Short Game Practice

[B-Con]

I just had this lesson hammered home myself.

I've logged the club I used to approach the green with for the last 3 rounds of 18 holes I've played, and the club that put me on the green was a GW or higher on, literally, about 90% of them. My GIRs are terrible and my iron play is not great. Thankfully my short game is less than completely sucky, so it was only because of my short game I was able to hit the mid 90s.

Anyway, my putter and my GW combined probably make up 65% of the shots I take out there, so yes, short game is very important. If I could get to a point were 20 yards and in was an instant up-and-down, my handicap would fall by a couple strokes.

[laconic517]

I call it bogus, doubles dont happen from the middle of the fairway unless you are an absolute hack with a wedge. If you are shooting in the 90's just make sure you get the ball on the green from 100 yards and in. Missing the green is absolutely unacceptable. However, its hard to break 90 if you are topping the ball and hitting monster slices or huge hooks/pushes. The long game is where the big numbers happen.

For almost everyone, if you could pick a tour pro to hit your shots for you >100 yards or <100yards it would be absolutely stupid not to pick >100 yards.

Thats where all the huge numbers happen.

[sean_miller]

I call it bogus, doubles dont happen from the middle of the fairway unless you are an absolute hack with a wedge. If you are shooting in the 90's just make sure you get the ball on the green from 100 yards and in. Missing the green is absolutely unacceptable. However, its hard to break 90 if you are topping the ball and hitting monster slices or huge hooks/pushes. The long game is where the big numbers happen.

That's all approximately 180 degrees of my opinion. Who says people are getting all their approaches to 100 yards? Are you guys playing the ladies tees? A missed green a thinned chp, a lip out. Three on and three in for a 6 is pretty easy. Not every hole, but still.

[danieldrieberg]

Short game is where it is at.

I break it down to three phases, full shots 8 iron through wedges, chipping, putting. The last two are self explanatory. 8 iron through all the wedge practice will get you around the green. Also you get good with these clubs and the longer irons, hybrids and woods come along for the ride.

When I'm at the range working something out with a particular swing change I always start with a 3/4 wedge. When I am happy then I progress to my most lofted full shot wedge. Then the next wedge--so on through the irons hybrids etc. If I falter in the progression I step down to a PW and groove a few then work my way up again. That wedge tempo/mechanics should feel similar to a solid 5 iron. Just faster head speed and longer rotation.

I see way too many high cappers banging out drive after drive dutifully ingraining whatever swing they have that day. Good exercise---poor practice for improvement. If we can not repeat a 8 iron or pitching wedge quality swing why should the results be better with longer clubs. If you have a moderate fade/slice with a 9 iron that slider will only be worse the taller the club gets.

[ghalfaire]

I really like this discussion and a lot of good advice here. But I don't see a lot of us recommending keeping statistics on our game. In my case when I did finally take time to keep records on my performance I found that my initial beliefs were wrong. I was losing strokes because my chipping/pitching was poor and I was leaving myself long first putts. I found that when I hit a green my average number of putts was less than two, but when I had to chip/pitch my first putt was an average of 15 feet, you don't one putt from 15 feet very often. Gary Player was right for me at least when he said "if you want to improve your putting take a chipping lesson". I also found I was losing a lot of strokes with the driver. Not just in the rough but OB or the only shot was a chip back to the playing field (sometimes through the trees and it was two shots back to the field). So what ever your handicap if you want to improve you first need to find where you're leaking strokes. That means keep statistics on your game. It is tedious and can consume some time (there is available software you can buy or use on line that will help). If you are not a single digit handicap I highly recommend actually measuring your performance and not just going with your beliefs. Your beliefs might be correct, but mine were not.

[Stretch]

It's not just short game mechanics that bedevil most of us hackers, it's poor decision making. Stan Utley says he can shave five or six strokes off most 20 handicappers' indexes without making any technique changes at all, just by helping them learn what the smart plays are around the green in common situations. Sure, if you want to get good, you're going to have to seriously engage with the full swing, but the quickest way for a high handicapper or complete beginner to improve their score is to focus on short game basics -- particularly lag putting.

[allin]

This is a chicken or the egg question that can go on forever. A tour superstar like Player has a different perspective than a 25 hdcper. A 25 has obvious swing flaws that need to be fixed so while a 6:1 ratio may work for a tour pro or even a low hndcper,,,the ratio for a 25 is different. What that is, is up to the individual and his teacher.

This kind of advice from pros I feel is kind of deceptive. I believe they mean well, but I think the advice is colored by their belief that most of us don't have the talent to be good ball strikers. Since for most of us the short game responds more quickly to practice and is not as dependent on physical gifts improvement there shows up in your score more quickly. In the long run keeping yourself out of impossible situations so you can take advantage of an improved short game matters just as much. If you are ob, in the trees, sand or water or always 200 yards from the green saving a few shots around the green won't be enough.

