Pro says he’s played with 1,000 amateurs — and they commit these ‘mistakes’

Amateur swings, Michael Kim says, come in all shapes and sizes, with various bombs and flushes, hooks and slices, tops and chunks. 

But they also tend to repeat. 

The 31-year-old PGA Tour pro is talking on his X social-media account (and he’s worth a follow, should golf insight be your thing), and, in a way, he’s noted a definition of insanity, which tells us that one may go mad by expecting different results — from doing the same things over and over. In this case, amateurs keep committing the same errors, but seemingly hope for lower scores.

Kim’s here to help, though. Over the course of his nine-year pro career, he thinks he’s played with about 1,000 ams — and he’s narrowed down the “common mistakes” he’s seen to five areas, which are below, along with some thoughts.

Again, his X account is worth a follow, and you can do so by clicking here. 

The full swing   

The amateur mistake, according to Kim: “95 percent of ams go over the top and chop at the ball like they’re chopping wood. The reason it looks this way is because they don’t turn their hips and shoulders nearly enough in the backswing. You can go over the top from the top if you have good turn in the backswing. It’s a bit scary to swing with a big turn, but it must be done.”

The Kim fix: “Many ams set up in a way that makes it harder. You shouldn’t look so robotic. [Set up] way more relaxed with your feet flared a little bit. Think of a heavy medicine ball throw. Use your entire body to turn back and through. If you can get a better turn to your right side, then you can shift into your left side better (side bend) and get the club to not go over the top as much.”

Pitch shots 

The amateur mistake, according to Kim: “I see way too often a player setting up like it’s a full shot.”

The Kim fix: “With the set-up, it should look like you’re trying to hit a shorter shot. Weight a little left, feet a little closer, a little bit closer to the ball, ball position middle to back, hands a little ahead. … You really should use your body turn better in order to create a little in-to-out path that makes these shots way easier. Think Steve Stricker — no wrist set, all body turn. If you want hands forward to create that nice descending blow, you need body turn throughout the entire swing.”

The commenter question: “Michael, I don’t get the ‘ball position middle to back’ thing. With a pitch, wouldn’t you want to put your ball forward to get a higher trajectory, and not the opposite?”

The Kim answer: “It’s situation dependent, but the most important thing about a pitch shot from the fairway is good contact. If you play it forward, you’re not going to get as clean contact unless you do some other things. If you open up the club a little bit and get good contact, you should get some spin to help you stop the ball. If you need to get it up even higher for whatever reason, I prefer to play it middle and open the club more.”

Chipping

The amateur mistake, according to Kim: “The scoop action happens because you’re trying to add loft from a bad position and leads to chunks and mishits.” 

The Kim fix: “Use your putter. If it’s fairway and less than 30 yards to the hole, just use a putter. Putter until you’re forced not to. From the rough, open the club at set-up.” 

Additional help: A few months ago, Kim shared a video and a thread on shallow and steep chip shots, and that can be found by clicking here. 

Bunker play

The amateur mistake, according to Kim: “Don’t try to hit behind it. Let your set-up dictate that.” 

The Kim fix: “Dig in slightly with your feet, ball a little ahead, open the club face, weight 60/40 left. A little wrist cock on the way back and then undo that wrist cock and the way thru. If you can do it without slicing across it too much, even better

The commenter question: “Thoughts on putting out of bunkers when there’s no or small lip?”

The Kim answer: “Haha! You gotta do what you gotta do, but I would never advise that. Go get a lesson. I find the bunker to be the most forgiving place in golf (as long as it’s not a pot bunker).”

Putting

The amateur mistake, according to Kim: “95 percent of you don’t start your putts online and don’t know where you’re aiming. I can’t count the number of times I’ve given a read, the amateur aims it wrong, starts it way off my read and when it misses, tells me, it broke more or less than my read.” 

The Kim fix: “If you’re serious about getting better on the greens, get something that tells you whether you pushed it or pulled it and get your set-up right. You can do it with some tees and a stick, but it’s easier to just buy something like a Pelz Tutor or something similar with a gate.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.