New Golf Clubs Or Golf School?

Do you want to improve your golf game? Are you considering spending $500 to $1,000 on new golf clubs? Of course the golf retail industry focuses on equipment. That is only natural but it is not necessarily the best way to improve your golf game. A better reality is that golf instruction,golf swing fundamentals and specific focused lessons will bring substantially better results than equipment alone.

If one wants to play better golf, you will be far better served by investing in yourself, rather than new golf clubs! The cliché says "it is the shooter making the mistake, not the gun" Believe it!

Cerainly new clubs are cool, but can they help improve your swing fundamentals? If one is serious about improving, and doing it quickly, make a commitment to developing the skills and knowledge needed to be successful. Without a strong foundation and understanding of the principles of the golf swing, a player is in the dark, and no amount of equipment change will make him proficient.

Little about the golf swing is intuitive, even for those with good athletic abilities in other sports. Many golf swing principles defy common beliefs. As one example: "hit down to make the ball go up" or "for distance, swing slowly."

A casual look at the various instruction "tips" that the golfer reads will confuse and mystify the best of the golf addicts! A golf instructor can teach you in 5 minutes that which you may discover on your own in as many hours. For the complete beginner golf technology will not save him from himself or herself.

The beginner perhaps should not attend golf schools, but rather get their golf instruction conducted at driving ranges or local golf courses. Usually group lessons or small clinics of 5-6 students spread over a month or so, will give the student a good understanding of golf basics to consider more advanced lessons such as multi-day instruction.

The Golf School experience is serious fun!!Schools are conducted in great vacation locations, such as San Diego, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach and Monterey. In fact 25 states have sites where schools are conducted. Women only schools are more limited in number but available across the United States. Just follow the sun!

In three days you can play significantly better golf. The best instructional programs are relatively simple and differ greatly from the weekly one hour sessions offered by the local golf professional. The fundamentals are emphasized and practiced for the entire time. The major process which is taking place in a school is the process of integration-that is you go from the instinctive, theoretical to the specific techniques which are appropriate for your skill level. In another words the proper golf swing basics become habit.

Some people call it muscle memory, but like any human activity, is a blending of the conscious and sub-conscious. That process, whatever the theory, does not take place without a passage of time and attention.

Golf schools, also called academies , immerse the student in three or four hours of golf instruction daily. The student develops the physical mechanics needed to increase confidence. You are immersed in being successful at the task, when taught well.

Golf as a sport, more than most athletic endeavors, is a mental process. After all the golf ball is not moving towards you as in baseball, tennis, etc.

Ideally, early on you are taught how to use your inner mental skills. This instuction early in the learning process can be a tremendous advantage! To some students it is new world! But--Mental golf is a major subject which is often neglected in golf lessons. Look for a school which teaches the "mental game"

Most schools will utilize computers and provide video analysis as take home for the students future reference.

On-Course playing lessons are a critical part of any instruction. There is a great difference as any one knows who has played golf awhile, between the driving range and the first tee box. Many schools emphasize the playing aspect of the schools curriculum. Without some integration of the above swing mechanics, the golf course playing is counter-productive, and not a lot of fun either!

Students would rather play golf than practice -we all would! Practice makes improvement, not play. However that may be, a quality curriculum should provide appropriate on course instruction.

The magic word in instruction is still integration. How long does it take for the lessons to be "owned" by the golfer. The experts tell us , the typical person can change A preformed habit in 21 days of repetition. Three days of golf lessons at best can identify fundamental errors, show how to change them, and can reinforce new habits only to the degree a student can absorb the knowledge.

Having said all this-what can the student realistically expect ?

Video analysis and practice instruction with playing lessons in a concentrated 15 hour program over 3 days is standard. That's 3 days of golf, golf and more golf to find and develop the natural golfer in you. When you find your natural swing, you tap into your talent for the game. A golf school provides an organized fun filled optimistic teaching atmosphere that can dramatically increase your skill level.

Most fully qualified Golf Schools instruction packages range in price from $800-1200 per person, with group discounts almost always available. One can expect class sizes to be 4 or less in number.

PS: Buy your new clubs after attending golf school!