The lack of results in your golf stroke may not be your fault. During my tenure with The Golfing Machine (TGM) book, which started in 1977, and my association with the Authorized Instructors beginning in 2000, I have witnessed many students taking lessons from non-Golfing Machine instructors. The information uttered, stammered, regurgitated by most golf instructors is awful, despicable and downright embarrassing to a properly trained and educated TGM authorized golf instructor.
Being a college graduate, I have attended many lectures and I am able to follow most people and their train of thought. However, when I listen to golf professionals “teach” I am embarrassed; they are simply spouting off as much information as they can in 30 to 60 minutes. Often, they try to impress their student with their knowledge of golf. Do they have an agenda or lesson plans prepared? Usually, and unfortunately, the answer is: No! Do they follow a logical progression from one thought to another? Again, no! Can they give a complete explanation of the concept and how you are going to integrate it into your swing? Sadly, no! Then why are you wasting your precious time and money with them? Please remember that if your instructor says “here is what I do,” this usually means he does not understand the complexity and variability available in the catalog of golf strokes.
Here is an example of what a golf instructor recently said to a student: He stated that the arms are not raised during the backstroke, “they do not go up,” he said stringently. This statement he made is absurd and not raising the arms during the backstroke makes hitting the ball impossible. A proper golf stroke cannot be made unless arms are raised by using the proper musculature; if these muscles are not activated, the arms will stay by the side. The correct muscles must be activated in order for the hands to go up to shoulder height in any full golf stroke. This hapless and unknowing student, however, did not question this instructor; he took this farcical statement as fact.
I hope you begin to ask your instructor questions and I suggest you ask him a lot of questions; if he cannot properly explain to you how and why the concept under question works then it’s time to find a more knowledgeable instructor. Remember, you success in golf is directly correlated to your instructor’s knowledge. If he states that “this” is the most recent swing model, again it’s time to find a new instructor. Proper geometrical alignments, physics and biomechanics never go out of style; they are the backbone to any good instructor’s knowledge base.