Golf amateurs and pros alike have the same experience when hitting the golf ball: they bring their club back, pause for an instant, then swing. The player strikes the ball, it sails through the air—ideally in the general direction the golfers intended it to go.

Repeat about 50 times, plus one or two putts per hole and a player is ready to take on Tiger and Phil, right?

As anyone who’s found the water, sand, rough or out of bounds more often than the fairway will tell you, it’s not quite that simple. Investing in a lesson (or two, or three) from one of the many fine professional golf instructors our area has to offer may bring great returns and GLBM talks with three: Steve Ruthenberg at Forest Akers, Mike Bell at El Dorado and Jamie Wiest at the DeWitt Golf Center.

Steve Ruthenberg

At the Forest Akers golf complex, director of golf instruction Steve Ruthenberg has been teaching students how to better hit the little white ball for over 20 years. Following a stint at Ferris State University’s professional golf management program, Ruthenberg became a member of the PGA of America, with an eye on getting involved in the management side of golf. He came to Forest Akers in 1987 as the assistant manager and today is the general manager, and oversees all instruction.

Ruthenberg says that among the other two instructors (Tom King and Brian Harris, who do a majority of the teaching), and him, Forest Akers typically conducts about 130 lessons per week in the winter and a like number through the spring and summer. Ruthenberg personally teaches four to six lessons per week and spends the rest of his time in management. He attributes the high number of repeat customers to his staff and the variety of programs they offer, including “mini golf school,” for people who want to improve their swing in three and a half hours. “It’s geared for people with a tight schedule,” he explains.

Jamie Wiest

Jamie Wiest, PGA instructor at the DeWitt Golf Center, grew up in Lansing. After spending time in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, working for a Class A PGA member for five seasons, and going through PGA business schools, Wiest earned his PGA card at Oakland Hills and returned to the Greater Lansing area.

He says that over the course of a year, he gives 300 to 400 lessons. Some people come in once or twice a year for a tune-up, others take lessons throughout the year and “every year, I come across new students,” Wiest comments—chiefly due to great word-of-mouth and references.

He concentrates on individual lessons, although the center has a junior golf program. To encourage students of all ages to get the most out of their lessons, the center offers a five-course package for $225, a savings of $5 per lesson off the normal $50/hour price ($40/hour for junior golfers).

Ron Ferry

After a stint in the Marines, Ron Ferry was 20 years into a 30-year career at General Motors when he realized it was time for a change. Having played golf in high school, but not again until 1987, he wondered, “How good could I really get?” His answer came when, after much help and many rounds, he was elected to PGA membership in February 2005.

As fate would have it, the GM plant at which he was working closed that May. He took the rest of the year off to hone his game, then received a call from Greg Weber at Hawk Hollow which led to giving lessons over the winter of 2006 and beyond.

Ferry is a man whose love of golf is only equaled by his love for teaching the game. “You get some youngster that’s struggling just to get the ball in the air,” he explains, and when he finally does, “his eyes get as big as doorknobs. It’s like Christmas. And at that precise moment, I don’t know who’s having more fun.”

In 2009, Mike Bell from El Dorado golf course in Mason called asking Ron Ferry if he’d like to handle overflow lessons. He quickly said yes, the same answer he gave to Bell’s request for him to take over all the lessons for 2010 and beyond.

El Dorado’s golf lessons include a ladies’ instruction luncheon, with a similar version for senior men, along with their always-popular junior golf program. Here, 75-80 girls and boys from six to 18 years old learn from a pro (Ferry) with help from “a great volunteer group” all the basics of golf, plus “a good dose of etiquette and safety.” The class meets once a week from June 21 through August 9 and the kids (just like the adults he teaches) are encouraged to play between practice sessions.

Private lessons, which last 45 minutes, cost $55, or $65 for students who choose to have themselves videotaped courtesy of the V1 video analysis system, which, in Ferry’s words, “is probably the best-known golf analysis system around.” It allows people not only to see their swing, but also for Ferry to dissect it frame by frame.  It  lets him compare it side-by-side, or overlaid on the screen, with any one of 150 touring professionals.

Words of wisdom

The most common problems all three instructors see were summed up by Ferry by the acronym GAP: Grip, Alignment, Posture. In short, gripping clubs like a baseball bat; not aligning the feet to aim at a specific target; standing with legs locked—players are not going to hit the ball straight and consequently won’t have much fun.

Ferry says that 85-90 percent of the people he sees for the first time have issues with at least one of these three, and that after he helps them solve the fundamental problems, “[they’re] probably going to have success.”

Ruthenberg also says that most people need to improve their impact position—their hands, arms and body are usually incorrectly lined up. Using their video cameras, the Forest Akers’ team can tape and play back a golfer’s swing so that he or she can see what’s wrong and learn how making even slight adjustments can shave strokes off the person’s game.

Another common problem Wiest sees is that “most golfers tend, on the way down, to come from the outside in,” which results in the ball going in a wrong direction. Learning to swing inside out is a major achievement for many and goes a long way toward straightening out the ball’s flight.

Wiest urges students to space their lessons at least a couple of weeks apart and to get in two or three games in between. This helps the new, good habits to develop, and allows player and instructor to concentrate on other aspects of the game in subsequent lessons.

Players will find the time spent taking lessons from these pros will pay big dividends when the time comes to tee it up for real.