We know when we play golf, there are things we should do that will help us play better golf, however, it doesn't take much to forget everything you told yourself you would or wouldn't do. In this video, Dan Parker goes over 11 things all golfers forget to do whilst out on the course. Making sure you don't forget to do these things each time you play, will definitely help you improve your scores!
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00:00Hello everyone and welcome to this Golf Monthly video where I'm going to be talking about 11
00:03things that all golfers forget to do out on course. Now I'm not talking about forgetting
00:08your 5-iron or leaving your trolley battery at home, I'm talking about tactical things
00:13that you might forget midway through a round of golf. Think of this video as your checklist before
00:18every round to remind yourself how to score better and how to get the best out of your game.
00:23I'm at the very blustery West Hill today, let's get started.
00:30Do you warm up properly before each round of golf? I think this is a massive thing that loads of
00:35golfers forget to do before their round of golf and then their actual game will suffer for it.
00:40Now I know not everyone will have a nice range to warm up like this but even if it's 10 minutes of
00:44putting and chipping or a proper stretch on the first tee, any kind of warm-up will really help
00:49your game so don't forget that prior to getting to the course and play better golf for it.
00:53So another thing golfers forget to do when they're out on course in the middle of a round
00:57is use a little bit less loft when they're chipping. I've got a great example in front
01:01of me here on the 17th at West Hill where I can't really putt it although I'm close to the green,
01:05there's too much water on the ground but there's also nothing for me to go over so why would I
01:10need to take my lob wedge or my sand wedge, a much higher tariff shot in this situation.
01:15You'll see now if I try and take my 60 degree
01:21I'm more likely to shank it or thin it because it's a high tariff shot.
01:24What I think a lot of golfers need to do is use a little bit less loft,
01:28taking time around these chips, I've got an eight iron here
01:32and hit a lower tariff shot, almost just put a putting stroke on this
01:40and get the ball rolling. Not my greatest effort, I need to practice it a little bit more
01:44but I think taking less loft around the green is a much better idea.
01:47Okay another thing I think golfers forget all too frequently when they're out on the course
01:52is to swing a little bit slower into wind. The tendency is to think, oh I'm into wind,
01:57I've got to hit the ball harder which it often isn't the case, you're not going to hit the ball
02:00that far anyway so a gentle swing and a better strike will actually work more often. Great
02:06example here today, the second at West Hill, we're into wind, I've got the big dog out,
02:10I'd normally want to hit this as hard as I can to get down there but into wind today I'm going to
02:13swing a little bit slower, just try and get a bit of strike on it, get myself down the fairway.
02:18I'm going to swing this as easy as I can
02:26and away it goes, not my finest hit, a bit cutty but into wind on a day like today,
02:31not too disappointed with that. So remember into wind, swing a little bit slower.
02:35Right so another thing I think golfers forget all too much when they're out on the golf course
02:39is not going every single pin. There are loads of sucker pins out there and if you find yourself
02:44short side of these you're going to really struggle to make up and down. Start going for
02:48the centre of the green more often and there'll be other pins you can go at later in the round.
02:53I've got a good example here at the first at West Hill where the pin is in the middle but it's
02:57really far to the left so the last thing I want to do is aim at it, go left of it and find myself
03:03in that trap or left of that trap where I'm never going to make up and down. So on this hole I'm
03:07going to almost take my medicine, aim at the centre of the green, hopefully get my two putt,
03:12walk on to the next one. Let's see how I do. Make sure I am nice and central. I tend to hit
03:16a bit of a fade so this is a good pin for me but I'm going to stay nice and central.
03:27I did hit the little fade and I got away with one. It wasn't my greatest strike,
03:31a little bit thin but because I am middle knowing my shot shape I knew I couldn't go too far wrong.
03:36So don't get suckered into those pins, play for the centre of the green,
03:40two putt and attack those pins later in the round.
03:49Ah right that brings me on to my next thing that golfers forget when they're out on the course
03:54and it's to take every shot as seriously as the last. Now I got a little bit angry with
03:59myself there leaving that fairly easy putt short and I've not thought about the next putt and I've
04:03missed it, I've cost myself another shot. Now it's easy to do this when the red mist descends,
04:09I've done it loads of times myself, I'm sure you have at home but it's really important that
04:13throughout the round you remind yourself not to get too angry that every single shot matters.
