Every golfer knows the thrill: You try one easily implemented tip, one facile swing thought, one slight change in gripping the club and—voilà!—you are instantly rewarded with dramatic improvement in at least one aspect of your game, at least temporarily. Of course, golf is known as "the game for a lifetime" because of its infinite subtlety and its ultimate imperfectability—highfalutin descriptions meaning that it is damn hard to play the game well.

Thus, most teaching professionals would say that a sustained approach to game improvement (ongoing instruction with the same teacher, regular practice, physical conditioning, even better nutrition) is likely to be most effective in the long run. The trouble is, few of us have the inclination to undertake such a regimen, and even fewer have the time.

So, golfers preoccupied with careers, kids and other concerns usually have to work on their games on an ad hoc basis—often while on the road—but this arrangement has certain advantages. Most obvious is the chance, particularly for northerners, to escape to a more hospitable golfing climate. Then, too, travel may allow access to a distinguished instructor or program unavailable locally. Indeed, many golf schools cater to corporate clientele wishing to meld relationship-building with game improvement, and getting away from the shop is integral to the process.

In any event, the one-off lesson ought to feel like more of a treat than the routine weekly session, so consider the following suggestions for taking fullest advantage of the opportunity.

What to bring
The importance of equipment fitted to each golfer's physique and swing characteristics is considered axiomatic among golf professionals and serious players; but weighed against the inconvenience of lugging your own sticks on the airlines, the experts generally advise against it.

"Believe it or not, it doesn't make a difference if the student brings his or her own clubs," says Dick Sutton of the Ben Sutton Golf School near Tampa. "Got clubs that you have a problem with? Let your professional hit them. The problem will be gone. Now, hit your professional's clubs. Guess what? The problem will have moved to his clubs."

A slightly more forgiving view is offered by Kris Moe, founder of the Kris Moe Golf School in Napa, Calif.: "These days, it's very challenging to travel with clubs, so unless your clubs are super-customized—typically for a very tall or very short player—rental clubs or loaner clubs are just fine."

And if you really love your own clubs and are willing to abide the hassle of bringing them along? Fine, according to Shawn Humphries, a principal of On-Par Productions, based at Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, Texas. Even then, though, he advises packing only a partial set consisting of four clubs at most; say, three irons and a fairway metal. "Golf is an ego game, and there's nothing wrong with preferring your own equipment," says Humphries, whose students include a number of the Dallas Cowboys and who recently coauthored, with Brad Townsend, Two Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing. "But having the entire set will be superfluous when it comes to the one-time lesson."

Similarly, a preexisting video of the student's swing cannot hurt, "if it was shot correctly and you know what you are looking at and for," notes Sutton, but experienced instructors are adept at diagnosing flaws and how to address them with more immediate observation.

"A video of past instruction isn't really necessary," says Todd Sones, of Impact Golf/Scoring Zone, in Vernon Hills, Ill. "I would base my suggestions on what I see the student doing currently, and I also get a feel for their game simply by asking questions."

"Looking at videotape during the course of a one-hour lesson just takes up too much of that hour," agrees Brian Mogg of the Mogg Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. "A few strategic questions about 'dominant ball flight' and 'swing tendencies,' which can be considered during the pre-lesson stretching session, can get the teacher more directly into the core areas of what needs to be improved."

How to prepare
The flipside of this FAQ process is for the student to anticipate the instructor's questions and to bring focus to the lesson tee, even as the clubs and the videotape remain in storage. "Communicate exactly what you hope to accomplish with the instructor," advises Sones, "so that he or she can tailor the instruction to fit the student's needs."

Adds Moe: "Oftentimes, the golfer and even the instructor are too ambitious about what can be accomplished in a discrete segment of time. To maximize the benefit, it's a good idea to pick one area in which you'd like to improve and focus on that. I can help you do that by watching you hit various clubs in the warm-up, but it's also useful for the student to think about it beforehand."

"The idea of a 'quick fix' for the golf swing is as old and irresistible as the game itself," laughs Humphries, "but I encourage students to think about a 'quick plan,' rather than a quick fix. This runs counter to the natural tendency to contemplate your longest drive or other quality shots, and concentrate instead on a plan to get rid of your disaster shots."

What to expect
A related notion is to acknowledge the game's inherent intractability and adjust your expectations accordingly. Golf instructors who have taught thousands of students, after all, note that the overwhelming majority of them bring very basic deficiencies—especially in the set-up, alignment and grip—to the lesson tee. Correcting one of these fundamental problems may represent a significant advance, but that does not always translate immediately to significantly lower scores or superior shot-making.

"Roughly 90 percent of golfers stand too far from the ball at address," notes Humphries, "and this is in turn the origin of numerous problems in the backswing—taking the club too far inside, a swing plane that's too steep and so forth. But it sounds so elementary that people have a hard time buying into it."

Agrees Sones: "Usually, if I can get the student to improve their set-up—grip, alignment, posture and ball position—I can improve their swing without having them think too much."

"Most students would do best in the lesson to acquire one additional core basic that they can work on when practicing after returning home," adds Mogg. "If improvement can be achieved in that single core area, then the lesson has been a success."

Summarizes Sutton: "The best advice one could pass along about learning golf is, don't try to be better than you are ready and/or able to be. Grade-school math didn't start with trigonometry. Math started with learning zero through nine; then addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. And you didn't move on until you accomplished what was at hand. Golf is the same way."

But what if...?
As Sutton and the others acknowledge, though, it is precisely their finely honed powers of observation that sometimes contribute to "quick-fix syndrome." For example, this reporter recalls an encounter with Bobby Cole, a master instructor at the Jim McLean Golf School in Miami. After watching just two or three swings, Cole diagnosed the problem—a breakdown in the otherwise sound left-arm position at the very top of the backswing—in a matter of seconds.

The solution, he suggested, was to think of the other arm; that is, to make certain not to bend it past the 90-degree position during the backswing, thus preventing the collapse of the left arm throughout the entire swing motion. The next day, I wowed my playing partners with gains in distance and control. Jolly good fun, even if it lasted only about a week.

The options
Competition among golf schools, many of which are aligned with first-class resorts and courses, is almost as dogged as among professional golfers. There is bound to be at least one suited to your travel plans, and evaluating the candidates is likely to be much more difficult than identifying them. One very basic but helpful Web site is www.golfschoolsite.com.

TOM HARACK is a freelance writer based in New York.