7 Biggest Strategy Mistakes
In this video, Neil Tappin runs down the 7 biggest strategy mistakes golfers are making.
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00:00 (electronic music)
00:02 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly,
00:06 and welcome to the London Club,
00:07 where today we're looking at the seven biggest
00:10 strategy mistakes that golfers make.
00:12 Now the information we've got for you in this video
00:15 comes courtesy of the guys at ShotScope.
00:18 ShotScope have a unit called the V2,
00:19 which consists of a GPS watch that I've got on my wrist here
00:22 that gives you all the distances you'll need
00:24 while you're out on the golf course,
00:25 plus a load of tags that you can put
00:27 into the butt end of your golf clubs
00:29 that allows you to track all the shots you hit
00:32 during a round of golf.
00:33 Now ShotScope have aggregated all of their data
00:36 from all of their users,
00:38 and to provide us with some really interesting findings.
00:41 And in particular, in this video,
00:42 we're gonna focus on some of those really simple mistakes
00:45 that you might be making
00:46 that could save you shots going forward.
00:49 So guys, if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel,
00:51 please do hit the subscribe button.
00:53 Give us a like if you like what you're watching,
00:54 and do leave comments below.
00:56 Where do you think you're throwing away shots?
00:58 How do you think you could improve?
00:59 We'd be really interested to hear your thoughts.
01:01 But let's head out now to the golf course
01:03 here at the London Club,
01:04 and look at the seven biggest strategy mistakes
01:06 that golfers are making.
01:08 (upbeat music)
01:10 80% of missed greens are missed short.
01:22 So 47% are short right, and 33% are short left.
01:26 And if you fall into the category of missing
01:28 short of pin high more than you think you should,
01:32 then there are a few different things
01:33 to consider within your own game.
01:35 The first is how consistent is your ball striking?
01:38 Now, it will depend on your handicap.
01:40 As you improve, your ball striking, of course, gets better.
01:43 But if you feel like your ball striking
01:45 isn't quite at the level that your handicap is,
01:47 it can be a really quick and easy way to improve.
01:50 There are a whole host of free online tutorials out there
01:54 that will help you strike the ball better,
01:55 will help you catch the ball, and then turf,
01:58 and that's a really powerful strike through impact
02:01 that could make a big difference.
02:03 The next point relates to your equipment.
02:05 Is your equipment forgiving those slight heel and toe strikes
02:10 that might be causing you to come up short of the green?
02:12 If the answer to that is, "Mm, I'm not sure,"
02:14 then perhaps a more forgiving modern set of irons
02:18 might just help you out.
02:19 And thirdly, how far do you hit each club in the bag?
02:24 Obviously, this is where performance tracking technology
02:26 like the ShotScope V2 can prove really handy.
02:29 Finding out how far you hit the golf ball on the course
02:32 when you're faced with different lies
02:34 and different weather conditions,
02:35 and you're under pressure, is really useful.
02:37 And it can be very different
02:39 to how far you hit the ball on the range,
02:41 hitting shot after shot from the perfect lie.
02:43 The other thing is, it's also worth finding out
02:46 how far you carry each club in the bag,
02:48 because your total distance
02:50 will largely depend on ground conditions,
02:52 whereas knowing your average carry yardages
02:54 will make a big difference to knowing
02:56 what club you should hit in what situation.
02:58 So for instance, this is the third hole here
03:00 at the London Club.
03:01 We have water short left.
03:03 You really don't wanna be coming up short.
03:04 The pin is sort of just beyond halfway up the green.
03:08 The front of the green is 127,
03:09 middle of the green is 142.
03:11 So you really need to make sure that whatever you do
03:14 on this hole, you pick a club
03:15 that you know carries past 127.
03:19 And if all you know is that you hit your nine iron
03:21 at around about 135 yards,
03:23 well, you don't know whether you carry your nine iron
03:26 over 127 yards.
03:28 So it's something to think about.
03:29 So if you fall into that category,
03:31 do some work on the range in practice.
03:34 Find out how far you carry each club in the bag
03:38 and use those as your go-to numbers going forward.
