Instruction
Do you have the right attitude to improve?
Over the last twenty years, I have seen all types of golfers with different attitudes come to the lesson tee — some people are excited to learn, while others are in full-scale panic mode. Whatever your state of mind, I will tell you that even the best teachers in the world can only do so much if you bring the wrong attitude.
As I have often heard, “the only thing worse than a bad golf swing is a bad attitude!” Nothing could be more true, in my opinion. As I’ve always said, learning anything new is NOT easy and if you think it should be you are in for a long, long day.
Remember the following things when you take a lesson. You’ll have more fun and improve much quicker.
- Golf is hard. It takes time to become proficient, just like any other motor skill. You can’t learn to play the guitar instantly, so why should golf be any different?
- The golf ball does not care how old/young you are, how much money you have made, how many widgets your company sells, etc. Therefore, NO ONE is exempt from the learning process. NO ONE!
- In order to master the complete golf swing with any proficiency, you must give yourself the proper amount of time to learn and require of yourself a consistent effort to ensure your practice time is efficient.
- There is a marked difference between hitting balls on the driving range and actually practicing. Most people are on the tee merely getting exercise, and not doing anything productive.
- To overcome a fundamental flaw in your swing or set up, you must make a high number of correct repetitions, not just a high number of repetitions.
- In order to master the golf swing, you must break it down into stages so you can master smaller sub-skills before you move on. Everything in golf relies on what happens before it. If you make a major mistake during the takeaway, you will have to make up for it on the downswing.
- There is no such thing as a “perfect” swing. Everyone has idiosyncrasies that makes their swing unique, thus we are not looking for perfection on the lesson tee, but rather manageability.
- Most people have no realistic idea of what their current talent level is when they come to see their teaching professional. Just because you were a 3-handicap ten years ago does not mean that you can do so instantly once again. Your time allocation, your body and your talent level has changed over the years — some can get it back, while some cannot. Be realistic with yourself!
- If you have taken lessons from “everyone in town” and had little success, it is not the fault of the teaching professionals you have employed — it’s time to look in the mirror.
- Put your quadruple-Type A attitude aside, it only makes for a tough lesson for all involved.
- Throwing clubs, slamming clubs, and yelling on the lesson tee does nothing to help your cause with your teaching professional — it only looks bad on YOU. I didn’t say you couldn’t get upset, I only said you can’t lose your emotional equilibrium during the learning process.
- If your clubs are not fit (at least on the most basic level), you will be working too hard from the start, and will slow your rate of improvement.
- The reason why you hit it so well with your teaching professional watching and so poorly during your own practice time is usually attributed to the fact that we make you practice more efficiently by giving you instant feedback if you are “forgetting” what you need to do.
- Relax and you will have more fun. Having fun helps you learn more effectively.
- If I had the magic dust, I would have given it to you a long time ago — I’m not withholding information. I can only go as fast as your mechanics will let me.
- Sometimes it’s good to get another opinion if you feel like you are stalling out with your current teaching professional, but take the new thoughts with a grain of salt before you implement fully.
- You must take ownership of your own motion and your own swing. Do your due diligence before you sign up for a lesson. Research and ask questions. All teachers have positives and negatives to their instructional style, so you must find one that meshes with your ideals.
- If you are focused only on hitting the ball better, then spend more time on the range. If you want to score better, spend more time around the green.
- If you don’t understand something, or question the direction your teaching professional is going, just ask! It’s YOUR golf swing. It’s not a dictatorship. It’s a work of art and science between you and your teaching professional.
- Technology is helpful on the lesson tee without a doubt, but ONLY if used correctly by the teaching professional.
- The professionals make it look easy for a reason — they are at the top 1 percent in the world at their profession!
