Every golfer thinks replaying their worst shots is how they get better. Turns out there's real research showing that's only true if you do it a very specific way, and most people are doing the exact opposite without knowing it.

There's a tiny shift, something as small as one word in your head, that decides whether a bad shot teaches you something or just ruins the rest of your round. This one closes out our Bad Advice series, and it might be the most useful habit in the whole run.

I used to think the golfers hitting the most range balls were doing everything right. Turns out there's a second half to that practice most people never get to — and it's the half that actually shows up on the course.

There's a batting practice study from the nineties, and a quieter follow-up on golfers, that together explain why some grinders never seem to close the gap between the range and a real round. Once you hear the fix, it's a two-minute change to how you already practice.

There's an experiment I can't stop thinking about. Researchers offered people in rural India a month's pay to win one simple game of skill — and the ones with the most on the line played the worst, by a mile. I'll tell you what that has to do with the four-footer you need to win your match, and why the most natural advice in golf might be quietly costing you the shots that matter most.

If you've ever stood over a putt, told yourself "this one counts," and watched it slide by, this episode is for you. There's a reason it happens, it's measurable, and it has a name. And the fix isn't trying harder — it's almost the exact opposite, and I think it'll change how you handle pressure for good.