Golf Tips For Beginners That Are Making You WORSE
G'day golfers.
I am going to tell you something that most golf improvement channels will never admit to you: golf tips are probably making you a hell of a lot worse than what they are actually helping.
Golf is absolutely drowning in tips. You get them from your well-meaning mates, from Instagram, from TikTok, and everywhere else you turn. There are more quick fixes on the internet than there are actual golfers in the world by a long way. Yet, the average golf handicap isn't improving. Why? Because tips without context are just noise, and they are adding to the mental chaos and overthinking that paralyzes most players on the golf course.
Here are the five main reasons why the tips you have been swallowing are ruining your game, and what actually works to help you play better golf.
#1 THE MATE RATE TRAP
First up, your well-meaning mates. Let's look at Bruce. Bruce plays off a 25 handicap, he is five foot eight, twenty kilos overweight, and has the hip flexibility of a rusted gate. He has two bad knees and a busted hip, but because he hit one decent ball last month, he is on the tee box telling you to slow down or change your swing. The problem is you are six foot three, athletic, and have perfect mobility. Bruce is giving you the solution to his own broken body's problems, not yours. Mates are not coaches; they just give you what works for them because they don't know anything else.
#2 THE TWENTY SECOND BLINDFOLD
Next is the short-form circus on Instagram and TikTok. Fix your slice in 20 seconds. It is the equivalent of throwing darts at a dartboard blindfolded. These creators have never seen you swing a golf club, they don't know your physical capabilities, and they don't know your gear. They are just shouting generic nonsense to grab a headline and get views. When you try to layer their quick fixes onto your game, you are usually just compounding your errors and making the confusion worse.
#3 THE YOUTUBE RABBIT HOLE
Even my own videos on YouTube have a limitation: I don't know you personally. The difference is I am not here trying to change your backswing plane through a screen, because rebuilding swing mechanics requires face-to-face feedback, months of training, and thousands of balls. I focus on decision-making. When I consume golf information, I use a 30 plus year filter of professional experience to say, no, that is rubbish, or yes, that works for my student. You don't have that filter yet, so you try to swallow every tip on the internet and end up completely lost over the ball.
#4 THE IMMORTAL GOLF MYTHS
Golf is full of old wives' tales that simply refuse to die, and they are actively killing your score. Keep your head down is the absolute worst. If you lock your head down like that, you kill your follow-through and lose 30 metres off your tee shots because you have ruined any chance of a powerful swing. Nobody keeps their head perfectly still. Go watch Tiger Woods or Bryson DeChambeau in slow motion; their heads move, rotate, and drop constantly. Keep your left arm straight is another beauty that just creates extreme tension. Look at Brooks Koepka; his arm isn't a rigid steel rod.
Then there is the classic never up, never in. The never up, never in crowd will smash a 15-foot putt four feet past the cup, feel proud they reached it, and then miss the comeback putt. Good putters leave about half their putts short from long range because they are focusing on a safe lag zone. Leaving a 30-foot putt two inches short is a guaranteed two-putt. Blowing it past the cup is how you turn a par into a double-bogey.
#5 THE SOLUTIONS ARE NOT QUICK
You are probably a successful person in your business or life, otherwise you could not afford to play this game. You know that you do not use 20-second quick fixes to solve complex business operations. You build a proper system, create a feedback loop, and stick with it through the uncomfortable learning phase.
Stop chasing tips. Go get an honest on-course assessment from a professional to figure out where your game is actually starting from. Set a destination, build a plan, and get consistent feedback.
If you want to drop shots tomorrow without touching your swing, start using my R.E.P.A.R. system: Risk, Environment, Plan, Act, Review. It is a decision-making process that beats a quick tip every day of the week.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsWURkPngZJrCMthtl2m5Kz3LpwNDmNaq
Ready to Break Your Bad Golf?
Stop guessing and start playing scoring golf.
If you are on the Gold Coast and ready for a real on-course diagnosis, come and see me at Emerald Lakes GC. We will stop the guessing and start breaking bad golf.
Right now is the ideal time to join our 9 Shots Lower in 9 Weeks program.
Why 9 Shots Lower Works
The 9 Shots Lower program is designed to do more than just give you great information. It’s built to lock in the right habits with:
A clear 9-week structure
Weekly feedback and accountability
Ongoing support so improvements actually stick
If you want faster, more reliable results — this is the program that delivers them.
Click here to learn more about my Breaking Bad Golf programs.
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The Gold Coast offers a range of options including Emerald Lakes, Palm Meadows, Hope Island, Southport, and Coolangatta-Tweed. Paul Williamson provides personalised on-course coaching that goes beyond traditional lessons, covering skills, strategy, and mental game in real playing conditions.
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One-hour lessons provide quick tips but rarely translate under course conditions. Paul’s on-course coaching uses 9-hole assessments to build a tailored plan that actually drops strokes from your scorecard.
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Paul Williamson, a PGA Professional with 30+ years’ experience, provides personalised on-course coaching at courses around Carrara, Hope Island, Robina, Southport, Coolangatta-Tweed, and the broader Gold Coast.
