When you take a golf lesson, what do you expect to happen, and should you see immediate improvement? Most of you want help with striking the ball more consistently. The first thing to do is to make sure you know how to strike the ball. A simple way to find this out is to have your instructor watch you chip and pitch. Your technique will provide enough information to diagnose the problems you are having in your full swing. Once your instructor has diagnosed the problem, then you should just stay with chipping and pitching to correct or make better your technique. Improvement in your short game can be more immediate than in your full swing because the swing is short and you are not trying to hit the ball as hard as you can. You have to learn to finesse and control your ball and once you learn this, improvement in your full swing will follow. After you have worked on your short game for thirty minutes, before you move to the driving range, your instructor should have you do some drills that will help the transition to the full swing.
Don't be in a rush to get to the range and start striking balls. You need to "work" your swing without hitting balls first so you can "affect change" in your swing. If you don't, you will revert back to your previous way. Once you have really "worked" your swing, then try swinging at a few balls. You should see a change starting to occur and better ball striking along with the change. "Working" on your swing does not mean you visit the range and hit a couple buckets of 100 balls each.
YOU HAVE TO AFFECT CHANGE IN YOUR SWING, and then improvement will come. "Working on your swing" means doing those drills and exercises that will help you change the course of your swing. Doing a video of your swing is also helpful so you can see what's going on so you understand the changes that need to be made. If you have taken lessons before and have not seen any improvement, it is because you most likely didn't work your swing and also practice between and after the lessons wasn't frequent enough.
So how do you find time to practice . . . .by writing out a time management plan. You will be astonished at the number of hours that we waste every day. And by the way, practice doesn't mean you have to go to a practice range. Using your time management plan, you CAN find the time to practice.You can do the drills and exercises in the comfort of your home. After a golf lesson, you should see some improvement in the practice area, but taking it to the course and seeing results there happens over the long haul. Your golf instructor can help you diagnose the problem and provide solutions, but you as the student also have to help yourself and "work your swing."