Your First Golf Lesson Starts With One Important Choice
Deciding between a group lesson and a private lesson before you’ve ever held a club might feel like a minor detail. It isn’t. The format of your first lesson shapes how quickly you build fundamentals, how comfortable you feel on the range, and whether you stick with the game.
At The Golf Practice—with indoor training facilities in Highland Park and Lisle—we help beginners make this decision every day. Both formats work. But one is likely a better fit for where you are right now.
Why This Decision Has Long-Term Consequences
The structure of your lesson changes what you learn, how you learn it, and how much individual attention you receive. Starting in the wrong format doesn’t ruin anything, but it can slow you down or make the early stages feel harder than they need to be.
Getting the format right from the start is a small decision with a long-term payoff.
What Actually Happens in a Group Golf Lesson
Group lessons are typically structured around small groups of two to six students working with a single instructor. Everyone works on the same fundamentals at the same time—grip, posture, alignment, and basic swing mechanics.
The instructor moves through the group offering feedback and corrections, but the instruction is shared. You’re learning alongside other beginners, which changes the pace and tone of the experience.
Who Tends to Do Well in Group Lessons
Group settings work best for people who are relaxed about learning in front of others and aren’t working toward a specific goal on a timeline. If golf is something you want to explore casually, or you’re still deciding whether you’ll enjoy it long-term, a group lesson is a practical place to start.
The social aspect can make early lessons feel less pressured. For some learners, watching others work through the same mechanics is reassuring and helps things click faster.
What a Private Golf Lesson Actually Involves
In a private lesson, you have your instructor’s undivided attention for the entire session. Everything—from your stance to the sequence of what you work on—is built around you specifically.
Instructors can catch small swing flaws in real time that would go unaddressed in a group setting. Left alone, those small issues become ingrained habits, and habits take time and effort to break.
When Private Lessons Are the Smarter Starting Point
If you have a specific goal—playing in a company outing, getting on the course before summer, or working toward a target handicap—private lessons get you there faster. The feedback is immediate and the instruction is direct.
Athletes with backgrounds in other sports often find private lessons more productive from day one. They absorb mechanics quickly and benefit from instruction that matches their pace rather than slowing down to stay with a group.
Group vs. Private: How the Two Formats Compare
Here’s how each format stacks up on the factors that matter most to new golfers:
- Cost: Group lessons are more affordable per session, which makes them accessible if you’re just testing the waters
- Attention: Private lessons deliver one-on-one feedback throughout the entire session—nothing gets missed
- Pace: Group lessons follow a set curriculum; private lessons move at your speed
- Goal alignment: Private lessons are more effective when you have a specific outcome in mind
- Social experience: Group settings create a shared environment some learners find motivating and fun
Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Book
A few direct questions can help you land on the right format before you commit:
- How do you typically learn best—on your own or alongside others?
- Do you have a specific goal or timeline for your golf game?
- Are you comfortable being the focus of instruction, or does that add pressure?
- Is this a long-term commitment, or are you still deciding if golf is your thing?
Your answers won’t point you to a wrong option. They’ll point you to the right one for right now.
The Learning Environment Matters Too
Where you take your first lesson affects what you’re able to focus on. Outdoor ranges introduce weather, wind, and uneven lighting, all of which pull your attention away from the fundamentals you’re trying to build.
Indoor facilities remove those variables entirely. The Golf Practice provides a controlled environment where the focus stays on your swing. With launch monitors and swing analysis tools built into each bay, both group and private lessons include real-time data that makes feedback more precise and easier to act on.
That technology works in your favor regardless of which format you choose.
Making the Call
Neither format is wrong for a beginner. Group lessons offer accessibility, a lower financial commitment, and a low-pressure way to get started. Private lessons offer focused instruction, faster skill development, and a direct path to specific goals.
Most golfers who stay with the game end up trying both at some point. But starting with the right format for your situation makes those early sessions more productive and keeps you coming back.
Book a Lesson at The Golf Practice
The Golf Practice offers both group and private golf lessons at our indoor training facilities in Highland Park and Lisle. If you’re not sure which format is the right fit, our instructors can help you figure that out before you book.
Schedule your first lesson at The Golf Practice today and build your game the right way from day one.