03:41 It could make a really big difference to your game.
03:43 (upbeat music)
03:46 Right, so the next one on my list
03:50 relates to which club you should be using off the tee.
03:53 And what you're looking at here
03:55 are the average distances players are able to achieve
03:57 with their driver versus their three wood.
04:00 And usually, players are giving up around about 30 yards
04:03 between driver and three wood,
04:04 which is roughly what we would expect.
04:07 What we didn't expect to see, however,
04:08 was that players were off the tee,
04:10 using a three wood, were only 1% more accurate.
04:15 Now that's something that's well worth considering
04:17 because, and it's something that we've said
04:18 in some of our videos in the past,
04:20 fairway woods are the hardest golf clubs
04:23 in the bag to get right.
04:24 Obviously, small head, long shaft,
04:26 you're standing a long way away from it,
04:27 you've gotta hit the ball a long way,
04:28 so you've gotta make a big, full, athletic swing.
04:31 Fairway woods are hard to get right
04:33 and it is difficult to find something
04:34 that you can really rely on
04:36 so that you end up using it well when you need to,
04:38 most when you're competing out on the golf course
04:40 under pressure.
04:41 So there are a couple of things to consider here.
04:42 Firstly, is your fairway wood a golf club
04:45 that you really can rely on?
04:47 If it is, then fine, keep it in the bag.
04:48 If it's not, then perhaps you go down a different route.
04:51 Perhaps you leave the three wood behind,
04:53 carry a five wood, use something
04:54 that doesn't quite go as far,
04:55 but that you do feel confident using
04:57 and confident using under pressure.
04:59 And the other point about the data that we've seen here
05:01 is that if you're gonna not go for driver
05:04 in order to use something that you know you can hit straight,
05:07 then make sure that you take a club
05:09 that you do know you can hit straight.
05:11 So you would expect to be far more accurate
05:13 with your fairway wood off the tee
05:15 than just 1% over your driver.
05:18 Guys, there's real food for thought there
05:20 in terms of your strategy off the tee.
05:22 What do you do when there are bunkers in play
05:24 like there are here, when there's trouble up there
05:26 that you need to avoid?
05:28 Do you go with, do you just stick with hitting driver
05:30 and take your chances, or do you try and hit the fairway
05:33 with more of a safety option?
05:34 If you go for the latter, make sure that you choose something
05:38 that you are gonna hit the fairway with more often.
05:41 And for the majority of people out there,
05:43 it might not be their fairway wood.
05:46 (upbeat music)
05:48 Okay, so the next point relates to how aggressive
05:53 your strategy is when playing into the greens.
05:56 And what we're gonna do here is we're gonna take a look
05:58 at the number of birdies players are making on average
06:01 versus the number of double bogeys
06:03 players are making on average.
06:04 And we're gonna split the numbers up
06:06 based on different handicap categories.
06:08 So what you're looking at here
06:10 is the average number of birdies per round.
06:12 So for category one player, two birdies per round.
06:16 Category two, it's roughly one birdie per round.
06:19 And then once you get above a handicap of about 12,
06:22 really golfers are not making very many birdies at all.
06:26 But conversely, take a look at the double bogey numbers.
06:29 So handicap zero to five,
06:31 roughly making one double bogey per round.
06:34 Category two golfers are making two double bogeys per round.
06:37 And then above category two, again,
06:39 the double bogey numbers really increase very quickly.
06:42 Again, so the point here for a lot of players,
06:45 the fastest way to improve is not to make more birdies,
06:48 but to make fewer double bogeys.
06:50 And in the situation that I'm in here,
06:53 this is a really good highlight
06:55 of exactly where players go wrong.
06:56 So the flag here on the 18th green
06:58 on the Heritage course at the London Club
07:00 is perched way over on the right hand side.
07:02 It's a real sucker pin.
07:04 And by going for it, you really are bringing bogeys
07:06 and double bogeys into play, no matter what your handicap.
07:10 And I think for a lot of golfers out there,
07:11 especially higher handicap players,
07:14 it is worth thinking about playing golf
07:16 to the center of the green more often.
