Worst Golf Tip You Ever Received

[JxQx]

Don't swing so hard.

[WUTiger]

"Take the longest, biggest backswing you can!"

I got this advice during a lesson back in 1975. This advice came from a limber, 6-foot-2 former basketball small forward who had also played golf, and had morphed into a PGA golf instructor.

Problem is, if you go for that extra hand reach after your shoulder rotation comes to its normal end, you often lose your balance and either push the ball, or deliver an over-the-top hook.

[Rainmaker]

Almost any golf tip can be good or bad depending on the golfer.  In that light, almost every golf tip I've ever received has been bad.  Some golfers might really need to keep their heads down, for example . .but, otoh, tons and tons of people misinterpret/misapply that tip and it hurts vs helps.     

Also depends on where you are in your game - tips really hurt beginners worse than skilled players, imo.  

One tip that screwed me up for a while, though, and is a good example of what I mean is . ."swing to right field".  There was certainly a time when that was good advice for me - but I kept at it long after it stopped being a good idea for me.  And that's the way it seems to go with me and golf . .I start out needing, for example, to swing more to the right and eventually I need to swing more to the left.  How can a tip cover that?  (rhetorical question . .it can't!).    

[ghalfaire]

On 12/9/2016 at 3:57 AM, Lazarus said:

Keep your head down!

 

 

This would be the one.

[JonMA1]

"Give yourself a better lie" (while on the fairway).

Got stuck playing with this guy one morning. He offered several "lessons" that day, but this one was my favorite.

[awmgolfer]

When I didn't really understand the swing at all and had a wicked slice, one tip I read was belt buckle should be pointing away from target on the backswing and towards target on the follow through. I finally learned how to fix it but that tip has given me a terrible overswing that I have been trying to break for a while.

[DownAndOut]

Worst one that nearly made me give up the game was the 'dog wagging the tail'  philosophy (that I may have misinterpreted to an extreme) via  David Leadbetter's old VHS videos. I had a good swing in my younger days, never had a lesson and won my share of society tournaments until I decided to improve on what I had. Thought that turning my body really fast to fling my arms  would make everything happen automatically. Fought a snap hook for many years , then found out that a reactive pivot (in response to the arm swing ) with a sweep release suited me better. Started hitting the ball better but then got suckered into the 'lag' bandwagon which made me shank the ball on and off for a few more years. I think all the books I've read plus internet info (whether gimmicky money making cons or not) has all helped me learn (mostly by trial and error ) little snippets of information that may come in useful one day. I suspect the perfect golf swing for me is going to be mix and match from a broad range of different philosophies that may suit my own body biomechanics.

Edited December 12, 2016 by DownAndOut

[Rainmaker]

13 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

"Give yourself a better lie" (while on the fairway).

Got stuck playing with this guy one morning. He offered several "lessons" that day, but this one was my favorite.

That's actually good one, though!  Well . .in the sense that it works for 100% of golfers 100% of the time - regardless of swing mechanics, etc.  Only count every other stroke is a good one, too.  

[Kalnoky]

Anyone walking around the clubhouse talking about how [insert favorite pro golfer's name here] does something that goes against conventional wisdom, in other words, anyone trying to justify some bad habit they have - I tune those people out. It's very tempting to be seduced by those quick fixes when you are struggling. 

 

 

[inthehole]

On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 9:46 AM, Groucho Valentine said:

I agree with some of the other posters on here. "Keep your lead arm strait" and "keep your head down" are the worst pieces of advice golfers give to each other. 

I think we're talking semantics ... how about instead of saying "keep your head down", I said "Keep your eye on the ball through impact" which most people would equate to keeping your head down through impact ... better ??

 

I think this whole argument is silly ... we've all seen countless golfers lifting their head to watch the ball prematurely & it's a terrible habit that results in atrocious ball striking.    How can keeping your head down possibly be a bad thing ?

[CarlSpackler]

Just go up there and take a drop if you can't find it.

[inthehole]

28 minutes ago, inthehole said:

I think we're talking semantics ... how about instead of saying "keep your head down", I said "Keep your eye on the ball through impact" which most people would equate to keeping your head down through impact ... better ??

I think this whole argument is silly ... we've all seen countless golfers lifting their head to watch the ball prematurely & it's a terrible habit that results in atrocious ball striking.    How can keeping your head down possibly be a bad thing ?

World #1  keeping her head down just a bit ...

 

 

[Vinny Cap]

You can't play those clubs.  They are for Pro's!

[Groucho Valentine]

1 hour ago, inthehole said:

I think we're talking semantics ... how about instead of saying "keep your head down", I said "Keep your eye on the ball through impact" which most people would equate to keeping your head down through impact ... better ??

 

I think this whole argument is silly ... we've all seen countless golfers lifting their head to watch the ball prematurely & it's a terrible habit that results in atrocious ball striking.    How can keeping your head down possibly be a bad thing ?

Not really, i turn up my head through impact. Its a quirk that works for me. I feel like it allows me to get a full release of the body. 

 Its not so much the tip in itself thats bad, its what people tend to do with it. Which is usually bury their chin into their chest and attempt to keep their heads still. Thats bad. Along those lines, i think heaping your head "level" might be better advice. 

[ghalfaire]

5 hours ago, inthehole said:

I think we're talking semantics ... how about instead of saying "keep your head down", I said "Keep your eye on the ball through impact" which most people would equate to keeping your head down through impact ... better ??

 

I think this whole argument is silly ... we've all seen countless golfers lifting their head to watch the ball prematurely & it's a terrible habit that results in atrocious ball striking.    How can keeping your head down possibly be a bad thing ?

It can be a bad thing if you keep your head down too long.

[Hategolf]

It's all in your mind..Don't think about it!.....hahaha..I wanted to hit the guy on the head..

[Pretzel]

I think the worst "help" anyone ever tried to give me was, "Yeah, I push putts sometimes too. To fix it I just grip the putter tighter, so that I can control it better." Don't think that's quite how it works buddy...

I was going to also link to a video of my favorite part of Leslie Nielsen's Stupid Little Golf Video, but it appears the DMCA takedowns have been particularly brutal on that particular video and I can't find a single clip from it anywhere. If you can get ahold of it, though, I would highly recommend it.

[Strandly]

Worst tip I ever got was to swing less hard so slices screwed me less.