Whichever area of the game is preventing you from reaching your potential, the remedies can sometimes be fairly simple, often changing your fortunes radically.
PGA Professional James Jankowksi has coached more than 3000 golfers, teaching everything from putting grips to ensuring a centred strike with driver, which has allowed him to develop a clear understanding of emerging patterns in the amateur game.
8 Common Mistakes Most Amateur Golfers Make Every Round
I am confident that most amateur golfers, including those reading this article, will suffer from at least one of these common faults (but more than one in all likelihood), so let’s get you some professional advice that can help you play better golf in 2026.
James Jankowski’s List Of Common Amateur Mistakes
- Hitting up on fairway woods
- Weight distribution on pitch shots
- Changing mechanics unneccesarily
- Grip issues
- Not reading the lie
- Manipulating the face through impact
- Not adapting to various bunker lies
- Complicating flight control
1. HITTING UP WITH YOUR FAIRWAY WOODS
Many golfers struggle with fairway woods because they try to hit them like a driver.
Fairway woods are designed with the sweetspot sitting pretty much at the equator of the ball. Therefore, off the deck, you want the low point to be just after impact. If you hit up on it, a centred strike with irons or fairway woods becomes more difficult, or perhaps even impossible.
Controlling the low point with fairway woods is crucial for better ball striking
(Image credit: Howard Boylan)
A good image to have is that, if there were another ball placed an inch or two in front of the one you’re hitting, you would also get that one airborne.
Hit slightly down and you should see the ball will launch better due to higher face…
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