07:19 So what I would suggest to you to do is,
07:21 next time you go and play golf,
07:23 try and play to the center of every single green.
07:26 Whenever you're faced with an approach shot to the green,
07:28 doesn't matter if you've got 100 yards or 200 yards in,
07:31 aim for a point on the middle of the green.
07:33 That's where the GPS watch comes in really handy.
07:35 It gives you yardages to the very center of every green.
07:38 Work to those yardages.
07:40 Try and hit the middle of every green,
07:42 and then take a look at your scoring averages.
07:44 Take a look and see what's happening
07:46 to your birdie percentages
07:47 versus your bogey and double bogey percentages.
07:50 Because I think that for a lot of players,
07:51 taking the flag completely out of their mindset
07:55 might improve all of those numbers.
07:57 It might help them make more birdies,
07:58 but it will definitely help them keep bogeys
08:00 and double bogeys off the card more often.
08:03 So, in this situation,
08:05 really I need to be avoiding that flag
08:07 on the right hand side,
08:08 aiming for the middle of the green,
08:10 trying to make par,
08:11 taking double bogey certainly out of play entirely.
08:14 Right, let's give it a go.
08:15 Well, my miss is definitely a miss to the right.
08:24 I've aimed for the center of the green.
08:26 I've pushed it a fraction,
08:27 but I'm still left of the flag.
08:29 I'm definitely not in any bother,
08:31 and it's that sort of thinking
08:32 that can really save you shots out on the golf course.
08:36 (upbeat music)
08:38 82% of putts hit from outside five feet are left short.
08:51 It's an incredible stat from the ShotScope data
08:54 that we've been given,
08:56 and it is based on what people are doing
08:58 whilst they're competing for real,
08:59 and it's something well worth thinking about
09:01 in your own game.
09:02 Now, Dave Peltz did a bit of research a few years ago
09:05 that said that the ideal pace
09:06 at which you should be hitting your putts
09:08 is to get the ball rolling about 18 inches past the hole.
09:12 That's where I've got the T peg here.
09:14 That means the ball will be rolling fast enough
09:16 to roll over any imperfections on the green
09:18 without being bumped offline,
09:19 without going too fast
09:21 and putting you in danger of three-putting
09:22 or lipping out if you hit the putt on a good line.
09:25 So pace control is a really crucial factor
09:28 when it comes to your success on the greens.
09:31 Now, there are a whole host of really great drills
09:34 that you can do to hone your putting speed.
09:38 So placing a tease around the hole in a box
09:40 to make sure that you get that ball rolling
09:42 just past the hole.
09:43 The more work you can do on your speed control,
09:46 the more likely you will be to putt the ball
09:48 just past the hole,
09:49 and if you can do that more often,
09:51 chances are you might just hole a few more putts.
09:54 It's often said that when it comes to pitching,
10:01 you're better off leaving yourself
10:03 a little bit further back
10:04 so that you can make a full swing.
10:06 The idea being that if you make a full swing,
10:08 you can make a more committed swing
10:09 and the results ultimately will be slightly better,
10:12 but the ShotScope data doesn't actually back this theory up.
10:17 What you're looking at here
10:18 is the average proximity to the hole data
10:21 for shots hit from 50 yards
10:23 versus shots hit from 80 yards.
10:24 And both from the fairway and the rough,
10:27 players are hitting the ball closer to the hole
10:30 from closer to the green.
10:32 It's something well worth thinking about in your own game.
10:35 If you've always tended to lay up to a further yardage,
10:38 well, perhaps just consider it.
10:40 Perhaps keep some stats of your own
10:42 to find out if you are hitting it closer from further away,
10:45 'cause it might be that you aren't,
10:46 and if you aren't,
10:47 then a little bit more of an aggressive strategy
10:49 off the tee or from the fairway with your layup shot
10:52 might pay off, might pay dividends.
10:54 So the shot that I've got here,
10:55 this is just around about the 62-yard mark.
10:59 This would be a fiddly shot for me,
11:01 but perhaps I'm better off hitting a shot from here
11:03 than I am from 30 yards further back.
