Lessons or clubs? It's a question that has stumped golfers for years. Here, we look at five reasons why you could be better served enlisting the help of a professional
Want To Improve? Buy Lessons Not Clubs
As a golfer, it’s easy to be suckered in by the marketing geniuses out there that will have you believing a golf club can cure your slice or get rid of the yips. Sadly, it’s not that simple.
It’s not that new clubs won’t help – undergoing a club fitting is something we would still encourage – but they won’t fix any underlying swing issues or short-game shortcomings that are plaguing your game.
Related: How to become a PGA professional
So, with that in mind, here are five reasons to book lessons rather than buy new clubs.
It will save you money in the long run
By continually going down the route of buying one or more new clubs in a bid to aid your game, you’re potentially ignoring the real problem and therefore encouraging what will likely be a never-ending cycle. New clubs will perform for a time until the honeymoon period wears off and the same old issues rear their ugly head(s). By that point, the latest gadget will have been released and hey presto, you’re back in the market for another driver.
You’ll enjoy the game more
From the basics all the way through to some technical advice that can eradicate whatever on-course struggles you’re battling, booking some lessons with a qualified PGA coach is going to help you improve – it really is about as simple as that. And with improvement comes better shots and lower scores. The by-products are extensive but the main one is that, by playing better, you’ll enjoy the game more.
No golf club can fix a fundamental swing flaw
This is fairly self explanatory and should be common knowledge. However, from experience, it certainly isn’t. And try as we all might, there is no golf club out there that will stop you hitting a big hook or maybe even a shank. Sure, shot patterns can be managed to an extent with a fitting, but why simply limit yourself to that when you can make actual long-term improvements to your game.
You’ll be able to get fit more efficiently into clubs in the future
If you’re a poor golfer, lessons can, at the very least, get you set up to make good swings. Getting on top of the fundamentals – grip, ball position, posture and alignment – is vital and a PGA pro will know exactly how to work through that process with you. These are the things that make you better before you’ve hit the ball.
If you keep practising the same way and using the same poor technique that got you to this point, it doesn’t matter what clubs you hit. However, if you’re set up to hit good shots, and therefore are making more consistent swings, when you do go to get new bats – at a fitting, ideally – you’ll be in a far greater position to get properly kitted out in gear that will complement your unique traits.
A new club could exacerbate the problem
Us golfers are a stubborn bunch, so when we get something in our minds, don’t try to get it out. That can apply to clubs, too. Some people are immediately drawn to a specific make and model and will stop at nothing until it has pride of place in the bag, even if it is to the detriment of our game. The intention is noble but taking something off the rack and manipulating your swing to make the club work is not the right thing to do and could lead to further issues down the line.
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