04:18We'll do this on the fairway every now and again as well if you duff one straight in front of you
04:23you'll just take the same club, hit the same shot with the same amount of anger and the same thing
04:27might happen. So after a bad shot take your time, remind yourself that every shot matters and
04:33hopefully that will save a few shots on the course. Right so another mistake I think lots
04:37of golfers make is taking their driver off the tee when they don't need to. Now across this video
04:42you might think I'm a bit overly defensive on the golf course, feel free to let me know in the
04:45comments if I am and if I'm horribly wrong on this but I think on a hole like this got the 12th at
04:50West Hill, 273 it's playing today, a little bit downwind, I probably could hit the green with my
04:55driver if I really liked it but there's all sorts in the way, there's bunkers, there's trees, it's
04:59times like this I think a lot of golfers need to bin the driver like I am there and play something
05:03like this, a hybrid, a driving iron, a long iron, anything just to pop yourself in play, leave
05:08yourself a nice number in. So I'm going to leave that driver to one side there, I've got my trusty
05:12four hybrid here and it should just be the easiest swing to put myself in position
05:22a bit like that on the first take as well might I add. So I think a lot of golfers need to think
05:27a lot more carefully on the course about when they're using their driver, use it in the right
05:30situations and on shorter par fours play for position. Okay so you join me here on the 12th
05:35and after I was just telling you about playing for position, not taking your driver too often,
05:40I found myself out of position on a very short par four so I'm not best pleased
05:44and that brings on to the next thing loads of golfers forget when they're out on course
05:47and that is to stay calm. I think if you can check yourself when you're out on course you'll save at
05:53least I think two shots a round especially if you're a bit of an angrier golfer you know you
05:56won't hit the angry chip or the angry putt when your head's not in the right space. Now I know
06:01there's nothing worse than someone else telling you to stay calm that often actually has the
06:04adverse effect but I think if you can check yourself out on course remind yourself to stay
06:09calm it's a really important thing to remember throughout the entire round. While I'm here
06:13another thing I think golfers forget is that bogey is your friend and it is more often than not it's
06:18not a card killer and while it's not a great score it's not going to ruin your entire round.
06:22Now obviously I'm hoping to make a par from here I'm not going to say I'm not you know
06:26I do want to try and make up and down but I'm going to remind myself if I don't come off here
06:30with a par a bogey is okay and I'm not going to get too angry and the bogey is my friend it's not a
06:34double it's not something worse so stay calm bogey is my friend and whatever I hit here I'm not going
06:41to get too wound up about it. And I hit a good shot so I've got a look at par if I get a bogey
06:47it's okay so two things stay calm bogey is your friend. Okay so another mistake I think a lot of
06:53golfers make is not playing for position on par fives now I know we've already spoken about not
06:58taking driver all the time I don't want to come over as overly defensive on the golf course but
07:02I think every now and again we need to look at a par five for what it is take a bit less club
07:08and score a little bit better for it I think in the majority. Example here 17th at Westhill
07:12I've hit my Sunday best drive here pretty pleasing myself but it's into wind we've got trouble left
07:17there's trouble right should I really be trying to hit a three wood to get to a screen that's
07:21barely in reach probably not so so take the situation to account on par fives but I think a
07:26seven iron is the play here so away with the three wood I'm just going to play hopefully
07:31I have about 100 yards left in something like that with just an easy seven iron
07:40not my best but not my worst should just be a little wedge in from there and I'm not going
07:45to make anything worse than a par there whereas if my three went left or right anything could
07:49have happened so I think playing for position on par fives when the situation warrants it is
07:53really important so one major thing I think loads of golfers forget to do is take a little bit more
07:58club when the conditions warrant it so I'm talking about heavy wind like it is today
08:03colder temperatures and even consider when you're not striking the ball that well
08:07I don't think enough of us adapt to that mid-round so really think you know on the ninth hole
08:11halfway through your round what's the wind like today how am I striking it should I
08:15attack the back nine with a little bit more club now I'm criminal for this as well I'm going to
08:20flash up some data from one of my recent rounds my arc cost data which shows I missed 10 out of
08:2418 greens on a recent round not my not my finest round and they were all short all 10 were short
08:30and that's because it was a windy day it was a little bit cold and as you can see I wasn't
08:33hitting the ball that well what I didn't do was take into account temperature the way I was striking
08:38the ball that day which wasn't very good and the fact it was really really windy so I was ending
08:43up short a lot of the time missing all my greens and regulation and my scoring suffered for it
08:47so when you're out on course think about all those conditions re-evaluate midway through a round
08:51and don't forget to take more club right the final thing that golfers forget to do when they're out
08:55on course and you've probably heard it before you're gonna hear it again from me is to take
09:00your medicine playing partners would have said it coaches would have said it to you you've probably
09:04told this yourself when you've hit a bad shot but it's something we forget every now and again as
09:08we're trying to chase that score out on course I've got a great example of it here at the second
09:12at West Hill that gap in that trees it was quite appealing to me and I think I might suddenly turn
09:16into Tiger Woods for this shot but I've got to carry it over the heather I've got to go below
09:22this tree through that gap it's a very high tariff shot and for not that much gain a chip out would
09:27make a lot more sense so I'm going to show you what goes wrong when you don't take your medicine
09:31when you try and take one on class bonks into the tree there it goes in the heather what I should
09:40have done and I'll show you with this ball it's come way out to the left all that fairway over
09:45there take your medicine and I'm going to go and try and make a par now so let's say it one more
09:51time take your medicine help you score out don't think you're Tiger Woods so there you have it
09:57those are the 11 things that I think all golfers forget to do out on course as I said at the top
10:02of this video consider this your checklist to remind yourself before every round of golf and
10:07I'm thinking you'll save at least a couple of shots per round if you follow those rules
10:11are there any I've forgotten are there any mistakes that you commonly make out on course
10:14that you know you do but you forget halfway through a round let me know down in the comments
10:18I'd love to hear what you have to say but for now thank you very much for joining me I'll see you
10:22next time