Three Deadly Amateur Mistakes To Avoid
“Never judge a person for their mistakes, judge a person on how they fix them” – Unknown author
Let’s face it. Amateur golfers make a lot of mistakes. Heck, even professional golfers make a lot of mistakes. But that is the nature of golf. To quote the great Ben Hogan, “This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win”.
However, even if we accept golf is a game of mistakes, that doesn’t mean you should keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Whether it be through a shot penalty or by forcing you to conjure a Seve Ballesteros inspired recovery shot, the game of golf is going to make you pay for every mistake you make.
Fortunately for the amateur golfer, many of the most common mistakes are entirely avoidable. Let’s have a look at three common amateur mistakes, and how to avoid them.
1. Failing To Warm-Up Properly
Most amateur golfers arrive at the course, maybe grab a coffee, maybe hit two or three practice putts, and then head out onto the golf course. I’m not saying you need to go full Miguel Angel Jimenez on the driving range but performing at least some type of warm-up will make a big difference.
Even if you’re not that serious about the game, taking fifteen minutes to prepare properly is essential. You don’t want to write off the first three holes because you felt stiff on the tee or didn’t have your eye in on the greens yet. By warming up properly, you start the round as you mean to go on.
There are two essential elements to a proper golf warm-up.
Warm-Up Number 1 – Your Joints & Muscles
Everyone knows that warming up your body helps to avoid injuries. By getting the blood flowing to your muscles, they’ll be ready for action, and you’ll improve your performance. Think longer drives and more committed shots. Your focus should be on getting your heart rate up and stretching your key golf muscles.
Your warm-up needs to be more than a few practice swings. There are plenty of good routines to follow on YouTube. If you really want to, you’re free to try the Miguel Angel Jimenez routine above. It’ll undoubtedly get the job done, but if you’re worried about being branded a complete weirdo by your local club members, any of the following warm-up routines are great too.
Malaska Golf – A Better Way To Warm-Up
Golf Digest – The Ultimate 5 Minute Golf Warm-Up
Fit Golfer Girl – The Best Golf Warm-Up Ever
Warm-Up Number 2 – Your Golf Game
No, you definitely should not blast through two buckets of one hundred balls before teeing off. But whether it’s on the driving range or in a practice net, try to hit a couple of balls with a short-iron, mid-iron, long-iron, and driver. When you’re standing over a shot on the course, it makes a big difference if you’ve already hit something similar earlier that day (even if it is just into a net). You take away the anxiety of thinking, “oh dear god, where is this going to go” if you roughly know how you’re striking it with a particular club.
The same applies to your short game. Unless you prepare properly by hitting a few putts of varying lengths, you’ll have no idea how the greens are running on any particular day. Going out onto the course blind makes your first adventure with the flat stick a complete gamble. A gamble you’re not likely to win.
Don’t forget to neglect your chipping either. A large part of chipping for an amateur golfer is ball striking. A poor chip for a professional might means misjudging the weight, i.e. hitting it too hard or soft. A poor chip for an amateur might mean hitting it fat or blading it through the green. Hitting a few chip shots before you head out helps you get a feel for a solid ball strike. Once you’ve got your timing tuned in, you’re more likely to make a consistent stroke on the course.
Poor Shot Selection When Chipping
A common amateur mistake is viewing all chip shots in precisely the same way. Amateurs often neglect to select the best shot type for the unique challenge ahead of them.
For example, here are two common chipping mistakes I see time and time again:
Number 1 – Going aerial for no reason at all
If there is a lot of green between you and the flag, it makes sense to get the ball on the ground and rolling as quick as you can. Trying to hit a high aeriel shot increases the probability of making a mistake. Under these circumstances, the best strategy is to take a longer club, close the face, and hit a little bump and run shot.
There is a time and place for high flop shots with your lob wedge – they’re great when you don’t have green to work with, or you need to stop the ball quickly.
It is true that if you practice them regularly, they are more consistent than low shots. For example, high pitch shots minimise the potential impact of a bad bounce. They also take the need to read the green out of the equation. But this only applies if you practice high approach shots … and practice them a lot!
Number 2 – Not putting from off the green
If you can, putting from off the green is nearly always the better choice for an amateur. Wait, I can hear you now, “but the pros chip everything!”. Yes, that is true, but as I mention above, the pros also spend hours a day practicing their chipping! Now, if you also spend hours a day doing the same, please go ahead, but if the full extent of your chipping practice is hitting five chips before you go out on the course, it’s best to play the more consistent strategy when you can.
Ignoring course / weather conditions
Everyone knows the wind can affect the distance your ball travels but did you know your shot distance will change depending on the time of day?
For example, in the morning when it’s a little cooler, you’re going to hit the ball a few yards less. In the afternoon, when the temperature is higher, the ball will fly a little further. You might have some dew on the ground in the morning, which will make the ball bounce a little softer and roll less (the same applies when you play around sunset). In the middle of the day, the ground will be firmer, and the ball will bounce more.
All these variables added together should change your club selection, but most amateurs don’t consider these factors. They think, “OK, I hit my seven iron this far” and that’s the end of it.
Then when they go out and play in the hot afternoon sun, they hit it through the back of the green and say, “Oh wow, I got a lot on that one”. They might go out in the morning, hit it short and think to themselves, “Ah, I didn’t quite hit that one properly”. Often, they hit the ball perfectly fine, but their club selection was wrong because they haven’t factored in the conditions!
It doesn’t end there either. For example, if you have some water between your club and ball, it will increase the spin and your ball will travel less. Hitting the ball off even a slight uphill or downhill lie will affect the launch angle, impacting ball flight and shot distance accordingly. How about a slight breeze or a little rain – even small amounts of wind and rain will affect your distance.
Imagine you hit your eight iron 150 yards and your ball finishes in the middle of the fairway next to the 150-yard marker. Most golfers would grab their eight iron and think nothing else of it. But let’s also imagine there is a slight headwind (that’s 3 yards lost). Maybe the ball is on a slight upslope (another 3 yards lost), and the flag is 4 yards further back than the centre point of the green (another 4 yards added to the total distance). If these three factors are not considered, the average amateur will miscalculate the length they need to hit the ball by ten yards. For most amateur golfers, this is about one club. So no matter how well our average golfer plays their shot, they’ll come up short! They are doomed from the start because they failed to factor in the conditions and selected the wrong club.
Even professional golfers make these mistakes at times. So next time you play remember to warm-up, think your chip shots through properly and factor the weather conditions into your club selection.