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The rookie mistakes - does practice fix them?

Luchnia

Luchnia

You will never conquer golf.
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Even the better golfers mess up, maybe just not as often as us wannabe golfers. As the title states does practice fix rookie mistakes. What I mean by rookie mistakes is you may be putting well, then all of a sudden you wind up with a couple 3 putts or even a 4 putt. Maybe you just hit it short and your read was on the money, or you had a 12 foot putt for birdie and missed the cup by inches.

You may hit your irons nicely, yet you still shank one or grub a furrow out of the ground on one. Maybe your chipping game is going along nicely and for some reason you wind up hitting two chips on the next hole because you did not follow through. It may be that you hit a nice drive and the ball lands on a side hill lie and you make the rookie mistake of not choking up on your club and you hit up some serious ground. Just a "duh" moment, right?

Just how much practice will fix these things, or maybe this is simply to some degree being mindful of what is getting ready to happen? I know some golfers that play 3-5 times a week and even they sometimes make some of these common mistakes. It would be hard to say that they are not on course practicing since they are playing a lot.

When I go back and analyze my game, in a lot of cases I can find 5-10 strokes because of these silly (rookie) mistakes and it often is the difference in what I consider a good game and a not so good game, but then this is only the score that reflects that. It may be one of your better played games only with some costly rookie mistakes.

Thoughts to share?
 
I make a lot of these rookie mistakes. I believe that there is a major aspect of the game, that I'm not practicing, that has a large part of the root cause of these issues. I'm not mentally strong during my round. My commitment and presence (in the moment when I step up to the ball) is not complete and focused for every shot. I'm reading a book "Playing Your Best Now" by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson. The mental side of golf can be just as important as the physical "technical" swing.

Learning what information, be that distances and wind, or how my body feels and what my swing is doing that day, are the correct inputs that should drive our focus. Once I've made my mind what i should do, am I committed to that choice and can I transition from thinking and analyzing to feeling it? Have I learned to tools (for me) to get my inner self into the right state of mind when I take the shot so I my body "reacts" by executing the swing instead of try to swing my using my conscious mind to direct it.

Am I letting a poor result over impact a cascade of following swings by letting negativity ruin my confidence?

That's the things I'm trying to work on to help address the "rookie breakdowns".
 
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Quality, correct practice breeds consistency, and consistency breeds confidence. Confidence in one's game usually means better scores.

As always, in golf, no matter how much a golfer practices, they are still going to hit poor shots when playing. It's what they do with their next shot that becomes important. This is where practice really pays off.

I also believe golfers, when ever possible, should practice hitting from poor lies, and conditions. Makes for fewer surprises when playing.
 
I believe practice helps, but there’s a fine line between being a range rat and practicing with a purpose. I find it more helpful to go hit a small bucket slowly, methodically, and for a purpose, focusing on specific things. If you just go beat balls on the range and aren’t intentional in your efforts, then it just reinforces bad habits.

As far as rookie mistakes, they will always pop up here and there. Perfect example: I’m a 9 handicap and am extremely consistent with my 5-wood, especially off the tee on short par 4s and dog legs when needed. However, two rounds ago, a normal dogleg par 4 that I’ve played several times before, I topped the hell out of the ball. Went maybe 50 yards burning the grass and into the woods in the dog leg turn. Looked like I had never played before. And that was on the heels of being +1 through the first 5 holes. Just pulled my head or tried to swing too hard to cut the corner or something and completely took me out of my swing. Go figure!
 
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When I go back and analyze my game, in a lot of cases I can find 5-10 strokes because of these silly (rookie) mistakes...

That's my story. This past Sunday for example. I'm 2 over after 8 holes. Then I shoot a SEVEN on #9. Crappy drive. Try to kill the ball to make up for my bad drive, top it about 40 yards. Hybrid right in front of the green. Chunk my wedge. Three putt. Ended up with a 41 on the front. Could have easily been a career best (for me) 9 hole score.

