Where to practice short game?

[KrazyTrain18]

Really odd, at the practice facility I go to there is a green 100 yards out....but yeah go to a field with a mat is your best bet.

[flintcreek6412]

I just do it on the course.  The benefit of membership.  I then get to practice with the same balls I play on a wide variety of uphill, downhill sidehills.   You just have to be flexible and do it when they are not busy.  But be smart about it and don't tear up your home course.  I only hit 4-5 balls at a time and never within 3 ft of each other so I don't noticeably tear up the course.  Just remember to fix all ball marks on green and divots too.

The nice thing is that the ones that miss the green give you a chance for a short practice chip.  If you want to stand and just bang ball after ball from the same spot then this obviously won't work, but I find my practice works best if I change my shot every few shots.  Keep the body guessing what's next just like a scoring round.

[saevel25]

I like that type of practice, it has its places. But for me, i need something more repetative to get a lot of basic movements down. I'm having hard time getting consistant contact with shorter shots. I had a 40 yard pitch shot yesterday that i almost shanked right. I can hit a full iron shot all right. Its the short finesse, my mind is all jumbled up on what to do. So changing would not be good, need to stop thinking :p

[mrwaltmitty]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Yea just looked up the ordinance for a city near were i live, no go on golf. They lump golf in with skateboarders, fricken communists :p

That does seem a bit ridiculous. "Stay out of Malibu, deadbeat!"

[MS256]

I don't approach most short game shots any differently than I would approach throwing a rock in a bucket or shooting a basketball or hitting infield and outfield practice to any of the baseball teams I've coached.

I just see the target and hit the ball to the target based on the feel of the club in my hands. Within reason, (because of loft and rollout) it really doesn't make too much difference which club I'm using. I may have to lay the face open and cut across the ball on a lot of shots, and account for more rollout, and there are some flops I wouldn't have as an option but not really that many.

If I showed up at the course and found that I had left my wedges at home it wouldn't cost me very many (if any) strokes to just play without them.

I used to play the back nine with nothing but a 9 iron and a putter if I was bored and nobody else was playing that day and it was actually very good practice hitting everything from very long shots down to chip shots with the same club.

[WUTiger]

I'm lucky  - my local course has a decent practice range with a chipping and putting green, and a separate target green that is 40 to 75 yds. away depending where you stand.

At home, I put in a cup and a flagstick in the corner of my back yard. I mow the area regularly on a setting of 4, and drop it down to 3 for a kidney-shaped "green" and narrow "tee box"  area.Yard has an L-shape, so I can get two approaches to the corner that are about 35 yds. each.

I practice short pitches and chips. Also helps timing and set-up.

My wife is starting to play again, and she hits wiffle balls in the evening to build up her swing.