Some people have golfed their whole lives. Some pick up the game after their collegiate sporting career is over. Others pick it up as a hobby.

One thing in common with every golfer is that they learned how to swing a golf club somehow.

At a young age you may have gone to clinics or signed up for golf lessons.

When you pick up the game later in life, you may just teach yourself.

So what is the best way?

Go to a PGA pro and pay to learn the game?

Or…

Swing the club the way you think you should and learn along the way?

I will use myself as an example.

Early in my golf game, I was a freshman in college, picking up a club for the first time. I went out, shot a 120 and had the time of my life.

Fast forward a year and a half and I have officially fell in love with the game, but I couldn’t break 100. I vowed to never get golf lessons.

Instead?

YouTube videos and online tutorials taught me how to swing the right way and how to fix my awful swing.

Fast forward again to my junior year in college and I had broken 100 a few times, but nothing special. I was offered a free clinic/lesson from someone I knew that was a PGA teaching pro.

At this point in the game I had so many different YouTube voices in my head and Golf Digest tutorials, I wanted to wipe the slate clean and start over.

The lesson taught me a lot I didn’t know, and went over some things I did know.

Since the lesson, I have been consistently in the low 90’s coming very close to breaking 90.

I guess what I am trying to say is that self teaching is doable.

But, it’s going to have limits. You wont score very low until you get an expert critiquing your swing.

So, put your pride away for an hour, and get a lesson. They won’t destroy your swing, they will help you work on making it better.

It’s well worth it.