Let my frustration get the better of me. Dumb mistakes, and usually one blowup hole per round. I have a hard time in the moment stopping to breathe, get back into my groove.
 
For me, practicing is absolutely going to help me cut down on the really bad shots. Not everyone will get the same benefits, but I think, if you don’t practice, you will never be the best you can be.
 
AUWU11 said:
However, two rounds ago, a normal dogleg par 4 that I’ve played several times before, I topped the hell out of the ball. Went maybe 50 yards burning the grass and into the woods in the dog leg turn. Looked like I had never played before. And that was on the heels of being +1 through the first 5 holes. Just pulled my head or tried to swing to hard to cut the corner or something and completely took me out of my swing. Go figure!
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This is exactly the type of thing I am referring to. The fact that you are consistent with that 5 wood sort of makes me think no amount of practice would change that oddity of making a rookie mistake with it once in a while. When I have a shot like that for a moment I sit there in amazement of how ridiculous I just hit it and quickly move on trying to get it out of my mind.
 
And that's why they are called" Rookie mistakes", none of us are pros and even they can have mistakes. We are just more prone to them. :(
 
Sometimes we just hit crap shots occasionally. Its not something I obsess over. If I see a trend in specific bad shots then I really look at addressing that
 
I don't think those are necessarily 'rookie' mistakes. They're just mistakes, and everyone makes them. They just make them different levels of how often, and how drastically.

I think routines help a lot of people find consistency. Sequencing doesn't just have to be within the swing. Conditioning your brain and body to know what to do next can at the very least keep you from getting in your own way as often. I think good practice takes lots of forms, and works differently for everyone though. Some can work in a smart way on something, and rehearse it a million times, and not get much better at it. Others can work in less smart way, and not as often, and improve dramatically. We're weird how we learn. I work on mechanics a lot, but ultimately I'm just trying to recreate a feeling. If I do that, I've done what it took to make it happen without really thinking too much about it. And that's what works best for me.
 
We will always make those mistakes. I don't practice enough because I want to be able to take advantage of playing when I have the time. I just have learned to move past the one shot that was a "mistake" and make sure the next one is a good one. Not if I start having 2-3 in a row then I will step back and figure out what is going wrong so not to compound it the rest of the round.
 
My round last week i realized something thats obvious, but I had not thought about it. Where do we practice side hill lies? Or chipping out of hard pan, or piles of long cut grass? My club range is pretty decent, but its level and manicured. Certainly there is no hard pan on the range. So essentially my practice is during my round. Needless to say I dont get enough practice. Sometimes after I take my shot, if I dont like the result Ill drop another ball and try something else. I play the first ball, its just experimenting, trying to figure it out.
 
Maybe it's my rookieness but... did you have fun? Were you playing golf instead of working or doing taxes or anything less desirable? If so, then I'd call it a good round. (y)

I get what you mean though. I'd easily break 100 and even 90 if I would stop getting in my own way and actually stop for a second before I pull the trigger on a swing I KNOW isn't going to go well but I do it anyway because there's always a chance it'll work out... a slim chance... and slim just hopped a train out of town in the opposite direction.:D
 
ApexFan said:
My round last week i realized something thats obvious, but I had not thought about it. Where do we practice side hill lies? Or chipping out of hard pan, or piles of long cut grass? My club range is pretty decent, but its level and manicured. Certainly there is no hard pan on the range. So essentially my practice is during my round. Needless to say I dont get enough practice. Sometimes after I take my shot, if I dont like the result Ill drop another ball and try something else. I play the first ball, its just experimenting, trying to figure it out.
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I really wish more people would practice from crap lies. On the range, at the practice green, during practice rounds, everywhere. I think I spend at least half my time at the range intentionally playing from less than ideal lies, and about 80% at the practice green. How the heck are you ever supposed to know how to hit them or how they'll react if you've never done it until you come across it in the middle of an actual round? You have to build a database. I think people spend a lot of time making themselves feel good or trying not to look bad, instead of actually practicing. I don't care if I look like an idiot/terrible player when I'm practicing, and I think it helps look like less of one when actually playing.

