5 Things That are Ruining Your Golf Lesson with Chris Smith

5 Things That are Ruining Your Golf Lesson with Chris Smith

From On the Mark Golf Podcast by PGA TOUR

May 13, 2026 · 1h 0m · Season 11

About this episode

Mark Immelman and Chris Smith discuss common mistakes golfers make in lessons and how to improve them.

Most golfers don’t fail because they aren’t trying… they fail because they’re showing up to lessons with the wrong expectations, the wrong habits, and no plan between sessions. In this episode of #OnTheMark podcast, Mark Immelman is joined by Chris Smith, a Master PGA Professional and Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor, to break down 5 common mistakes that ruin golf lessons—and what to do instead so your next lesson actually turns into lower scores. You’ll Learn: How to get more value from every lesson What to stop doing immediately (and why it’s holding you back) How to practice between lessons so improvements stick How to communicate with your coach so you leave with clarity, and The simple mindset shift that makes training “transfer” to the course. The 5 Things (and the Fix): No clear goal for the lesson → Fix: define a “win” before you arrive (shot pattern, contact, start line, scoring goal) Trying to rebuild everything at once → Fix: one priority, one feel, one drill—stack progress over time Collecting swing thoughts instead of building skill → Fix: convert tips into a repeatable drill + a checkpoint you can self-diagnose No plan between lessons → Fix: a simple practice…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Immelman

Guest: Chris Smith

Topics covered

  • golf lessons
  • coaching
  • practice strategies
  • mindset
  • skill development

Keywords

  • golf lessons
  • expectations
  • practice
  • coaching
  • skill development

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PGA, Golf Magazine

More episodes of On the Mark Golf Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the On the Mark Golf Podcast podcast page.