Beware of the golfer returning from a lesson

THERE’S A PARTICULAR type of golfer I’ve learnt to be cautious around over the years.

- Rahil Gangjee

Not the one who buys a new driver every season because he believes modern technology will finally solve a problem his swing created twenty years ago. Not even the golfer who announces, before teeing off, that he’s “not playing well these days” and then proceeds to shoot three under.

I’m talking about the golfer returning from a lesson. You'll recognise him immediately. There’s a quiet confidence. A different energy. Last week, he was struggling with a slice and blaming tight shoulders. This week, he has terminology.

“Coach says I need to shallow the club.”

“My sequencing is off.” “Need to use the ground more.” The vocabulary changes much faster than the golf. I say this with affection because professional golfers may actually be worse. Over the years, I’ve had enough coaches and enough swing changes to fill a small instruction manual. There have been phases where I was convinced I had discovered something profound — a feeling in transition, a position at the top of the backswing, a move through impact that suddenly made everything easier. For about ten days, life improves dramatically. Practice sessions become enjoyable. Golfers know this feeling well — that dangerous period where optimism arrives before evidence.

I remember one season after spending weeks working on my swing and genuinely believing things had clicked. My coach and I was pleased. We had videos comparing old positions and new positions. Everything looked efficient and repeatable. The first event arrived. I stood on the opening tee carrying the confidence of someone who thought he had solved golf. The first drive disappeared so far left that even spectators seemed surprised. By the turn, I had abandoned several new thoughts and was mentally apologising to my old swing for criticising it so harshly. That’s the thing about golf instruction. Improvement doesn’t arrive dramatically. More often, confusion arrives first.