There are a lot of bad golf tips out there, dished out by know-it-all foursome members and cluttered pages of golf magazines. Some even come from sketchy golf teachers.

We asked a few of our top SwingFix instructors for the worst tips they've ever heard.

So if you happen to run into any of this crackpot advice, you'll be able to steer clear.

Here are SwingFix instructor Justin Bruton's thoughts on bad tips:

"To be honest, I think every tip that I've given and any golf tip that I've seen can be terrible for some golfers and tremendous for others,” Bruton said. “For example, just last week I gave two players the exact opposite tips. The first one was hanging back in his golf swing so I gave him a tip to feel that his hips were moving harder toward the target, and the second was firing his hips too hard toward the target and I gave him the tip of feeling like he's hanging back.”

Bruton then joked that, “One day in the near future we need to put either an asterisk or a little cautionary (blurb) at the end of each tip so that players know who the tip really applies to – much like you would see at the end of a pharmaceutical commercial.”

But on a more serious note, Bruton also offered the following advice.

“I see a lot of players mess up their swings by applying tips that they've seen in golf magazines or on golf shows without really knowing whether that tip was appropriate for them or not,” he said. “But once a player understands their swing and their physical abilities, it makes it easier for them to understand which tips apply to their swing and which tips should go in one ear and out the other.

“So one of my biggest pieces of advice for golfers who enjoy applying random tips to their game is to go get evaluated physically and technically first."

Take an online lesson with Justin Bruton.

It’s a debate that has been ongoing in the world of golf for some time now, but it’s one that has heated up over the last year and will only intensify in the weeks ahead following Webb Simpson’s U.S. Open victory at Olympic Club this past weekend.

We’re, of course, talking about unconventional putters, which are fast becoming all the rage in professional golf, much to the chagrin of many of the game’s purists.

Belly and long putters have been around for the better part of three decades but for the majority of that time they were seen as nothing more than crutches for journeyman players trying to keep their careers going.

But not anymore.

Many of golf’s top young guns have arrived on professional tours using unconventional putters, while veteran stars like Ernie Els and Fred Couples, among others, have seen major resurgence in their careers thanks in large part to making the switch to a belly putter.

Simpson’s win at Olympic Club marked the second time in the last three majors that the winner used an unconventional putter. Keegan Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship using a belly putter, becoming the first player to win a major using a long putter.

And not surprisingly, more and more players are adding belly and long putters to their bags every week, or at the very least practicing with them at home.

Don’t expect that trend to change either, not with the success that unconventional putters are having in the world of professional golf these days.

“First, it's scientifically easier to putt with a long/anchored putter,” said Swingpal instructor Garrett Chaussard, who is a Kevin Weeks certified putting instructor. “Second, and even simpler, it’s a copycat tour. Player A has success, other players copy Player A. When players who copied Player A have success, others try long putters because there are now a group of players making more money. In an effort to insure that players with long putters do not have an advantage, every other tour player tries a long putter.”

It’s the anchoring effect that is the issue for many, as they believe that being able to anchor the club to the body isn’t within the spirit of the rules. Many also believe that ability takes the “nerves” factor out of putting, which should be part of the equation when it comes to the highest levels of competition.

For now, however, and it doesn’t look like any changes are in the immediate offing, none of golf’s major governing bodies have made a move to ban long putters from tournament play, despite significant criticism from players like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, among others.

So, given this continuing trend of players moving away from conventional putters, would Chaussard encourage his students to switch or introduce the long or belly putter at an early age to one of the many top juniors he works with?

“I would prefer a young player starting the game use a traditional putter so they can develop a unique individual motion, and I have never started a young player with a long putter only,” Chaussard said. “At that stage of development, I only use long/anchored putters in training, akin to learning to trace the alphabet in school.

“But as long as the USGA keeps long/anchored putters legal, the trend will continue.”

Take an online putting lesson with Garrett Chaussard.

It was an incredible Sunday show that Tiger Woods put on at the Memorial en route to his 73rd PGA title.

Certainly we’ve seen that sort of performance on more than one occasion from the man in the red shirt, but it had been a while since we saw one like that.

The debate will now rage on at golf courses and in offices across the country as to whether or not Tiger is “back” and whether or not he will ultimately break Jack Nicklaus’ record by winning 19 career professional majors, a mark he’s five short of at present with his next chance coming next week at the U.S. Open.

But for the sake of this column, we’re going in another direction …

The harsh reality is that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never, probably not even for a day, play the game like Tiger Woods. He’s just that good.

There is a lot, however, that you can learn from Woods, especially if you are like so many golfers and trying to change your swing and improve your game, be it with the help of a coach or even on your own.

Change takes time folks, there’s simply no way around it. And if the best player on the planet needs months and months to engrain changes to his golf swing, does it really make sense for you to think you can see dramatic results in the course of a range session?

It’s easy for us as golf fans to not want to accept that reality when it comes to Tiger because we’ve all seen what he can do and what he’s capable of when he’s on top of his game.

For the average weekend warrior, however, patience is an absolute must when it comes to changing your golf swing.

Find a teaching professional you like and trust and put your swing in their hands, the way Woods has done with Sean Foley.

Create and commit to a plan, put in the work, remain patient and stay the course - if you do, the improvement you’re looking for will come, guaranteed. If you don’t, your best hope is to find one band-aid after another to keep your game somewhat manageable, an approach that also comes with considerable frustration.

Regardless of what happens with Tiger at Olympic Club next week, we all need to keep in mind, hard as it might be at times, that the man is immensely patient and he knows what he’s doing when it comes to his golf game.

And everyone should take a page from that book and apply it to their golf games