# how to stop making stupid mistakes



## njrose51 (Jun 20, 2016)

The last few times I have played I have made several stupid mistakes. 

I am ok dealing with a bad shot - a miss-read/miss-paced putt, or a drive that goes slightly off line, a hook etc, but I hate making stupid school boy mistakes.

Examples. 1st hole at Royal Ashdown and 17th hole at East Sussex National East Course. 2 booming drives, centre of the fairway, leaving a pitching wedge and a 7 iron respectively to the green. I properly duffed both these 2nd shots. They were terrible, weak, floppy armed, head up half way down the back swing miss-hit. Pre shot routine was as per normal. 

Anybody else experience this type of stupid mistake or thoughts on how to try and cancel them out? 

Thanks,

Nick


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## njrose51 (Jun 20, 2016)

*How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

The last few times I have played I have made several stupid mistakes. 

 I am ok dealing with a bad shot - a miss-read/miss-paced putt, or a drive that goes slightly off line, a hook etc, but I hate making stupid school boy mistakes.

 Examples. 1st hole at Royal Ashdown and 17th hole at East Sussex National East Course. 2 booming drives, centre of the fairway, leaving a pitching wedge and a 7 iron respectively to the green. I properly duffed both these 2nd shots. They were terrible, weak, floppy armed, head up half way down the back swing miss-hit. Pre shot routine was as per normal. 

 Anybody else experience this type of stupid mistake or thoughts on how to try and cancel them out? 

I just posted this on the Ask the Experts but thought I'd open it to the wider Forum.

 Thanks everyone,

 Nick


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## Region3 (Jun 20, 2016)

They're not stupid mistakes as far as I'm concerned.

Stupid is driving in the trees then going for a miracle gap and making an 8, or trying to carry a hazard that's on the limit for a perfect strike but you've no hope of stopping it the other end.

You just made 2 bad swings. I'd be over the moon if I only made 2 bad swings each round.


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## louise_a (Jun 20, 2016)

I used to ask the same question, but have learnt that you will never stop doing them, you just have to hope you do them less often and when they do happen, you just have to limit the damage.


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## Liverpoolphil (Jun 20, 2016)

It's called being a HC club golfer - we all throw them in every now and then - you aren't going to hit every shot out of the middle 

Even the pros do it 

The way to deal with them is recovering from them to ensure they don't destroy your round.


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## patricks148 (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*



njrose51 said:



			The last few times I have played I have made several stupid mistakes. 

 I am ok dealing with a bad shot - a miss-read/miss-paced putt, or a drive that goes slightly off line, a hook etc, but I hate making stupid school boy mistakes.

 Examples. 1st hole at Royal Ashdown and 17th hole at East Sussex National East Course. 2 booming drives, centre of the fairway, leaving a pitching wedge and a 7 iron respectively to the green. I properly duffed both these 2nd shots. They were terrible, weak, floppy armed, head up half way down the back swing miss-hit. Pre shot routine was as per normal. 

 Anybody else experience this type of stupid mistake or thoughts on how to try and cancel them out? 

I just posted this on the Ask the Experts but thought I'd open it to the wider Forum.

 Thanks everyone,

 Nick
		
Click to expand...

Unless you are a plus handicap player or Tour pro, its part and parcel of the game. we all hit bad shots from time to time.

if everyone could eradicate bad shots, just like that we would all be on tour


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## Fyldewhite (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Don't be too hard on yourself, these are not "stupid mistakes", just bad shots. We all hit the odd bad drive with the ball perched on a tee peg and a perfectly level stance, we all duff the odd chip, we all send the odd putt 10 feet past, and yes, we all hit that fat 7 iron after a perfect drive once in a while. A stupid shot is when you try to hit a 7 iron out of a bad lie and duff it 20 yards when a 9 iron could have got you 20 yards short of the green. As above, we just have to learn to live with the bad shots. The better you get the less you hit but rest assured they are still in the locker!


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## Liverbirdie (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Yep, as above.

Castigate yourself for a bad decision, or bad choice of shot, and learn from it for next time.

You cant be too harsh for poor shots. Thats just golf and happens to us all.


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## the_coach (Jun 20, 2016)

even Hogan used to say he only ever hit a couple of shots a round exactly as he wanted to

though the better the technique in general the less damaging the strike 'mistakes' will be

as been said no-one hits a perfect 100%

guess you gotta analyze whether the 'mistakes' have a bunch of things in common - maybes then consider stuff such as do the majority of real bad issues occur with the scoring clubs with full shots to the green so is there more of a pattern to the issues than just the 'norm' of an index player making arbitrary mistakes through the bag during a round

if no real pattern to it then it's just a case of lessons, practice and play to generally lift the playing standard

but of there is a more pronounced pattern occurring with 'the mistakes' every outing

could that be down to (say if mainly full shots to green 7 thru PW) the real proper identification of target and line process (preferably from behind the ball prior to set up) are you really identifying line to target and 'seeing' the ball in flight going there
has the target been 'honed' in enough as opposed to thinking to hit the shot in the 'general direction of' (brain works best to execute motions needed with 'precise' thoughts around target)

and or _correct_ identification of club to be used for the distance needed

if any of the above is just left 'unsure' in the mind pretty likely to get a not so good shot outcome through no real 'commitment' to executing the motion - anxiety through lack of clarity will for sure tense up hands, arms and shoulders making a 'free swing' pretty impossible

having been realistic about the club pulled for the shot make the process to identify the line to a 'definite target' from behind the ball 'see the line of flight', visualize the intended 'positive' outcome - if head being filled with negative thoughts then the psr process is not really being achieved by concentrating in the present on the shot in hand

remember to 'breathe'