You know how I hit that 9-iron from half a foot below my feet in the rough, over the edge of those trees, and onto that blind green last week?! I've practiced that shot. That's how.
 
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As for the kinds of mistakes the OP describes, I dont think they are mistakes but rather failures at making a good swing. Good swings vs the % of poorer (or failed) ones is one of the basic differences between better and lessor players.
Practice (if done correctly) can help one make less failed swings and more good swings. But imo everyone of us only gets to a given level of ability as for being able to play with many more good swings with many less failures in between.
Some folks with the right practice can take that pretty darn far. Others dont need all that much practice vs others. And others need a whole lot and yet struggle for the same success rate.
 
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It is just a matter of making a repeatable swing for each shot. That comes with play and practice. They reduce as you play and practice more. Pretty simple actually. If you have tons of money and are able tohit the ball a couple hundred x a day you will get better


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OldandStiff said:
I really wish more people would practice from crap lies. On the range, at the practice green, during practice rounds, everywhere. I think I spend at least half my time at the range intentionally playing from less than ideal lies, and about 80% at the practice green. How the heck are you ever supposed to know how to hit them or how they'll react if you've never done it until you come across it in the middle of an actual round? You have to build a database. I think people spend a lot of time making themselves feel good or trying not to look bad, instead of actually practicing. I don't care if I look like an idiot/terrible player when I'm practicing, and I think it helps look like less of one when actually playing.

You know how I hit that 9-iron from half a foot below my feet in the rough, over the edge of those trees, and onto that blind green last week?! I've practiced that shot. That's how.
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This made me remember a range I went to last year. It’s close to the house and it a horrible range that’s in a canyon. Pretty sure finding bad lies will be easy there. Downhill, uphill, and plenty of rutted out dirt.
 
OldandStiff said:
I really wish more people would practice from crap lies. On the range, at the practice green, during practice rounds, everywhere. I think I spend at least half my time at the range intentionally playing from less than ideal lies, and about 80% at the practice green. How the heck are you ever supposed to know how to hit them or how they'll react if you've never done it until you come across it in the middle of an actual round? You have to build a database. I think people spend a lot of time making themselves feel good or trying not to look bad, instead of actually practicing. I don't care if I look like an idiot/terrible player when I'm practicing, and I think it helps look like less of one when actually playing.

You know how I hit that 9-iron from half a foot below my feet in the rough, over the edge of those trees, and onto that blind green last week?! I've practiced that shot. That's how.
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One of the practices I do is go to the course when it is not so busy (usually Wednesday late) and only play difficult lies hitting multiple shots. I will drop balls in some really tough situations and hit them out. Often it starts around those tweener yardages and I work in from there.

Especially hitting mid to short yardage irons and wedge pitch/chips off tough lies. Keeping it mixed up as much as possible. My local course has some of the most difficult lies in the entire area. I will do this once a week or once every other week since I play as often as possible and practice putting, chipping, etc. as much as possible.
 
I don’t think it’s necessarily “practice” per se, but more repetition/volume/experience. As @OldandStiff pointed out they aren’t “rookie” mistakes as we all make them. I think it’s more a case of the more times you have swung the club or tried a particular shot, whether through range time or rounds the better the outcome is expected to be. Heck I carry a 10 handicap and still hit the occasional shot like a new golfer would. Not it might only happen once every two to three rounds, but don’t kid yourself - it still happens. Just a couple of weeks ago I had alternating holes where I would pound a drive 250 plus or top it 50 yards. It’s all about reps, doesn’t matter how you accumulate them.
 
It goes far beyond just being "rookie mistakes", because a lot of golfers who are nowhere near rookies still make them. Nobody is perfect at the game, not even the pros (did you see Bryson take a 10 on hole #15 last Friday? Or Rahm hook his drive on #11 into the creek on Sunday afternoon? Or Rory stub a chip 3 yards and leave it short of the green?).