11:05 Let's give it a go.
11:06 Little bit long, but I'll take it.
11:17 Should you be carrying hybrids or long irons
11:25 at the top end of your bag?
11:26 It's a question that every golfer needs to ask themselves.
11:29 As far as the ShotScope data goes,
11:31 it's fairly inconclusive for lower handicappers.
11:34 So for category one and category two golfers,
11:36 it really does depend on the individual
11:38 and the individual's game.
11:39 But as the handicaps increase,
11:42 so hybrids tend to be far more successful.
11:45 And I'd say the cutoff point seems to be
11:47 around about the handicap of a 13 mark.
11:49 Golfers with handicaps of 13 and over
11:52 tend to be more successful with hybrids.
11:55 For a 20 handicapper,
11:56 facing the sort of shot that I'm facing here
11:58 of around about 180 to 200 yards,
12:02 a 20 handicapper is almost twice as likely
12:05 to hit the green with a hybrid as they are with a long iron.
12:08 It really is food for thought.
12:09 And I'm sure it's something that a lot of you out there
12:11 have considered and thought about in your game.
12:14 If you are a high handicapper carrying long irons,
12:17 just be wary, think about it,
12:18 keep some stats of your own,
12:20 find out how successful you are
12:22 from further out from the green.
12:23 If you find out that you're coming up short
12:25 a lot of the time from further out with your longer irons,
12:28 perhaps it's worth swapping out your three and four irons
12:32 for hybrids instead.
12:33 (upbeat music)
12:35 And finally, are you more likely to miss right
12:42 or left off the tee?
12:43 It's really invaluable information to know.
12:45 So the ShotScope data reveals that
12:47 for the majority of golfers out there,
12:49 they are more likely to miss right,
12:51 it's 58% right versus 42% left.
12:55 And it's really about knowing your game
12:56 and understanding your shot patterns,
12:59 understanding where you are most likely to miss.
13:02 Now, the best players in the world,
13:04 they don't always hit great shots,
13:06 but what they do understand is where not to miss
13:09 and they understand what they're most likely to do.
13:11 You can bring that into your game.
13:12 So a hole like this, this is the 10th hole here
13:15 on the Heritage course at the London Club,
13:17 you cannot go left off the tee.
13:19 And if you are a player that is more likely to miss left,
13:22 you can build your strategy based on that knowledge.
13:25 You can say to yourself, okay,
13:26 the mistake I'm not gonna make
13:28 is I'm not gonna snap and hook one into the water.
13:30 That's where the card wrecking score comes from.
13:33 For me, that water on the left here is a huge danger.
13:36 Whereas if you're somebody that misses
13:37 more often to the right,
13:39 you'll know that that water on the left-hand side
13:41 is not such a big danger
13:43 and you can take a more aggressive strategy.
13:45 I know that in my game,
13:46 I'm much more likely to miss right than I am to miss left.
13:49 So I'm confident and happy with driver.
13:52 That's what I'm gonna hit here.
13:53 And having a simple strategy
13:55 based on what you are most likely to do
13:59 can really help your game.
14:00 It's about managing your misses and going from there.
14:02 It can make a huge difference.
14:04 As predicted, I've missed it slightly
14:15 to the right-hand side, but I'm fine, I'm in play,
14:18 and I can attack the green from there.
14:20 So there you have it.
14:21 Those are the seven biggest strategy mistakes
14:23 that golfers make based on the ShotScope data.
14:25 And there are some really fascinating insights in there.
14:28 I don't think it matters whether you're a category one player
14:31 or if you're just starting out on your golfing journey.
14:33 There are some really simple findings in there
14:36 that could help give you some guidance
14:37 on the best and quickest way to possibly improve your game.
14:41 Guys, please do leave comments below.
14:42 Is there anything that you want clarification on?
14:45 Is there any more information you want from the stats?
14:47 We'd be more than happy to help out wherever we can.
14:50 Please also hit the like button if you like the video.
14:52 But for now, from the London Club, it's goodbye.
14:55 (electronic music)
14:58 (electronic music)