Why You’re Not Improving: 3 Mistakes the Data Keeps Seeing

So you’ve been playing golf for a few years. Maybe you’re breaking 90 more often. Maybe you’re still fighting to break 100. Either way, you practice, you invest in lessons, maybe even splurged on a new driver. But here you are again, you’re adding up another round that didn’t quite go the way you hoped.

So what gives? Why aren’t you getting better? It’s a question almost every golfer wrestles with. 

At Arccos, we’ve looked at billions of golf shots, across millions of rounds, from everyday golfers to major champions. And while every player is different, the patterns are surprisingly consistent.

If you’re feeling stuck, there’s a good chance you’re making one of these three mistakes. Here’s what the data says and how to shift gears towards improving..

Mistake 1: Practicing the Wrong Things

It’s a familiar routine. Hit the range, rip a bucket of 7 irons, maybe a few drivers for good measure. Feels productive. Looks the part.

But here’s what the data tells us. Most amateur golfers are losing the majority of their strokes somewhere else entirely, on approach shots, short game, and putting.

For example, a mid handicap player might be leaking two or three strokes a round from approach play alone. That’s not a swing flaw. It’s a strategy gap, a club selection issue, or a misread lie. And no amount of extra range time is going to fix it unless you're working on the right things.

Bottom line: If you're not practicing with a purpose and with data to point the way, you're likely just reinforcing habits, not solving problems.

Mistake 2: Playing Without a Benchmark

“Play better” is a nice goal. But better than what? Compared to whom? And maybe it might be as simple as just asking yourself, how can you play smarter?

Without a benchmark, it’s easy to misread your game. You might think your driving is the issue when it's actually your putting. You might be working on accuracy when distance is what’s holding you back.

That’s where Strokes Gained, yes, the stat you’ve heard the pros talk about, can be a game changer. It doesn’t just tell you how far you hit it. It tells you how your game stacks up in every category, compared to golfers at your current level or the level you’re trying to reach.

It's like turning on the lights in a room you've been stumbling through for years.

Mistake 3: Overlooking the Easy Wins

Sometimes, we’re so focused on the big fix, an overhaul, a lesson series, a full bag fitting, that we miss the small, simple changes that make a big difference.

The data shows that a lot of golfers are giving away shots in ways that are surprisingly fixable:

Always coming up short on approach shots? You probably are. Missing left because you aim at every pin? Struggling with three putts from 30 feet or more?

These are patterns that can be spotted and corrected without changing your swing. Often, it’s just about playing smarter, not harder.

Here’s the truth. Improvement isn’t about trying harder. It’s about understanding what’s actually happening in your game.

Arccos shows you exactly where you stand, breaking your game down by Driving, Approach, Short Game, and Putting, and pointing to the top three areas where you're losing the most strokes.

But even if you’re not using data yet, the concept is the same.

Look at your patterns. Track your trends. Don’t guess, measure. 

Because once you know where your game actually is, you can finally start heading where you want to go. It’s the Smart Play.