Lessons - what to expect

I've finally got myself round to booking a lesson this week.  Long overdue.

I'm not expecting miracles, I know it'll still take time and effort on my part.  I also know that different coaches will do different things with different people.

However, I was wondering if there's any pointers or general guidance as to what kind of thing I should expect?  I feel a little bit like I could go along and he could tell me to play with my shoes on my hands and I wouldn't know whether it was real or not.

Other than just going and seeing how we get on, is there anything I can expect in generalities?

I would say go with an open mind and be honest.  Decide what you want to get out of it first, for example whether you want a full rebuild of your swing or a tweak to iron out some basic flaws.  If you want to start from scratch, expect lots of lessons and the next 12 months to be golfing hell and misery, but you have more chance of getting down to scratch.  If you just want to be a good club golfer (like most of us), tell him where you want to get to and what you think is stopping you getting there. 

The ideal scenario is to play a couple of holes with him accompanying you (but not advising you) and then he will see where the real problems are as opposed to where you think they are.  That way he can focus on the right thing. 

The most important thing is that you are comfortable with the coach and feel he is doing the right thing by you.  I've had two.  The first one was superb, down to earth and not at all condescending, explained things clearly and got what I had to work for me.  The second tried to get me to swing 'textbook' which doesn't suit me and tried to force me into a 'punchy' utting stroke that felt very uncomfortable and I couldn't control because it was the 'right' way to do it.  I stopped using him. 

Enjoy your lesson Jamie, it's amazing the difference just 1 lesson can make. I had a hideous slice and after my 1st lesson I was beginning to see the left hand side of the golf course for the 1st time ever. I ended up booking 6 lessons for the price of 5, that was in January, my handicap has now dropped to around 20 and I'm enjoying golf, even scoring birdies now.

i know it was the best thing i have ever done.i had 1 lesson whilst playing off 21.suffered with a big slice with the driver and lack of distance with irons.

the pro asked me how far i wanted to go ie full swing rebuild or tweaks to my swing i opted for the latter and hey presto if you actually listen and do as he tells you it does actually work

my game went backwards for a couple of weeks then it all kicked in.

i m not saying its a magic cure but its surprising what a few tweaks to a decent swing can do.

apparently i had a crap grip and was swinging to long and losing power.

seriously it worked wonders for me within 2 months i had broke 80 for the 1st time

Exactly, Jonny P, it would only take me ten minutes to have him hitting the ball sweetly.