Instructors and Philosophies

[j_moo]

[quote name='wmblake2000' timestamp='1300424306' post='3066049']
[quote name='Artin' timestamp='1300418656' post='3065848']
Every other sport is taught and coached this way but for some reason golfers think that one lesson is all it takes and if the teacher is worth is salt that's all it should take.

Sorry guys, but it's not that easy.
[/quote]

I was talking casually with a friend of mine and my teacher. He is considering taking lessons from her. He's a 5 and an engineer, and he's appropriately cautious. At some point, my teacher said to him, "The truth is I know more about the golf swing than you do. A lot more." She just said it as fact. My friend's very funny response was something like "The hell you do." That exchange was right at the core of the dilemma teachers face. We recreational golfers think we know as much as the teacher. At least, I have FINALLY concluded I know just enough to be dangerous to myself and others. I frankly consider this as a huge growth as a golfer. It means I am finally coachable. As a result my mind is much less restless and my swing a ton freer.

The way the conversation ended was she said, "You should judge my lesson by asking if the lesson improved your ball striking and if you understood how to do it when you leave. You will likely regress after you leave, and later misunderstand what I wanted you to hear, but if every lesson doesn't take you a little step forward, quit."

PS: I am taking a playing lesson next week. First one ever. I am very excited.
[/quote]

I said: "I beg to differ."

Not that I think she doesn't know more about golf, rather she doesn't know me. To trust she can quickly and accurately identify and teach what I need to improve just based on her belief seems a stretch. The swing is not only physical, more importantly, it's also psychological. Maybe the fact that she hasn't given me an answer to make me feel confident in her instructions says something about our thoughts not matching.

As for results, while she worked for you, I've seem many of her other students struggling equally before and after her lessons. Perhaps it's too much to expect to see improvement by an outside observer?

I have taken lessons before with the approach that the teacher knows better. Those lessons ended with disappointments because they didn't seem to address beyond the obvious or my questions. It seemed I had to take more control or the time was wasted.

We all want to get better, but what does that mean? Better scores, better ball striking, making more putts? Perhaps it's the lack of a clear statement of expectation on both sides that makes learning from an instructor so confusing?

[wmblake2000]

[quote name='j_moo' timestamp='1300661913' post='3072353']
[quote name='wmblake2000' timestamp='1300424306' post='3066049']
[quote name='Artin' timestamp='1300418656' post='3065848']
Every other sport is taught and coached this way but for some reason golfers think that one lesson is all it takes and if the teacher is worth is salt that's all it should take.

Sorry guys, but it's not that easy.
[/quote]

I was talking casually with a friend of mine and my teacher. He is considering taking lessons from her. He's a 5 and an engineer, and he's appropriately cautious. At some point, my teacher said to him, "The truth is I know more about the golf swing than you do. A lot more." She just said it as fact. My friend's very funny response was something like "The hell you do." That exchange was right at the core of the dilemma teachers face. We recreational golfers think we know as much as the teacher. At least, I have FINALLY concluded I know just enough to be dangerous to myself and others. I frankly consider this as a huge growth as a golfer. It means I am finally coachable. As a result my mind is much less restless and my swing a ton freer.

The way the conversation ended was she said, "You should judge my lesson by asking if the lesson improved your ball striking and if you understood how to do it when you leave. You will likely regress after you leave, and later misunderstand what I wanted you to hear, but if every lesson doesn't take you a little step forward, quit."

PS: I am taking a playing lesson next week. First one ever. I am very excited.
[/quote]

I said: "I beg to differ."

Not that I think she doesn't know more about golf, rather she doesn't know me. To trust she can quickly and accurately identify and teach what I need to improve just based on her belief seems a stretch. The swing is not only physical, more importantly, it's also psychological. Maybe the fact that she hasn't given me an answer to make me feel confident in her instructions says something about our thoughts not matching.

As for results, while she worked for you, I've seem many of her other students struggling equally before and after her lessons. Perhaps it's too much to expect to see improvement by an outside observer?

I have taken lessons before with the approach that the teacher knows better. Those lessons ended with disappointments because they didn't seem to address beyond the obvious or my questions. It seemed I had to take more control or the time was wasted.

We all want to get better, but what does that mean? Better scores, better ball striking, making more putts? Perhaps it's the lack of a clear statement of expectation on both sides that makes learning from an instructor so confusing?
[/quote]

Haha. I couldn't recount the exact comment. But the point was the same.

That you don't feel comfortable or in sync - is surely fair enough. You have to start with a place of positive sense of things. To your point about the psychological... yes, of course.

That being in place, I think we recreational golfers seeking help should set aside what we think we know, and give ourselves over. I know that flies in the face of the sense of "self-reliance" we golfers (including me) love as we dig it out of the dirt. It is my opinion at this point that learning to be coachable is not all that easy to attain, and is among the core stumbling clocks in lessons being effective. At least, I am confident I know just enough to mask how little I really do understand - why else am I stuck around a 10?. I was thinking back on other lessons, and I really believe the reasons they were not as effective as I had hoped was because I was reluctant to embrace change and by that, I mean, to let go and trust someone else with my golf swing. Meanwhile, I remained stuck.

[j_moo]

[quote name='wmblake2000' timestamp='1300671348' post='3072902']
Haha. I couldn't recount the exact comment. But the point was the same.

That you don't feel comfortable or in sync - is surely fair enough. You have to start with a place of positive sense of things. To your point about the psychological... yes, of course.

That being in place, I think we recreational golfers seeking help should set aside what we think we know, and give ourselves over. I know that flies in the face of the sense of "self-reliance" we golfers (including me) love as we dig it out of the dirt. It is my opinion at this point that learning to be coachable is not all that easy to attain, and is among the core stumbling clocks in lessons being effective. At least, I am confident I know just enough to mask how little I really do understand - why else am I stuck around a 10?. I was thinking back on other lessons, and I really believe the reasons they were not as effective as I had hoped was because I was reluctant to embrace change and by that, I mean, to let go and trust someone else with my golf swing. Meanwhile, I remained stuck.
[/quote]

I love being told what to do, especially when it comes from someone I trust to do something that is good for me. Not sure if she has or tried to convince me, not sure what she can do to make me convinced.

At this point, it seems I have to make the leap and hope she can catch me. Of course, this is not targeted to just her, that seems to be the proposition from all golf instructors. Because if all it takes is to say that I know more about golf to teach it, you and I should quite our day jobs and start our own school.