5 Avoidable Mistakes That Are Ruining Your Round (And What To Do Instead)

We all head onto the course with the intention of playing and scoring as well as we can, but so many of us make avoidable mistakes that cost us silly shots. It’s so easy to fall into bad habits and make bad decisions, but the good news is, it’s also simple to prevent these blunders if you know what you’re looking for and how to fix the issues.

Thanks to the fantastic data and analysis from Shot Scope, we’re highlighted five key mistakes. In this article and video, Top 50 Coach Adam Harnett explains what they are and shares his tips and strategies to ensure you avoid these errors and play better golf.

1. Using too much loft around the greens

The Scot Scope data tells us that the average 15-handicapper reaches for a wedge 70% of the time around the greens, which gives them a 21% chance of getting up-and-down. But using a less lofted club increases that to 27% and it jumps significantly to 59% if you can use a putter. Develop a reliable chip and run with a short iron and your short game will improve.

Too much loft reduces your margin for error in terms of landing the ball on the correct spot to get it releasing to the hole, and means you need a bigger swing, which is harder to control. A simple chip and run with an 8 or 9-iron is a much safer and more predictable shot.

Set up standing a little closer to the ball, with a narrow stance with the feet one clubhead width apart, the ball position slightly back in your stance, and the handle of the club slightly ahead of the ball. From there, you want to take the rests out of the shot and finish with the same shape with the arms and club as you had at address.

With a 9-iron, you’re looking for the ball to carry 20-25% of the distance in the air and 75-80% with roll. As the ball is going to be on the ground more than it’s in the air, it’s important to read the shot like a putt and aim accordingly.

2. Not taking enough club

The Shot Scope data shows that all standards of golfer come up short with their approach shots far more often than they should. For the average 25-handicapper it’s 69% of the time, for the average 15-handicapper it’s 54%, and for the average five-handicapper it’s 39%.

A lot of golfers make the mistake of looking at the yardage to the front of the green and think ‘what can I hit to get it there’, so they’re always erring on the shorter side. That doesn’t allow for poor strikes either. I encourage players to get the yardage to the back of the green and play to the window between the flag and the back.

You need to take the weather conditions into account too. If you’re downwind I’m not going to change from my normal club for the yardage to the pin because I want the wind to help me get it past the flag. Into the wind is more tricky because most people think they hit the ball further than they do and they try and hit the ball hard, which actually creates more spin and holds the ball up in the air even more.

Try taking an extra club to what you think it is. The time of year and temperature is also important, and I think there’s a two-club difference between the peak of summer and into winter.

3. Hitting three-wood rather than driver off the tee

It’s a strategy that a lot players use for a safer tee shot, but the data shows that three-wood only leads to 1-3% more fairways hit for any given handicap. You’re losing distance as well, so it’s having a negative impact on your scoring ability. Increasing your accuracy with the driver is the route to better scoring.

The set-up with driver is really important. You want a nice wide stance to build a stable base because the driver swing is fast. The ball position should be just inside the left heel to encourage you to hit the ball with the clubhead moving slightly on the up at impact.

Tilting your spine away from the target will also help this, but it’s important to do this before you grip the club. Take your address position but hover your right hand (for right-handers) next to the top of the grip. Then slide your hand down to take your grip and that will create that position while ensuring your shoulders and forearms stay square to the target.

Rhythm and tempo are especially important with the drivers. A lot of golfers are putting in effort because they think that equals speed, but the speed needs to be down at the bottom where you hit the ball. So I’m thinking about a smooth transition and then adding the speed at the bottom of the swing.

4. Not knowing your carry distances

We already know that we’re coming up short too often, and misses like that can start become very expensive when it brings hazards and penalty areas into play. The data highlights that missing in a greenside bunker costs half a shot, and finding water short – or anywhere around the green – can be a real card wrecker. Getting the right club in your hands more often is an incredibly simple way to save shots.

It’s super-important to know your carry distances so you can pick the right club, especially on approach shots. You can work it out using launch monitors like the Shot Scope LM1 and lots of driving ranges these days have launch monitors. You should also record your yardages when you’re playing, making notes of the shots you’ve hit and how far they go in different conditions.

5. Playing it too safe with your second shot on par-5s

Conventional wisdom said you should lay-up to a full swing yardage that you’re comfortable with, but the Shot Scope data shows that isn’t the best strategy to improve your scoring.

The simple truth is that the closer you hit it to the green, the fewer shots on average it will take you to get the ball in the hole. Taking the average 15-handicapper, it’s 3.30 shots from 60 yards, 3.14 from 40 yards and 2.42 from 20 yards, so get the ball down there as far as you can with your second shot. Being confident with your fairway woods will help you do that.

A fairway wood off the ground is one of the hardest shots because it’s a long club and there isn’t that much loft. The thing that’s most important is getting a good angle of attack at the golf ball. You want the ball a couple of inches inside your left heel, and you don’t want the upper body tilt that you have for the driver, because we still need a slight downward angle into the ball.

The best fairway wood players often take a little divot, so you want to make sure you’re making contact with the ground just after the strike. Make a practice swing next to the ball and really feel like you’re making contact with the ground slight forward of the ball. A really common mistake is not shifting your weight and hanging back to try and help the ball in the air. Make sure you transfer your weight forwards.