This is the third article for the #stayathome series and it is one that many people may find a bit different. We have spoken about how to improve your golf game through imaginative short game practice and increasing your flexibility, now I want to talk about things you shouldn´t be doing during this prolonged spell at home and away from the golf course. Yes there are things that you shouldn´t be doing, as these may harm your development and create more problems than being away from the golf course could do.

1 – DO NOT LOOK AT COUNTLESS VIDEOS ON STREAMING CHANNELS

I hate it when clients turn up to a lesson and tell me that they have spent the last couple of weeks scrolling through videos on the internet, looking for the secret “move” or the magical tip that revolutionises their golf game. What is does do is degrade the information that I have given them, but worse it creates a negative platform for the upcoming and future lessons, as they will have a doubt in their mind as to which information to believe, especially if the advice I am giving is different to the advice they saw online. It is a fine line between using the internet in a successful way and a way that will destroy your golf game. One thing I certainly wish people to avoid is posting their swings on a forum or group and asking for advice, this is golfing suicide.

2 – DO NOT GO BUY GOLF CLUBS ONLINE

This has again come from one of the groups that I joined, I am amazed at how many clubs some people have, and even more amazing is the number of clubs they buy second hand. You must be really careful buying 2nd hand clubs, especially when you cannot try them in advance. 2nd hand clubs may be a lot cheaper and you can often find some real bargains, but are you sure you are getting the real deal? I don´t just mean a genuine club I mean the set-up that has been advertised. Many people buy an adjusted set of clubs to find out later that they are not suitable for them, this could be a genuine mistake by the seller, but if you are purchasing adjusted clubs, then you need to ask the seller to check the loft and lie angles before agreeing to buy them, sometimes they can change through normal usage, sometimes the seller forgets the set up of the club.

3 – DO NOT FORGET TO CLEAN YOUR CLUBS, BAG AND SHOES

Now is the time to give your clubs, bag and shoes that much needed TLC, check the grips, give them a good scrubbing, clean the grooves and empty the copious amount of rubbish you have collected in your bag. Change the studs in your shoes and give them a good polish, they will look like new!