I had my first lesson with Rufus Carter on Saturday morning. I figured I'd post some details for others in the Atlanta area that might be considering seeking the advice of an instructor in their pursuit of improvement...
Communication ahead of the session was very good. We agreed on a date/time over a month ago, and Rufus followed-up a few days before we were to meet to re-confirm. Initial e-mails focused on what my goals where, where I was at currently, etc.
I met him at his home for the lesson, which was in a good neighborhood. Small detail I know, but it helps that I wasn't worried about my car being stolen while trying to learn. His home table was solid, with plenty of room for me to shoot and him to video/evaluate.
My goals for the session were to improve my overall consistency of shot making and position play. I was never "taught" fundamentals and wanted to focus more on that rather than larger chunks of play such as patterns, defense, etc. My opinion going in was that those things are secondary to making my stroke more consistent.
Rufus had me fill out a short page of questions which focused on my pre-shot routine, then had me shoot a handful of shots while "cold" to video for review. We then reviewed the shots together and discussed my particular areas for improvement (grip slightly too far forward, elbow drop, grip a little too tight, etc.). All that took about an hour to an hour and a half to get through. The remainder of the four hour lesson we focused on 5 of the "mother drills" which will be solid tools for self-evaluation and for grooving my new mechanics in the coming weeks. I'd shoot the drill, self-evaluate, with Rufus chiming in at times as well to help steer me, particularly with dropping the elbow.
Before I left we reviewed the initial questions, helping me form a better template for a pre-shot routine. We also spent a few minutes talking through the break shot which I walked away from with a few things to try.
Four hours... spent mostly on firing a single ball into a pocket and evaluating how consistent I was and what I could do to become more consistent. Spot on. Had the training involved larger chunks such as game play, etc. I honestly don't think I would have gotten as much out of the 4 hours. Being deliberate and focusing on what many would consider a very small part of play really helped provide detail on the multiple steps that go into a shot so that I could break apart my existing stroke and improve the areas that were causing inconsistency in my game.
My job now is to stay focused on the drills and self-evaluation for the next couple of weeks, grooving in the new mechanics. I spent an hour last night on the first two drills and have noticed that things don't feel as foreign as when I first started adjusting on Saturday.
