The Weekend Golfer's 5 Biggest Swing Mistakes

(And Easy Fixes)

You only play twice a month — so every swing counts. But here's the frustrating reality: most casual golfers hit a plateau around the same handicap and stay there for years. Not because they lack talent or don't care, but because they keep reinforcing the same five mistakes every time they tee it up.

The good news? These aren't complicated biomechanical flaws that require a $200-per-hour instructor to diagnose. They're simple, fixable issues that are adding strokes to your scorecard without you even knowing it. And the fixes stick — because they're based on feel and awareness, not perfect positioning.

Let's dive into what's actually holding you back, and more importantly, what you can do about it this weekend.

Mistake #1: Death Grip — You're Strangling the Club

The problem: Weekend golfers tend to grip the club like they're trying to choke it out. Tension in your hands travels up your forearms, locks your wrists, and kills clubhead speed. The result? You're working harder but hitting it shorter — and probably slicing more often than not.

Think about it: tour pros generate 120+ mph of clubhead speed with what looks like an effortless swing. The secret isn't strength — it's the exact opposite. A relaxed grip allows the club to whip through impact naturally, generating speed through release rather than tension.

The Fix: The "Toothpaste Tube" Test

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is as tight as you can possibly squeeze, most weekend golfers grip at an 8 or 9. Tour players? They're at a 4 or 5.

Here's the drill: Imagine you're holding a tube of toothpaste with the cap off. Grip it tight enough that it won't slip out of your hands during the swing, but loose enough that no toothpaste comes out. That's your target grip pressure.

Practice it:

Take your normal grip, then consciously relax your hands by 30%
Hit 10 balls while focusing only on maintaining that light grip
Notice how much faster the club moves through impact

Mistake #2: Ball Position Creep

The problem: Ball position matters more than most casual golfers realize — and it changes depending on the club. But if you're like most weekend players, you've settled into one default ball position and use it for everything from your driver to your wedges.

When your 7-iron ball position creeps forward (closer to your driver position), you're forced to flip your hands at impact to make contact. Result: thin shots, fat shots, and inconsistent contact. When your driver ball is too far back, you're hitting down on the ball and losing all your distance to excess spin.

The Fix: The Simple Ball Position Rule

Use this reference system that takes about 3 seconds to set up:

Driver: Inside your left heel (for right-handed golfers)
Mid-irons (5-7): Center of your stance
Short irons/wedges: Just right of center

Quick check: Before every shot on the range this week, look down and consciously verify your ball position. You'll be shocked at how often it's wrong. After 4-5 range sessions, it becomes automatic.

Mistake #3: Rushing the Backswing

The problem: Watch any weekend foursome, and you'll see it: fast, jerky backswings followed by an awkward lunge at the ball. It's the #1 tempo killer, and tempo is everything in golf.

When you rush the takeaway, your body never has time to coil properly. You lose width in your swing, your hands get trapped, and you're forced to compensate on the way down. The result is inconsistent contact and a ton of wasted energy.

The Fix: The "One-Mississippi" Method

Tempo is hard to think about during a swing, so here's a foolproof drill:

Take your address position
Start your backswing and count "one-Mississippi" in your head
Your hands should reach the top of your backswing right as you finish saying "Mississippi."
Then let the downswing happen naturally — no counting needed

Do this for 20 swings at the range. The first few will feel absurdly slow. That's the point. You'll be amazed at how much more control and power you have when your backswing isn't a race.

Mistake #4: Over-Rotating Your Hips at Impact

The problem: You've probably been told to "rotate through the ball" or "clear your hips." That's good advice — but weekend golfers tend to overdo it. They spin their hips so aggressively that their upper body can't keep up, leading to an open clubface at impact and that dreaded slice.

Tour players rotate, yes, but with incredible sequencing. Hips start, then chest, then arms, then hands. When you fire your hips too hard and too early, you break that chain and lose both accuracy and power.

The Fix: Feel Your Belt Buckle

Here's a simple feel-based cue that works:

At impact, your belt buckle should be pointing at the ball, not past it toward the target
By the time you finish your swing, yes, your belt buckle should face the target — but not at impact

Practice drill: Take slow-motion swings and freeze at impact. Look down. If your hips are wide open (belt buckle pointing left of the ball for righties), you're over-rotating. Dial it back 20% and feel how much more solid your contact becomes.

Mistake #5: Lifting Your Head (But Not How You Think)

The problem: "Keep your head down!" is the most repeated piece of advice in golf — and it's mostly wrong. The real issue isn't lifting your head; it's lifting your spine angle. When your spine stands up during the swing (called "early extension"), you lose your posture, the club comes out of plane, and you're forced to make compensations to find the ball.

Your head can — and should — rotate naturally as your body turns. But your spine angle needs to stay consistent from address through impact. That's the key difference weekend golfers miss.

The Fix: The "Sit in the Chair" Feeling

Here's the mental image that fixes it:

At address, feel like you're sitting on a bar stool
During your entire swing, maintain that same "sitting" pressure in your glutes
If you stand up out of that chair during your swing, you've lost your posture

Range drill: Have a friend hold a club across your shoulder blades at address. Make practice swings. If the club moves up and down significantly, you're losing your spine angle. Feel the pressure stay constant in your hips throughout the swing.

The One-Fix Rule: Don't Try to Fix Everything at Once

Here's the trap that kills progress for most weekend golfers: you read an article like this, get excited, then go to the range and try to fix all five mistakes at once. Your brain overloads. Nothing sticks. You're back to your old swing by the third hole.

Instead, pick one fix. Commit to it for the next four rounds. Only when that fix becomes automatic should you move to the next one.

My recommendation: Start with grip pressure. It's the easiest to monitor, it influences everything downstream, and you'll see immediate results in clubhead speed and consistency.

Once that feels natural, move to ball position. Then tempo. Then hip rotation. Then the spine angle.

In five months, you'll have rebuilt your swing one piece at a time. And because you didn't rush it, the changes will actually stick.

See you on the course — and expect to shoot lower.

Search

Address The Ball