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Improving the short game


evinkc05
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I know that I need to improve my short game, but I've never really been able to buckle down and simply work on short game. My question is does anyone have any approaches or methods for improving my short game? I really dont even know where to start. Thank you for any and all help.

In my Stand Bag:
Driver: 910 D2 9.5*- Stiff Ahina
3W: Snake Eyes

7W: Snake Eyes (IDK why i love this club)
Irons: 690.MB 3i-PW Stiff
Wedges: CG12 54*, Form Forged 900 60*

Putter: Versa White #1

Ball: Pro V1x *used and cheap/free*

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Number 1 thing that helps me is making sure my head stays perfectly still wile pitching and chiping. I lock my eyes on the ball, and when I take the club back I concentrate on keeping my head from moving side to side, and up or down. This seems to help me rotate a little more instead of shifting off the ball and seems to work very well for me. Jack Nicholas teacher used to physicly hold his head still while he practiced when he was younger. He must have known something.
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Please evolve what you mean with "short game".

Since the short game is at least 60% of the strokes I assume you practice your short game at least 60% of the time you practice.
Driver: Callaway FT-IQ 10° I-Mix 5w: Callaway X Hybrid: 21º Open CT
4-5: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 6-PW: Alpha C1 Pro
52º, 56º,60º Callaway X-Tour
Putter: Cleveland Classic 4
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practice from the hole backwards keeping records of the number of putts and up and downs around the green.

aim for putting around 30 or lower
up and down 60% of the time or better

spend 90% of your time with all aspect of the short game

putting
chipping from just off the green
pitching from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 yards from the green.


1) 20% in the air and 80% on the ground is a rule of thumb
2) putt when ever you can just off the green
3) putting focus on distance control so that will help eliminate 3 putts.
4) look at some videos that focus on chipping and pitching

Titleist 910 D2 9.5 Driver
Titleist 910 F15 & 21 degree fairway wood
Titleist 910 hybrid 24 degree
Mizuno Mp33 5 - PW
52/1056/1160/5

"Yonex ADX Blade putter, odyssey two ball blade putter, both  33"

ProV-1

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Chipping. Once you get good at it, it actually becomes fun and you begin to look forward to when you have to chip, at least I do anyway. You can do this anywhere, but the ideal place would be the range. Get a wedge, choke down on it alittle bit, open your stance, play the ball off your right foot and just make a swing like a putter, without breaking or cocking your wrists. Then work on putting.
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read a book on the short game. this has helped me a ton, dropped 5 strokes within a month of reading and practicing, and with more practice another 5 strokes doesn't look too far away. i picked up stan utely's art of the short game. very simple and straight forward method. also i think dave pellz short game bible is another good approach to the short game from what i've heard haven't checked it out though.

titleist.gif 910 D2 10.5 ProLaunch Blue S 55

:callaway: X2 Hot 3W  |  X Hot Pro 16H  |  X2 Hot 19H

:callaway: Apex 4-PW Project X 5.0 Flighted   

vokey.gif SM4 50.12, SM5 55.11
:cameron: Del Mar  |  titleist.gif NXT Tour S  

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Force yourself to do it. Take your golf bag out of your car (with the clubs in it) and place the bag in the least accessible part of the house. Put your golf glove, your wedges ( in my case PW, GW, SW, LW) and putter in the trunk of your car. Do NOT put any tees in your car.

Now you are forced to work on your short game, and that is it. Don't play a round for a month. Just practice your short game.

Practicing the short game is also very cost effective. Show up at any public course or driving range. Practice putting, chipping, pitching, bunkers, etc for a month.

At the end of the month, get you golf bag back down from the attic (or wherever) and go play a round. You will be amazed at how much better your short game is.

Best short game books imo
Tom Watson's Getting Up and Down 40 yards and in
Dave Peltz Short Game Bible.

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Adams Fast10 15* 3W
A2OS 3H-7iron 60* LW
8iron Precept Tour Premium cb
9iron and 45* PW 50* GW 56* SW m565 and 455 VfoilPutter Anser Belly Putter Ball in order of preference TPblack e5 V2  AD333

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Once you short game improves you will relax on long par 4s because you are confident that you can get up and down to save par or on par 5s get up and down to make birdies or if are off the fairway with your drive you are confident that you have a good chance of still saving par by getting up and down with your improved short game.

Titleist 910 D2 9.5 Driver
Titleist 910 F15 & 21 degree fairway wood
Titleist 910 hybrid 24 degree
Mizuno Mp33 5 - PW
52/1056/1160/5

"Yonex ADX Blade putter, odyssey two ball blade putter, both  33"

ProV-1

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practicing the short game help me learn the 3/4 swing for the in between distances and knock down shots into the wind also as a benefit of practicing the short game.

Titleist 910 D2 9.5 Driver
Titleist 910 F15 & 21 degree fairway wood
Titleist 910 hybrid 24 degree
Mizuno Mp33 5 - PW
52/1056/1160/5

"Yonex ADX Blade putter, odyssey two ball blade putter, both  33"

ProV-1

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also, which different drills have really helped you to improve your short games? Any help is appreciated, thank you.

In my Stand Bag:
Driver: 910 D2 9.5*- Stiff Ahina
3W: Snake Eyes

7W: Snake Eyes (IDK why i love this club)
Irons: 690.MB 3i-PW Stiff
Wedges: CG12 54*, Form Forged 900 60*

Putter: Versa White #1

Ball: Pro V1x *used and cheap/free*

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Best way to improve your short game is "buckle down and simply work on short game". No real magic, you just have to spend time at it, follow uttexas advice, leave the long clubs at home. Every day after work, stop at a course that has a putting and chipping green and practice for 20 to 30 minutes. By the time spring gets here you will be surprised at how much better your short game has improved.