Just a few random thoughts I have learned over the years on the lesson tee. It’s just a game, but that’s hard for all of us to remember from time to time!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Nick
Sep 24, 2014 at 7:21 am
I don’t disagree with any comment in the article but I found it so hard to find even a half-decent teacher. I live in a good golfing area with over 12 clubs within 30 miles, I’ve tried lessons with about 6 teachers and only one had enthusiasm for the learning process. Most were jaded from students who either don’t practice or don’t follow up a first lesson with another. Some were personable, some were not.
I’ve been lucky to find someone who has studied Mac o’ Grady’s swing (therefore had a recognisable philosophy) and has enthusiasm. My practice is fully focused on full swing whilst I learn correct body movements and coil. Without doing any short-game specialist practice, I’ve gone from a regular 18 to a 6 inside a year. Now that I hit on average at least half my GIR I need to spend more time working on the scoring aspect but managing to get my drive down a fairway and to do something other than fat approach shots has improved my score and golf outlook more than being able to leave a 5th/6th shot from 30 yards 2 ft away would ever do.
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Rumble
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:07 pm
Before you jump on Tom, whom is a fantastic writer, realize that it is an opinion of his (albeit widely accepted) that short game improvement will make your scores go down faster than if you just worked on ball striking. Some points are valid i.e. hitting a ball OB will wreck your score, while a 3 putt is only one stroke. However, if you look at the course of an entire round, or better yet a full season (which I won’t give an example of for brevity) the short game is a large percentage of strokes, that even a small improvement will trend you in the right direction.
For example, lets say on hole 1 par 4 you hit the ball OB, you are now teeing off your 3rd shot. Which you club down conservatively and put the ball in the rough, where you hack it out and are now laying 4 30 yards from the green. Lets say you have a average short game and it takes you 1 shot to get to the middle of the green and 2 putts. Thats a 7. Lets say you have a great short game and now you turn that into a 6 with a 1 putt. If you play that way the whole way into the clubhouse because your course management skills need work, you saved 18 strokes being able to putt or chip one less time per hole. Inversely, if you strike the ball like a PGA Pro who hits about 13-14 GIR on average and you have a poor short game you will still shoot 4 or so over par if you 2 putt every green, and thats conceding you get out of every tricky shot around the green into 2 putt range. I could also go into how you can never get enough repetitions to exactly predict every full swing shot you will need during a round due to variations in lies and wind and moisture etc, but a small amount of repetitive short game practice can more quickly produce good results. Hence why it’s accepted that your scores will go down rapidly with a better short game.
rockflightxl1000
Sep 23, 2014 at 1:26 am
Tom, you need to have Barney Adams incorporate this in his articles regarding decreasing participation in the game. I think all the things you’ve listed here are why “avid” golf participation is dying out. This is not an easy game to become proficient at. It’s resource intensive and the only certainty that the game offers you is that you’ll be poorer after you play it. However if played correctly the satisfaction is immeasurable.
Tom Stickney
Sep 23, 2014 at 11:23 am
It is a tough game for sure.
Hellstorm
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:15 am
Thanks for the insight Tom. I appreciate these short little articles you put out that serve to get people more centered. I totally agree with the work around the greens portion of learning and lowering your score. Not only does it save you strokes when you are around the green but it takes a tremendous amount of pressure off of your long game. Short game practice helps build rhythm and most importantly confidence and when you are getting the ball up and down, trying to squeeze that extra ten yards out of a drive becomes less important. Bombing drives does nothing for your score if you dont have the skill to get it close on less than full shots.
Think of that older overweight guy that you see out on the course who is barely making 200yds off the tee and is hitting long irons and woods into the par 4’s. He isn’t hitting too many GIR but he is making a ton of pars and bogeys because he is getting the ball in the hole from in close. That guy isn’t at the range trying to squeeze more yardage out of his swing, he is worrying about getting the ball close on that third or fourth shot and managing the course according to his game. I think everybody that is trying toi lower their scores could learn a lot from that guy.
Anyway, thanks for the insight and keep up the good work.