[neophyte]

I was having a lot of trouble with the driver. So my new pro had me practice 1/4 and 1/2 and 3/4 shots with my driver. The best drills I have ever found for the driver is to practice chipping off the t with the driver.

[laconic517]

That's all approximately 180 degrees of my opinion. Who says people are getting all their approaches to 100 yards? Are you guys playing the ladies tees?

You shouldnt be thinning chips. Or 3 putting after you get on in 3. If you get on in 3 you shouldnt have 50 footers. Unless the greens are extremely tricky you shouldnt be 3 putting from 20 ft which is where you should be at worst if you are around the green chipping. Not everyone hits it to 100 yards is my point EXACTLY. A tour player playing for you from >100 yards would almost guarantee a single digit shoots under 80 EVERYTIME, a mid to low single digit would shoot under par (on the courses they usually play, not PGA tour setups) everytime. Ya short game is a big deal, but only if your misses are pretty small and to me shortgame just saves you bogeys and pars, Nothing can save you if you hit the ball OB or in the hazard several times in a round.

[sean_miller]

You shouldnt be thinning chips. Or 3 putting after you get on in 3. If you get on in 3 you shouldnt have 50 footers. Unless the greens are extremely tricky you shouldnt be 3 putting from 20 ft which is where you should be at worst if you are around the green chipping.

I know I shouldn't be thinning chips or 3 putting - no sh** sherlock.

A tour pro playing from my tee shots (and second shots on par 5s) could still shoot in the 60s. Place the ball at 105 yards on every hole - hell, put it on a tee - and I'm still not shooting in the 60s. Your logic is flawed.

[laconic517]

Then you must be better than a scratch off the tee. If you are a 6.6 and cant shoot in the 60's from 105 on everyhole I dont know what to tell you. How the hell do you ever score ;\

[sean_miller]

Then you must be better than a scratch off the tee. If you are a 6.6 and cant shoot in the 60's from 105 on everyhole I dont know what to tell you. How the hell do you ever score ;\

Your posts are ridiculous.

[Paradox]

My personal belief is that so many people say "practice your short game, practice your short game, practice your putts!" but I think what everyone should be thinking is "hit the green in regulation".


Many people will pay absolutely NO THOUGHT to reading a green when they are 75-100 yards away. They don't pay any attention to sucker pins, or playing the ball to a safe spot ON THE GREEN. THATS WHY so many people spend so many strokes on chipping and long putts, myself included. People think about course management on long shots but they don't think about it when it comes to the most crucial shot, the approach. I would almost guarantee if people stop going for that pin that forces them to carry a deep bunker and land on a skinny green and instead played to the fat part and took their two putt, they'd have much lower scores..me included.

Anyway, start hitting greens and watch your scores fall. You shouldn't be hitting 18 chips per round.

[WUTiger]

...As for the posters who say

That's

not what we're saying. It's not getting all your tee shots in the fairway. It's just getting a reasonable number. And, are the one's you miss in the first cut of rough, or in never-never land? It generally takes me about an hour to hit 45 balls from a small bucket. I line up each shot, and usually take a break about halfway through. If I'm doing swing tempo drills - not full shots - the pace may be faster. To restate: If you're blowing most of your tee shots, it's unlikely you'll score well. Also, I think the pros overstate short game practice because so many amateurs do short-change it.

[Dave H]

That's

I completely agree with this. Almost all of my blow-up holes which kill my scores start with a wayward tee shot to OB or some sort of unplayable lie. I don't discount the importance of short game practice but as of right now I'm pretty convinced that I give up more strokes getting to the green than I do around or on the green.

[Amofada]

Speaking from experience, I score well as long as I stay away from the crooked numbers. I don't get crooked numbers if I'm shooting at a green from 100 yds in. Worst case scenario, it's a bogey and my short game isn't really my strenght either. LAst week I had my best round of the year going before I hit 2 balls OB off the tee on the 13th hole resulting in a quad. I have never made a quad from the fairway inside 100 yds.

If you're consitantly putting the ball in play with decent distance off the tee you're going to be at least an 18 hcp. In general, bad short game leads to bogeys but it's bad long game that leads to triples and worse

[leo3]

There is no magic formula for scoring well, it is a process

1 You have to keep it in play off the tee, first and foremost, as hitting 3 off the tee is the biggest score killer

2 Once your tee shots are staying on the golf course, work on your iron play, so you hit greens, or are very close to them

3 Now it is time for the short game work

[Stretch]

In general, bad short game leads to bogeys but it's bad long game that leads to triples and worse.

On the fringe in regulation. Stub the first chip, skull the second, three putts.

Plenty of high handicaps do that, or worse, on a regular basis.