How much space to I need to Practice Chips & Pitch

[JGLindner73]

I set my lawn mower on super low setting and buzzed out two 6'x6' squares about ten yards apart to practice my chips back and forth and I have no problem getting them to land in the squares but getting them to stay in the squares is the issue.

I want to work gettin my shots to spin, land and stop.. and it just isnt doing it.

I can get my shots on the course from 30+ yards to land and check up but I wanted to practice these shorter shots.. I found my self just off the green a few times the past couple rounds and either needed to clear the trap or just get it to the other side of the green and was finding more that the ball would appear to have the right spin just to hit and run.

So is it worth my time to try and practice these short shots in the back yard, or do i need to go out to the range... or what could i be doing wrong on these shorter tighter shots. it seems like it i attempt to hit it harder for the spin it goes to far and if i go for more loft i am coming up to short..

I know practice is needed to get better.. so at home or the course.. where is my best bet

[Jarrod Putnam]

It is always going to help if you practice at your home. But it is also good to hit the range also. Both have their benefits. It probably comes down to person to person on what helps the most. Ive been using my buddies yard to practice within 140 yards. My short game has exploded with improvement. Just today I was hitting shots that last week I wouldn't have dreamed of. I would stand 5ft in front of a horse shed that was about 10ft tall. I was popping it over the shed with my A Wedge and getting absurds amount of backspin surprisingly consistently. I almost never stress to much over backspin, but now im psyched I have that skill in the making. Meanwhile the second I hit the range, I couldn't hit that shot if you had a gun to my head. It's just how it works for me. But others are the opposite.

What is happening to you is what would happen to me CONSTANTLY. Id hit a nice shot up to the green, but once I would try and do a close little chip, id  punch it trying to get underneath the ball to give it a bit of spin because I focused way to much on NOT sending it well past the green into the woods, or id get distance as if I kicked the ball. Personally I began to focus more on the increase loft to compensate for my hesitation. I would get it nice and high with the increased loft and the ball wouldn't become to active since it came in from so high. So I did not have to focus TO MUCH on backspin (though the past month ive been slowly improving my ability to get a nice backspin consistently). Id suggest giving that a shot, and focus on one or the other to start out with the short shots and see if that helps a bit. What club are you using for these shots? Have you ever considered getting a higher loft wedge? (depending on what you are currently using of course) But the main thing is just keep doing it over and over and over and over range or yard depending on you're preference until it clicks for you.

Hope I could be of some help.