We aren't perfect machines and we're not playing a perfect game under perfect conditions. When you really stop and think about all the geometry and physics involved in the golf swing, how just a degree of clubface angle can make a difference of dozens of yards in the outcome of a shot, it's a minor miracle that we can keep the ball in play and in front of us at all. A flinch, a minor lapse in concentration, a bit of doubt in your mind, a slight hitch in your sequencing, a little twist of your forearms, a little more or less bend in a knee - any/all of those things (and a lot more) can result in a bad shot. No matter how much you practice, groove your swing, perfect your stance, grip and setup, you won't do everything perfectly every time. And that's not even starting to take into consideration the fact that people have varying degrees of strength, balance and coordination which can contribute to (or take away from) their ability to do all those things well. Some people will take up golf and be shooting in the 70s within a year or two, while some people will play for 50 years and never shoot in the 70s.

Practice definitely helps, both physically and mentally. You learn how to adapt to different lies and conditions, and execute different shots. If done purposefully, it can improve your ability to deliver the clubface to the ball consistently. You get more comfortable mentally with different shots, and more confident that you can pull them off. You learn how far you can hit your clubs, and how far you need to swing for pitches, chips and putts. You learn course management - how to think your way around a course and how to minimize the damage when recovering from bad shots. And then after all that, you're STILL going to make mistakes which will make you so mad that you can't remember your last name. <shrug> It's golf.
 
I guess I'd consider a "rookie" mistake as trying to execute a shot I don't have the skill to pull off, rushing a chip, or looking away in disgust instead of watching what the ball does on a missed putt.

Bad shots, as others have mentioned, are not unique to rookies. But after a few years of playing, there are rookie mistakes that - because we know how to avoid them - shouldn't be made. They are kind of like burning the roof of your mouth by biting into hot pizza. We know better, but just can't help ourselves.
 
I’m finding that 18 holes in 90 degree heat is a long time to concentrate. On the back nine I bladed a wedge, hooked a drive, and topped two balls. I’m out there to have a good time so I just need to take my time and stay hydrated!
 
To me, rookie mistakes are course management mistakes, not mis hits.

A rookie doesn't know that laying up might be better, or using a hybrid from the fringe to chip is an option, or is incapable of recognizing a sucker pin and play to the center of the green.

Mishits, bad shots, etc will always happen.
 
Luchnia said:
Even the better golfers mess up, maybe just not as often as us wannabe golfers. As the title states does practice fix rookie mistakes. What I mean by rookie mistakes is you may be putting well, then all of a sudden you wind up with a couple 3 putts or even a 4 putt. Maybe you just hit it short and your read was on the money, or you had a 12 foot putt for birdie and missed the cup by inches.

You may hit your irons nicely, yet you still shank one or grub a furrow out of the ground on one. Maybe your chipping game is going along nicely and for some reason you wind up hitting two chips on the next hole because you did not follow through. It may be that you hit a nice drive and the ball lands on a side hill lie and you make the rookie mistake of not choking up on your club and you hit up some serious ground. Just a "duh" moment, right?

Just how much practice will fix these things, or maybe this is simply to some degree being mindful of what is getting ready to happen? I know some golfers that play 3-5 times a week and even they sometimes make some of these common mistakes. It would be hard to say that they are not on course practicing since they are playing a lot.

When I go back and analyze my game, in a lot of cases I can find 5-10 strokes because of these silly (rookie) mistakes and it often is the difference in what I consider a good game and a not so good game, but then this is only the score that reflects that. It may be one of your better played games only with some costly rookie mistakes.

Thoughts to share?
Click to expand...

Putting: Look at the top PGA stats. Inside of 5' - They make around 55% of their putts. At 10-15' that percentage drops to 13-14%. So is missing a 12' birdie putt a rookie mistake? You're not a pro. You'd probably only make it 1 out of 10 times.

How much practice? A lot. You probably don't have that much time available.
 
Its very hard to be present for every shot during a round. Very hard.
Practice is good if there is a plan. Otherwise, it can engrain the wrong things. Then it gets even harder to correct.
Practice whatever needs it most. Its always something with golf, as they say.
 
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