Labs are great for beating with but not all will adapt to both beating and picking up. Very much depends on the cover, amount of birds etc.
My old lab used to work well not far in front of me and was excellent for flushing in small game covers or woodland but then I started picking up more often and she got a bit wild. Also my OH taking her out shooting hares in the spring one year made her think she was a lurcher so I have to watch her like a hawk out beating. Ideally I would start my youngsters in the beating line on a lead if this was ok with the keeper etc as it gets them used to the s