 19 hcap, I was definately duffing shots off the tee, slicing ob. stubbing chips, skulling chips. 3 and 4 putting, etc. Basically, every single aspect of my game was terrible.

It is my opinion that the average golfer gets the most enjoyment of seeing the ball fly through the air. as a beginner, topping a 5 iron and watching it roll for 160 yards is annoying. When you start to get good at this game you hit that shot and you say "hell, it went straight and pretty far, no pics on a scorecard" low scores and having fun do not go hand and hand in this game. learn to get the ball up in the air when you hit it the majority of the time. then learn the basics of chipping and of course, putting. you don't need a ton of lessons on putting but you do need to put in some practice time and it can be boring. An instructor can give you a couple of decent putting drills that you can use on your own.

Last but not least, it's all about setting expectations. my hcap has been between 5 and 6 the last couple years and I'm not happy with that. I need to do a better job of setting my expectations and accepting the results of shots. it can go a long way towards having more fun.