Craig 

Yeah, wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?

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My only other suggestion, seeing as you are a "99" handicapp is to see a Pro. As I doubt your hdcp is that high, you might be a little off in your fundamentals. It's probably a good place to start. There's nothing worst than practicing the wrong way. Your Pro should be able to provide sound fundamentals and good drills to practice them. Once you have those down, it's just a matter of keeping practice fun and interesting.

|Callaway I-MIX FT-9  - Driver | Callaway Diablo Octane - 3 Wood | Callaway Diablo Edge Tour [3H & 4H] - Hybrids | Callaway X-forged 2009 - Irons | Callaway JAWS [52, 56, 60] - Wedges | SC Studio Style Newport 2 / Laguna 1.5 / Kombi-S - Putter |
 

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Best way to improve your short game is "buckle down and simply work on short game". No real magic, you just have to spend time at it, follow uttexas advice, leave the long clubs at home. Every day after work, stop at a course that has a putting and chipping green and practice for 20 to 30 minutes. By the time spring gets here you will be surprised at how much better your short game has improved.

Thats it. just work on it.

its trial and error. the more you practice, the more you'll come up with different shots for different situations. the short game is all about having an arsenal full of different shots for the same situation.
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MY 2 swing thoughts on short game are to keep my weight more on the left side throughout the swing and keep turning through the shot. By doing this I've knocked at least 6 strokes off my score and could be more if I could putt better.

Example: I hit only 9 GIR last week but shot a 73 (+1) cause of pitching. I did chip one in, but I also missed 4 putts within 6 ft. and about 4 from 10-15 ft.

What I do is head over to the practice green which is 5 minutes away on my lunch break with only my wedges and about 40 balls (and a retreiver thingy)Our muni's green is so big i can practice up to a 50 yrd. pitch shot (as long as no one is around).

Getting up-and-down will dramatically lower your score, in my case I've worked so hard on pitching and chipping (I haven't even been to the range in months) I feel I can get it within 3 ft. from anywhere around the green and don't even have to sweat the par putts!!

It's a great confidence booster.

Sumo 5000 10.5 Aldila NV 65-X Driver
PC-III 4-SW irons
Custom Putter
Pro-V1 Balls

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I know that I need to improve my short game, but I've never really been able to buckle down and simply work on short game. My question is does anyone have any approaches or methods for improving my short game? I really dont even know where to start. Thank you for any and all help.

What works for me is not trying to play onto the green from fariway - chances are you will over hit or the ball will roll off. instead try to place the ball about 10 yards from the green and the either use a PW to chip onto the green which will help you putt within 2 shots.

Try this - instead of using a PW or SW, use a 5-6 iron to roll the ball onto the green - rememebr the more height you achieve, the harder it is to get accuracy (unless you're a pro!!).
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What works for me is not trying to play onto the green from fariway - chances are you will over hit or the ball will roll off. instead try to place the ball about 10 yards from the green and the either use a PW to chip onto the green which will help you putt within 2 shots.

OMG!...are you serious??....why would you EVER not aim for the green if you have a clean look at it?? Work on your short game in practice, play with it when you NEED it. Doing as the above quote recommends is suicide to your iron game, which is almost as critical as a good short game. In addition, have you ever heard an announcer at a pro-am talk about the amateurs sailing the ball over the green? No, why?, because most amateurs under-club from the fairway. So if you do like the above poster suggests, you will probably come up even shorter on your approaches. WOW, maybe I just misunderstood something and you guys can enlighten me, but this suggestion would be detrimental to you overall game. Your short game might get a little better by necessity, but scores would definately go up. This game's already hard enough, don't start INTENTIONALLY missing greens!

Sumo 5000 10.5 Aldila NV 65-X Driver
PC-III 4-SW irons
Custom Putter
Pro-V1 Balls

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I recently had a short game breakthrough that might help you, too.

Chip shot: hands ahead, feel AND RETAIN the angle of your right wrist going back & coming down. The shoulders must supply ALL the power. Do not use your hands for this. [Hogan's tip of pressing your hands together throughout the swing helps].

Use three or four different clubs from loft wedge to 7 or 8 iron & just hit shots at a flag stick over & over. On longer shots kick your right knee to start the downswing.

In time you get a feeling of how hard to work your shoulders for a given distance.

This improved my lag putting, too!

905T, 9½° driver
Hyper X, 15° 3-wood
PT585H, 17° 2-hybrid
3DX RC, 20° 3-hybrid
Eye2, 4 â LW Circa '62 #2

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OMG!...are you serious??....why would you EVER not aim for the green if you have a clean look at it??

LOL...his advice wasn't worded very well and we obviously don't want to intentionally miss greens. However, my low handicap buddies often talk about the merits of running shots up onto the green (playing bump and runs) instead of playing more difficult shots. Many of us take out lob wedge and try to land it near the pin instead of playing higher percentage chips. Maybe this is the point he was trying to get across.

Cleveland Classic XL 10.5 Rombax 6X07
Titleist 904F Aldila NV
Nickent 3DX hybrid

MX-25 irons & MP-R wedges

Odyssey #5

Leopold GX1/Skycaddie SG5

Sun Mountain Hybrid Bag

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Note: This thread is 5511 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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