Getty Images
After giving more than 30,000 golf lessons in the past two decades, Cameron McCormick shares some of his secrets.
While he is best known for being the swing coach for professional players such as Jordan Spieth, So Yeon-ryu and Bo Haussler, among others, McCormick has coached players of all different abilities. From tour champs to weekend warriors, the GOLF Top 100 teacher has seen it all – and is always trying to help players improve their games.
Recently on social media, McCormick offered up the hard truth about the repeated mistakes he sees in many golfers. Not only are these common among the players he teaches, but he also identifies the 12 of them as those most responsible for preventing the player from seeing the progress they seek.
Take a look below at what the famous golf guru has to say – and jot down the issues keeping you from scoring lower!
The biggest (repeated) mistakes Cameron McCormick sees
Impatience to practice small swings
Most amateurs just want to pull the driver over and try to hit him as hard as they can, but does that really get you any closer to your handicap goals? Mostly not.
Instead, McCormick suggests that players take small swings — such as chip shots around the green or swings from 50 to 125 yards — that require a different approach than pushing the ball off the tee.
No tolerance for mistakes
If you’re trying to be a golf perfectionist, you probably won’t last long. This is because every player has mistakes (yes, even professional players), but how you can learn from those mistakes will make a difference to your score. McCormick reminds players to let go of the idea that mistakes are always a bad thing.
Refrain from using training aids
On a more personal note, this one hits home. I’ve played golf for 26 years and didn’t use training aids until recently. Some of them have helped, some of them have been okay, and others have changed the way I think about a certain aspect of my game. Training aids may not immediately lower your score, but they all have some benefits to making you a better player.
Take advice from friends more than from a golf instructor
Sure, we all want to help each other while playing a round, but that shouldn’t be at the mercy of your golf instructor’s tuning. If you’ve invested in a teacher to help you improve, it’s best to listen to his advice about golf.
Refuse to use video or hear swing comments
I’m not going to lie, it was hard getting feedback after shooting a swing for the first time. Rarely will a golf instructor look at the video and tell you you’re doing everything right, so learning to accept that can be a hard pill to swallow. At the end of the day, though, they’re there to help, so be open to hearing constructive criticism – as I’ve discovered, this will allow you to adapt to new swing adjustments to improve your play.
One lesson and done
On the mistake of taking advice from a friend instead of a golf instructor, McCormick says that if you stick to your golf lessons, stay with them! No one will instantly shave off the strokes after just an hour with the teacher, so trust the process after each lesson.
Their strengths or weaknesses cannot be identified
If you play regularly and don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, how will you get better?
For example, you might continually drive the ball 240 yards off the tee, and hit fairways regularly; Which is great. But if you’re still playing stealth golf and hovering around shooting 90 every round, be honest with yourself about playing your short game. This obviously holds you back – and failure to acknowledge or address this problem will not make you a better player in all respects.
Not practicing after class
I recently had my first golf lesson, and while it may not have been recommended, I immediately enjoyed as much golf as possible later that day and the days that followed trying to implement all the new tips.
Now you don’t need to go that far all the time, but when your instructor has you focus on something specific for an hour during the lesson, make sure you practice it when it’s fresh on your mind.
Wrong practice procedures
There are a lot of golf instructors who preach using a focused coaching approach rather than hitting the balls in the field. If you’re not juggling shooting scenarios from the driving range or practicing on the green, how do you mentally prepare yourself for those situations on the golf course?
Excessive generalization of errors
Do you know why chip flicked? What about your reason for driving? Or why did you leave that blow short? Each of these shots is unique, so McCormick reminds the players of this, saying it’s important to avoid lumping every bug into one huge pot of bugs. Focus on the details of each mistake, rather than the bad outcome itself.
Being a range mouse
A drivetrain has many benefits, but repeating it over and over won’t necessarily lower your golf score. At some point, you need to apply that feeling of the range to the course.
Don’t get stuck hitting 100 balls in an hour and think you’ve made progress because you swung a club. Instead, make a plan for the things you need to work on – even if it just means using wedges from the range to improve your short game.
Try to equalize when fading comes easily
Having the ability to form your own golf strokes is not a skill that every amateur possesses; that’s good. Instead of trying to control every shot, trust yourself and hit the shot you feel most comfortable with. Not only will this build your confidence, but it will usually lead to better results.