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## Doon frae Troon (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

A mistake is usually one bad shot. In the course of a round it will not matter much.
A stupid mistake is when you follow one bad shot with another bad shot.

Concentrate on recovering from the one bad shot.

If all golf shots were good nobody would play golf as it would be so boring.
The bad shots make golf a great game, accept them.


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## duncan mackie (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Generally agree with what's been posted, and taking areas of the coach's post forward in practice, I find that such shots are generally caused by a miss match between the conscious and unconscious for that performance.

I still have this, but have improved a little through being harder on myself on the range ie after warming up I will consciously define my shot aims very precisely in terms of success and failure eg with a 7 iron and a 150 post I will aim to get as close as possible but only on the left of it; imagine a water hazard all the way down the right. I find this duplicates shot making on the course, and the associated mental processes, quite well. In a parallel with many good putting exercises I will set targets in terms of repetitions and accuracy that have to be met before I can 'move on'.

I've also noticed I'm more likely to completely duff an easy shot rather than a tough one - I think this is related to the above as the conscious is fully occupied on such shots and can't interfere!


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## woody69 (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Nothing more infuriating than hitting a sweet drive to follow it up with a fat chunk. My issue is my mind is already thinking about the birdie putt rather than committing to the actual shot!


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## njrose51 (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Nothing more infuriating than hitting a sweet drive to follow it up with a fat chunk. My issue is my mind is already thinking about the birdie putt rather than committing to the actual shot!

Thanks Woody, this was a bit of a light bulb moment for me!


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Don't over-estimate your ability.  Two booming drives are no more than that.  Accept that, great as they might have felt, they are more likely to simply be the upside of your game.

I use the basic practical principles advocated by Tommy Armour when choosing the shot to play next:

_Play the shot you've got the greatest chance of playing well,

and

Play the shot that makes the next shot easy_


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## HawkeyeMS (Jun 20, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Bad shots aren't stupid mistakes, they are bad shots and bad shots happen to everyone


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## Smiffy (Jun 20, 2016)

Stop playing.


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## patricks148 (Jun 20, 2016)

Smiffy said:



			Stop playing.
		
Click to expand...

That should do it Mush


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## njrose51 (Jun 20, 2016)

Smiffy said:



			Stop playing.
		
Click to expand...

Wise words Smiffy&#128525;


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Jun 20, 2016)

hmmm - stupid mistakes...thinking that all of my mistakes are stupid as I can't recall making an intelligent one.


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## delc (Jun 22, 2016)

I know that a certain percentage of my shots will be miss-hits of some sort, but I don't know when they are going to occur. I managed two shanks, a complete duff, and a failed bunker shot in my round yesterday, but that is the nature of golf. Remembering that you have to hit a very small ball with a not much bigger clubface, sometimes off uneven lies, it's amazing how many good shots most players manage to hit!


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## HomerJSimpson (Jun 22, 2016)

Bad shots I have no issues with although recent rounds seem to be nothing but. Poor decision making is something I can control more than my swing and its trying to cut these bad thoughts and rushed decisions I don't do that well. Something I am working to improve as I thought I'd moved forward but 2016 seems littered with bad shot selection, bad course management etc.


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## cliveb (Jun 22, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*



SwingsitlikeHogan said:



_Play the shot you've got the greatest chance of playing well,

and

Play the shot that makes the next shot easy_

Click to expand...

But these two goals are often mutually exclusive.

Example: if I'm 230 yards from the green, I know I cannot reach it. (I don't hit "forum distances" 
So I can either try to hit a 5 wood to leave me a relatively short chip on (chance of duffing the 5 wood, but hoping for an easy chip), or play a 7 iron and a wedge (good chance of hitting a nice 7 iron, but leaving a more difficult approach shot).

[FYI, I have recently switched from the 5W+chip to 7i+wedge strategy, and it seems to be working!]


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## njrose51 (Jun 22, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

This is all great advice and much appreciated. There are a few thoughts and processes to take to the course.

Thanks!


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## SteveJay (Jun 22, 2016)

*Re: How to stop making stupid mistakes!*

Remember the bad shots that have good outcomes too....the thin that ends up close, the favourable bounce off a bank or tree etc. Know they don't happen as often, but you will have the odd piece of good fortune in a round.

I hit a poor 7 iron off the tee on our par 3 2nd last night, flew low and landed 30 yards short, but it then bounced and rolled and ended up 3 feet from the flag.


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