Learning Paintless Dent Removal is a little bit like learning to play golf. My full disclaimer is I’m not a golfer. I've probably played about a dozen times in my life. I apologize if I offend any king golfer out there. I do find it quite a similar process, I was just thinking about it the other day.
You can pick up from ebay a second-hand club, a ball for £20-£30. Go down to your local park and just start having it go. And likewise with PDR you can pick up some very cheap second-hand tools. Pick up a scrap panel and just start having a go.
Easier Seen Than Done
Now you might be one of the very few lucky ones that just has a natural ability.Picks it up easily and just runs with it. But probably like the majority of people you're gonna just get frustrated and not knowing why it's not working. So it's very easy to watch a video and see somebody doing it. And particularly in golf you watch it look so simple, they just swing the club, hit the ball off, it goes perfectly.
You have a go, you try and copy. You probably don't even hit the ball, if you're like me you just end up hitting the grass, the turf, and kicking it all up. And if you are lucky enough to even hit the ball there's no chance I know, if it's going left,right, how far it's going. It's kind of just a bit of luck. But that's me at a very basic beginner level of the game. But this is where I found it quite similar.
There is a Whole Lot More to the Game
So I would do just a few lessons and then discover that there were some real simple things that made a difference to my game. For example, with golf it was the direction I had my feet pointing, or the posture that I had the bends in my elbow with swinging. Also the clubs, not all clubs are the same.
So you've got different weights, you've got different lengths, the angles of the club face the the grips. And the handle, they will make a difference to your own personal feel, and your own performance with it. Just some basic tweaks in my own posture, my own sort of stance and the clubs I was using made a difference.
I didn't stick with it but it got me to a level where I could just about hit it in the direction I wanted it to go. Give or take I couldn't get the distance. I was never really or still haven't got to a level where I'm confident. I can get it to go where I want it to go. But I understood that there was a whole lot more to the game than I initially thought.
Keeping Focused & Motivated
Now when it comes to learning PDR I think it's quite similar. So out on the golf course I probably spent 90- 95% of my time frustrated. Trying to do it and it's just not going where I want it to go. I can't figure out what it is I'm doing wrong. The more frustrated I get, the harder it becomes to focus, and keep the motivation. It’s harder to keep progressing and that's very similar with PDR.
When you're just starting off you watch somebody do on the video they take a dent. They're pushing it from behind, tapping it from the top, and it looks like a simple process. But it's just slightly different techniques, the different tools, understanding of the metal flow.
That's where it really comes into progressing and leveling up with PDR. Understanding of the first part shows that there is a whole lot more information that you do not yet understand. That could be the difference that will take you to the next level.
We're Not All Made the Same
Back to the golf analogy with clubs you'll find there's a different angle of the face. A different weight, a different length. We're not all made the same. Different heights, different strengths, so what club might work for somebody doesn't necessarily work for you. You need to find your own kind of style, your own club that gives you a nice feel.
That's very true when it comes to tools you pick up. Some tools, take blending hammers for example, have a whole load of different weights, different lengths, different tips, different surfaces. How you then got your own kind of personal feel on it. So whether you like a lightweight hammer, a heavy hammer, the metal faces rubber faces, they all give you a different feel.
Create Your Own Style
It comes down to your personal preference. When you start to create your own style that's why I think the analogy works quite well between learning PDR and learning golf. A massive part of it are the techniques and the little tweaks that you can do to improve your skills. Also understanding the different qualities in your clubs and your tools and picking up a whole range.
So you might start off with a basic set of clubs but then realize that you want slightly different angles. Build up a whole collection with the tools. You start with your basic hammer,your knock down maybe, an s hook and ring or hang up tool. As you start to progress you need the next tool. Different lengths, different angles you start to build up your kind of weaponry of tools. Your arsenal of tools works quite well with the analogy.
In a Nutshell
The analogy worked for me in learning to start. It's a slow process as there's a lot to understand about the difference between some kind of training. I'm not here to say which training's right or wrong for you. The above video will help you understand that there is training. If you think you are not getting to the level you want to, perhaps you just need a little bit more encouragement or advice to push you in the right direction. Start to uncover some of the knowledge that you don't yet have.
So with golf they generally try to increase the accuracy for you to know the left or right and heading towards the green. The dent repair side of things you might be wanting to finish a repair faster or finish that repair a little bit cleaner. So you've got less tidier work, tap down work to do at the end. So it's one thing being able to get a dent out. It's another thing working on the speed it takes you to remove the dents. Then another thing again is working on the kind of tools and the techniques to how cleanly you can finish that dent.
Hopefully the video makes sense relates to at least somebody out there as it did to me. Understand more about Paintless Dent Removal. Learn a new skill! Take this survey and find out if you have what it takes to learn to remove dings & dents. You can also join our exclusive community and be a PDR enthusiast.