Golf Instruction

There are many sports that you can pick up on your own, or that you can easily learn from a friend in a matter of a few minutes. Golf is not one of these sports. Since it takes minimal exertion and perfect form to properly drive a golf ball, it is not considered a beginner-friendly sport. In fact, many people take golf lessons for months before setting foot on the course.

What Kind of Instruction is Best?

Since a golf swing requires such precise form, you are unlikely to find an instructor who is not a professional. To boot, the official rules of golf prohibit anyone who has ever played or taught golf for money to compete in amateur tournaments. As a result, there are few amateur instructors, and with few exceptions, you will have to pay for a pro.

Professional golf instructors usually charge hourly, and their rates are not cheap. Many country clubs offer discounted lessons to their members, but in the end, it generally costs a fair amount to learn how to golf. Because of the high rates that many instructors charge, more and more people are teaching themselves the basics of golfing before having a pro teach them specifics.

A huge aid in this trend has been motion analysis technology, which allows athletes to watch instant replays of their performance. By slowing down the tapes and seeing movements frame by frame, it's relatively easy to compare your movement to an ideal swing and find the differences. This way, you can bring your self up to speed on technique without paying an instructor to take you through the baby steps.