Things That You Probably Do Wrong On The Golf Course

If you are not especially proficient at something but insist on going about it in exactly the same way, the chances of ever improving are slim to non-existent.

And that may apply to the game of golf more than it does to any other sport. I have been around this game for many years and I keep seeing golfers getting the same things wrong. Time after time. And then wondering why nothing changes.

Preparation

Good golfers warm up properly. They perform a series of stretching exercises and then hit shots with every club in the bag before going anywhere near the first tee. Most club golfers arrive at the course 10 minutes before their tee-time, change into their golf shoes in the car park, get their clubs out the boot, have three practice putts, walk to the first tee and then top their opening drive. Why not arrive 30-40 minutes early and hit a few shots and get that topped drive out of your system on the range or practice ground? Rocket science it is not!

Driving Range

Most of the golfers I know get this wrong all the time. If you are going to a driving range and intend to hit 100 golf balls because you are struggling with your game, what on earth do you think you are going to actually achieve? All that you will do is perfect your faults, grooving them in and making it more difficult to change. A session on the range should have a purpose. Go there with something to work on rather than aimlessly pounding golf balls.

Self-Learning

If you are a 24-handicapper and have been playing the game for any substantial period of time and want to improve, then self-analysis is probably not going to improve your game. Better surely to book some lessons?

Picking Targets

It never fails to amaze me that almost all club golfers who slice every single drive that they hit always stand on the tee and aim for the middle of a fairway they are never ever going to hit. Wouldn’t it make more sense to aim for the left-hand rough?

Brute Force

Oh dear! Think about the professional game. Apart from Bryson DeChambeau, can you bring to mind a single top pro who swings himself off his feet? No, I can’t either. Think of the perfect balance achieved on every shot by Rory McIlroy. So why is it that so many high handicappers feel the need to launch themselves at the golf ball in a fruitless search for power? And why is it that they seem incapable of understanding that this approach simply doesn’t work? Ever! 

The Sand Trap

The biggest thing that golfers do wrong when they find greenside bunkers is to ignore the fact that this is the one shot in golf where you don’t actually make contact with the ball. Eh? It’s true. If used properly, your sand wedge makes contact with the sand an inch or two before the ball, passes underneath it and the ball rises into the air and lands on the putting surface. Most club golfers make contact with the ball first and then the sand or try to flick it off the sand. Neither of these shots has a future.

The Impossible Carry

Once in his (or her) life, the club golfer produced the best shot he had ever hit, over a lake, landing on the green and leaving a birdie putt. It happened once. It was a career shot. And every time he has played that since then he has walked away with a double bogey - or worse. We have all done it. Why not lay up to the front of the lake (or side of it if that is an option) and leave yourself a sensible approach that guarantees you walk away with nothing worse than a bogey?

Distance Control

Why do so many club golfers believe that they hit the ball further than they actually do? If you doubt it, just reflect on how often in a round of golf your approach shot comes up short. There is a reason for that - you are not good enough to hit a seven iron 175 yards.

Poorly-Equipped

One of the things that almost every club golfer gets wrong is the purchase of their equipment. They walk into a store, pick up a couple of clubs, have a quick waggle, call over the assistant, hand over hundreds and hundreds of pounds, put the new clubs in the boot of their car and then don’t understand why, having spent all that money, their shiny clubs perform no better than the 10-year-old ones they were using before. Get them custom fitted! PLEASE!!!

A Face in The Sun

It is 80F, the sun is beating down. For the life of me, I will never understand why so many golfers fail to slap on sun screen before they get anywhere near the first tee - and forget to put bottles of water in the bag. Drinking beer on the course on a sweltering hot day is the wrong thing to do. Protection from the sun is important, and you should always ensure you are hydrated.

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