Tom Stickney
Sep 23, 2014 at 11:23 am
Thank you
snowman
Sep 22, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Here’s a thought that might help some folks….Find a system or a set of keys(with an instructor or on your own) you like/understand/make sense/work for you and stick with them. Know your tendencies, common errors. Make notes that you can go back to when things aren’t working (Full Swing, Short Game, Putting). I play with a lot of guys that are just wandering in the wilderness and have no idea even what they are trying to do in their golf swings. A system/set of keys will give you something to use as a foundation for your game.
Tom Stickney
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:35 am
Agree. Thx.
Jason Hawk
Sep 22, 2014 at 2:44 pm
I spent all summer trying to get better instead of just playing. I have so many swing thoughts going on, I sometimes freeze up over the ball and can’t start my swing. Any tips to play thought-free? Thanks!
Tom Stickney II
Sep 22, 2014 at 3:14 pm
Beer! Seriously. Just relax and have fun.
Don Koo
Sep 22, 2014 at 2:20 pm
Very true words Tom. Well said. In particular the part about having to look in the mirror. Many place blame to everything but themselves.
Tom Stickney II
Sep 22, 2014 at 2:26 pm
We’re all guilty
Fred
Sep 22, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Hi Tom. Some very good advice…apart from the 4th last tip. Smashing your drive out of bounds costs you more than not making that 5 footer (more often than not). In my opinion going low requires a good short game, breaking 100 is more to do with not going OOB or duffing approaches
The Crow
Sep 22, 2014 at 1:37 pm
Exactly what I was thinking. Chipping and putting well usually only saves you 1 stroke on a given hole. Driving the ball in play saves you 2 strokes. If people are on or near the green in regulation they are taking a bogey or double at the most. Wild off the tee for the high handicap usually leads to triples and higher.
Tom Stickney II
Sep 22, 2014 at 2:27 pm
In your opinion
Willy
Sep 22, 2014 at 8:08 pm
I agree with you Tom. Getting the swing smoothed out on the practice tee, and working on the short game for scoring better. Tee box is important, but there’s options from there in terms of club usage. The closer to the green you get, choices become limited….
Tom Stickney
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:35 am
Thx.
Jake Anderson
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:41 am
It is not really a matter of opinion. Fred was just being polite. While short game is important, nothing is more important for scoring and enjyoing the game than being a good ballstriker.
Derek
Sep 23, 2014 at 6:38 am
I actually agree with you guys here.
I didn’t start shooting low until I became an above average ball striker and understand the mechanics of controling my flight in all aspects (Curvature, height, etc)
I didn’t start shooting rounds at or under par until I became an good putter and good wedge player.
When I was younger and wild and didn’t understand the mechanics of the swing I was always chipping and putting for 6 or 7… When I started to understand the swing and began striking the ball in a more appropriate fashion and learned to keep the ball in play I was only chipping and putting for birdie sometimes… Par mostly and every so often bogey or worse.
It was at this point that I realized that if I could keep my fundamental technique with my swing and then focus on chipping and putting… well that’s where I shaved strokes off of my 15 handicap and I am now a +4.2 index.
Maybe this is just my experience but this has been my experience with all of my friends as well. In fact, one of my friends who is completely amateurish at golf other than he somehow is an phenominal; and i’m not just saying beginner’s luck, or he makes more than your average bear… I’m talkin drains 20 footers like it’s his job… and it’s not. Anyways, regardless of how exceptional he somehow is at putting, his putts are always for 6+… When I showed him some key fundamentals (as taught by the greats) and gave him some swing ideas to mull over (A la Mark Crossfield and WRX etc) and he found his own groove… Well, lo and behold he is now a steady 15 handicap. Where he regularly shot 120… Food for though I suppose.
mulliganboy
Sep 23, 2014 at 10:23 am
3 from the tee?….
Or 3 putt?
Which would you rather have when playing “for fun”?