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
04:4912th through at West Hill, 273 it's playing today, a little bit downwind, I probably could hit the
04:54green with my driver if I really liked it but there's all sorts in the way, there's bunkers,
04:58there's trees, it's times like this I think a lot of golfers need to bin the driver like I am there
05:03and play something like this, a hybrid, a driving iron, a long iron, anything just to pop yourself
05:07in play, leave yourself a nice number in. So I'm going to leave that driver to one side there, I've
05:11got my trusty four 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
05:52save at least 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,
06:18it's not 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,
06:34it's not a double, it's not something worse. So stay calm, bogey is my friend and whatever
06:40I hit here I'm not going to get too wound up about it. And I hit a good shot, so I've got
06:46a look at par, if I get a bogey it's okay. So two things, stay calm, bogey is your friend.
06:51Okay so another mistake I think a lot of golfers make is not playing for position
06:55on par fives. Now I know we've already spoken about not taking driver all the time,
06:59I don't want to come over as overly defensive on the golf course, but I think every now and again
07:03we need to look at a par five for what it is, take a bit less club and score a little bit better for
07:09it I think in the majority. Example here, 17th at West Hill, a bit of a Sunday best drive here,
07:14pretty pleasing myself. But it's into wind, we've got trouble left, there's trouble right,
07:18should I really be trying to hit a three wood to get to this green that's barely in reach?
07:22Probably not. So take the situation to account on par fives, but I think a seven iron is the
07:27play here, so away with the three wood. I'm just going to play, hopefully I have about 100 yards
07:32left in, something like that with just an easy seven iron. Not my best, but not my worst,
07:43should just be a little wedge in from there. And I'm not going to make anything worse than a par
07:46there, whereas if my three went left or right anything could have happened. So I think playing
07:50for position on par fives, when the situation warrants it, is really important. So one major
07:55thing I think loads of golfers forget to do is take a little bit more club when the conditions
08:00warrant it. So I'm talking about heavy wind like it is today, colder temperatures, and even consider
08:05when you're not striking the ball that well. I don't think enough of us adapt to that mid-round,
08:09so really think on the ninth hole, halfway through your round, what's the wind like today,
08:14how am I striking it, should I attack the back nine with a little bit more club? Now I'm criminal
08:19for this as well, I'm going to flash up some data from one of my recent rounds, my Arcos data,
08:23which shows I missed 10 out of 18 greens on a recent round, not my finest round, and they were
08:28all short, all 10 were short, and that's because it was a windy day, it was a little bit cold,
08:32and as you can see I wasn't hitting the ball that well. What I didn't do was take into account
08:36temperature, the way I was striking the ball that day, which wasn't very good, and the fact it was
08:40really, really windy. So I was ending up short a lot of the time, missing all my greens in regulation,
08:45and my scoring suffered for it. So when you're out on course, think about all those conditions,
08:49reevaluate midway through a round, and don't forget to take more club. Right, the final thing that
08:54golfers forget to do when they're out on course, and you've probably heard it before, and you're
08:57going to hear it again from me, is to take your medicine. Playing partners would have said it,
09:02coaches would have said it to you, you've probably told this yourself when you've hit a bad shot,
09:06but it's something we forget every now and again as we're trying to chase that score
09:09out on course. I've got a great example of it here at the second at West Hill,
09:13that gap in that tree is quite appealing to me, and I think I might suddenly turn to Tiger Woods
09:17for this shot, but I've got to carry over the heather, I've got to go below this tree, through
09:23that gap, it's a very high tariff shot, and for not that much gain, a chip out would make a lot
09:27more sense. So I'm going to show you what goes wrong when you don't take your medicine, when you
09:31try and take one on. Class, bonks into the tree, there it goes in the heather. What I should have
09:40done, and I'll show you with this ball, is come way out to the left, all that fairway over there,
09:46take your medicine, and I'm going to go and try and make a par now. So I'm going to say it one
09:51more time, take your medicine, help you score out, don't think you're Tiger Woods. So there you have
09:57it, those are the 11 things that I think all golfers forget to do out on course. As I said
10:02at the top of this video, consider this your checklist to remind yourself before every round
10:06of golf, and I'm thinking you'll save at least a couple of shots per round if you follow those
10:10rules. Are there any I've forgotten? Are there any mistakes that you commonly make out on course that
10:14you know you do, but you forget halfway through a round? Let me know down in the comments, I'd love
10:18to hear what you have to say. But for now, thank you very much for joining me, I'll see you next time.