Simple Mistakes

When I come off the 18th green and head into the clubhouse to count scores with my playing partners everyone always seems to remember making a few key mistakes during the round.  Usually these mistakes involve things like making a bad swing, missing an easy putt, or letting their temper get the best of them.

However, there are two surprisingly SIMPLE mistakes that I rarely hear golfers admit to after their round.
Do either of these sound familiar?

Aiming at nothing.  Nobody wants to admit that the reason why one of their shots failed was because they simply forgot to pick a target.  But let’s be honest.  Do you take DEAD AIM on every single shot that you hit?  Do you pick the smallest possible target and make sure your clubface and alignment are on target before taking the club back every single time?  For most amateur golfers the answer is no, and the results can be disastrous.

Only practicing 20 footers.  Before they tee off most amateur golfers will head over to the putting green with a sleeve of balls and lazily whack them back and forth at the holes on the putting green.  The truth is mindlessly warming up with these 20 to 25 foot putts does little to get you ready for the course.  Instead focus in on putts that are 4 to 8 feet in length.  This is where you’ll be vying for those important birdies and par saves, and rolling putts like these into the hole on the practice green will give you the confidence you need to do it on the course.

Sometimes it’s hard, but being honest with yourself is a big part of breaking through to the next level with your game.  The good news?  Eliminating a few simple mistakes like these will shave strokes off your score without a single swing change.