Where do you place the most value in your golf game?

[Jmdmbike]

If you want to get into SERIOUS scoring territory, there is NO question, short game is where the difference is made.  My argument is, most amateur golfers are poor golfers.  That's a fact.  There are a metric TON of people out there who can't break 110, or 100.  Yes, those people waste a ton of strokes around the green, but they also traverse a hell of a lot of acreage before they even get to the green.  I think, in terms of pure "value," for my game, it has to start with ability to keep yourself in play off the tee and on your approach.  Those shots are where you risk hitting hazards, taking penalties, making big numbers.  When a ball has 175, 200, 250 yards to cover, a LOT can happen.  A solid, repeatable, true swing is necessary to control those outcomes, and that's where I think most of us would say we struggle.  Once you get to 100 yards and in (let's say 50 or less, I think only pros aim for 'deadly' at 100 yards), I believe skill in that area is simply a matter of getting out of your head; the mechanics and physics are no longer so overwhelming.  You can't pull-hook a half-wedge, or banana slice it.  Sure, you can blade it or chunk it, but - I believe - those are ALWAYS simple mental mistakes.  I absolutely guarantee I could teach someone a "very good" short game, from a variety of lies, long before I could get them puring 6-irons 175 yards.  I've actually done it.

On a golf trip with some buddies, one guy was about a 110 guy.  The usual type of full swing flaws, would find lots of hazards, bunkers, topper-screamer irons, etc...  I spent five minutes at the practice green, and gave him some basic tips on simplifying greenside short game shots.  He told me after that he absolutely was much better around the greens that day.  Now, I doubt he was holing out or anything, but he got tangible - for him - results after five minutes.  He was still probably taking those shots at (for a par 4, let's say) his 4th or 5th shot or even 6th, though.  Imagine the improvement in his score if his first chip is his 3rd shot.  It'd be much more than five minutes to figure out how to get him to stop slicing a 200 yard drive, and hitting a straight 250-yd drive, and then stop skulling from the fairway and hitting 7-8 irons consistently straight and repeatable distance.

My last perspective would be, and I'll say "usually" a bit carefully, but usually, a bad short game doesn't lead to additional trouble.  That is, a tee shot can lead to a creek, or a hazard, or OB.  A bladed iron can go in the water, or hit a tree and carom OB, etc...  If you flub a greenside pitch, often, you'll just have another greenside pitch.  Duff a bunker shot, still in the bunker.  Yes, they all count as 'one,' but your variability just isn't that great around the green.  Sure, you could blade it out of a trap, over the green and into water, it's not without risk all the time, but it's just much less.  When it comes down to it, even a pro will tell you, what's their priority: fairways and greens, fairways and greens.  Take care of that, you remove lots of bad scenarios, and unless your short game is horr.if.ic, you will be better than just about any golfer you'll get paired up with on the first tee.  You can have a mad skills short game, but if you're playing the military left-right-left style game tee to green, I'll wager you'll probably be stuck at a 15-handicap at best for a long time.

As I said before, I agree with this. As your handicap lowers, likely you get more benefit from improving the short game. At mid and high handicaps, I can certainly see why it'd be more important to make improvements in the long game - hitting fairways and giving yourself a chance by keeping it in play and hitting solid, repeatable shots. I'd agree, for me anyway, that would help my score more than short game. I don't understand why some folks feels there is only one right way to improve. I think a lot of it depends on where you're at in the first place.

[x129]

Play with some guys that don't break 110 and you will change your mind. You could have Luke Donalds short game but you are not scoring well if you are 5 off the tee. Take Luke Donalds long game and that 110s short game and you will be respectable.

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

short game, chipping, putting.......................

anyone who says anything different has a screw loose..........

[jeffhale08]

Driving...Getting off the tee box...whether it be a driver, 5 wood, or an iron on a par 3 box, if I don't start the hole out right, I'm in trouble the whole way.  When I score good (par / subpar), I have driven and putted well.  Having never been a real good putter in my 25 years of golf, I've always put an emphasis on driving and iron play.

[Yukari]

I agree with Sonicblue's post #65.

It all depends on where you are in your game.  For high handicappers, most of the strokes (my empirical observation and personal experience) come from off the tee or the second shot.  As you get better, then the strokes come more from your short game.

When you get your "swing down", the difference between a decent round and a great round comes MOSTLY from the short game.

If you have erratic swing (e.g., wild off the tee), most of your strokes will come from off the tee or the second shot due to penalties...

[HeadGolfool]

I'm 61 and still play to a "3" and as my distance has got less it becomes harder to hit green in regulation on a consistent basis.  I spend a majority of my time on chipping.  I work real hard with hitting chips to an exact distance or landing spots with different clubs.  If I can land a chip on the green on a certain spot I can get up and down consistently.  Other thing I spend time on is putting and about 60% of that on lag putts and 40% 4-8ft.  The better I am at lag putting the less 3 putts I have. My range work is just working on specific things and not just wacking balls.