Teaching golf: what is the most productive way? Teach putting and short game first, or full swing first?

Question

Opinions?

Answer 1

Learn how to be proficient at the putting game.  It doesn't matter how many strokes it takes to get to the hole if it takes you more than two strokes to put the ball in the hole.  Drive for 'show' and put for 'dough'.  Pros very rarely two put, meaning taking two strokes to get the ball into the pin.

Answer 2

A god short game is hard to beat. If the student learns and practices, they can make up alot of stokes on their partners around and on the green. Besides once they start making solid contact around the green, that should carry over into the full swing.

Answer 3

There is a divide in both schools of thoughts but I found that working from the shortest swing, i.e. putting, gives you the foundation and platform to understand how the club and your swing in the impact zone works the ball.

I taught golf for preschoolers for more than 5 years and found this method useful to inculcate the right swing techniques, but there is a downside to teaching putting first, that is students/trainees get bored quite quickly as it is simplier to master the skills and they will be impatient to get on to the full swing.

In all, I still believe that starting from putting helps one to understand the swing more thoroughly.

Answer 4

Harvey Pennick recommended learning golf from the hole outwards. Learn to put, then chip, then everything else.

Answer 5

I started with a full swing then I learned my short game and finished with my putting.

Answer 6

Learn your full swing then short game and end with your putting. This is the way I learned and I am now a 9 Handicap

Answer 7

My first experience with golf was with a old beat up driver.  I hit the whole bucket with that club.  I was hitting a big slice, which I didn't know at the time, but I had fun"banging" the ball.  

My golf IQ has risen a little since then, and I would start out with a half swing and 3/4 pitching wedge shots today.  Why?  Because striking the ball is the hardest thing about golf.  You don't have to hit the pitching wedge perfect to advance the ball on the line that you are aiming.  Half and 3/4 swing will teach the student they don't have to kill the ball to advance it.  Once they are advancing the ball consistently, I would move to longer clubs and longer swings.

Answer 8

putting  ,then  chipping  pitches short irons , then to full swing . tempo super smooth , hard part  is started

Answer 9

Let us consider what brings us back to the golf course every week.

Is it the putt, the chip, the pitch or even the three quarter 9 iron?

It is the driver and the brutality we can exert on the little helpless white ball...sitting there smiling mockingly at us with all its dimples.

If the question was "what is the most efficient way to teach golf" then I would whole heartedly agree with with Mr Pennick.

But the question is about a productive way.

Is it productive to teach putting or chipping or pitching to a student who wants to simply smash the ball to kingdom come?

If that's the case then you have to choose the student's favorite club. What club that gives them that feeling that will bring them back to the course or the range time after time? Teach that then punctuate it with lessons from the other areas as well.

This of course is different to students who wants to lower their scores. If they want to lower their scores then you teach the strokes that will help them do this ie putting, chipping and pitching.

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