Seeking advice on what to practice and how

[edhalsim]

Hi,

Played today. Hit ten greens, one birdie, one up and down and shot ten over due to two three putt greens and two doubles. Pretty typical round. 

I can practice for about 45 mins twice a week. My weaknesses are 30-70 yd shots and short game in general.

I'd like advice in what to practice and how. People say practice your short game but since every short game shot is different how do you get better?  I'm also unsure of the best way to hit those half wedge shots as I can't get them close enough to make. 

Thanks for your help!

Ed

[phillyk]

Short and long answer.  Short, buy Lowest Score Wins and long, read it... It'll answer this question and more!

[mvmac]

Hi,

Played today. Hit ten greens, one birdie, one up and down and shot ten over due to two three putt greens and two doubles. Pretty typical round. 

I can practice for about 45 mins twice a week. My weaknesses are 30-70 yd shots and short game in general.

I'd like advice in what to practice and how. People say practice your short game but since every short game shot is different how do you get better?  I'm also unsure of the best way to hit those half wedge shots as I can't get them close enough to make. 

Thanks for your help!

Ed

Yep, take a look at Lowest Score Wins
http://lowestscorewins.com/

And this
http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/58816-652015-practice-ratios-where-to-devote-your-practice-time/

[Mike Boatright]

Good round sounds typical of what I do all the time. 30-70 yards isn't to typical of a round buster it's usually par 3's of 185 yards and hazards well for at least me. If that's your weakness work on that at the range other wise if you only have time to play golf use course management set your self up for 160 yard approaches play to your your powers and error on the fat of the green.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Mike Boatright

[Mr. Desmond]

Hi,

Played today. Hit ten greens, one birdie, one up and down and shot ten over due to two three putt greens and two doubles. Pretty typical round. 

I can practice for about 45 mins twice a week. My weaknesses are 30-70 yd shots and short game in general.

I'd like advice in what to practice and how. People say practice your short game but since every short game shot is different how do you get better?  I'm also unsure of the best way to hit those half wedge shots as I can't get them close enough to make. 

Thanks for your help!

Ed

For long term results, work on the long game - hit more fairways, more greens (or very near the fairway/greens (LSW)).

For short term scoring, hit the short game - everyone needs a decent one because you will be near the green even when not hitting them with an improved long game.

How do you get better with the short game? Gotta' have technique, need to know how to use a wedge and its sole.

Try this:

 

There is also a thread on short flops

Try these:

http://cmp.callawaygolf.com/2015/09/03/wedge-tips-how-to-pretty-much-get-up-down-from-anywhere/

Go to youtube and search "Pete Cowan Pitching", "Phil Mickelson Short Game" , "James  Sieckmann" and Grant Waite 

I like this one on basic pitching using bounce:

https://youtu.be/38FCxpgINq8?t=20s

See what works for you.

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by Mr. Desmond

[Shindig]

Hi,

I can practice for about 45 mins twice a week. My weaknesses are 30-70 yd shots and short game in general.

Ed

I'll echo the suggestion for LSW.  As a quick thing though:  what do you do if you're 50 yards out?  Do you know which club to swing, and how, for an expected 50 yard flight?  What if you do the same motion with one club difference (e.g., if you use a motion with your sand wedge for 50 yards, what happens if you do the same with your gap wedge)?

[JonMA1]

Hi,

Played today. Hit ten greens, one birdie, one up and down and shot ten over due to two three putt greens and two doubles. Pretty typical round. 

I can practice for about 45 mins twice a week. My weaknesses are 30-70 yd shots and short game in general.

I'd like advice in what to practice and how. People say practice your short game but since every short game shot is different how do you get better?  I'm also unsure of the best way to hit those half wedge shots as I can't get them close enough to make. 

Thanks for your help!

Ed

There are a lot of ways to get the ball to go 30-70 yards. One method may be easier for you to learn than the others, but will likely not work for every scenario. Pick the club and type of shot you feel the most comfortable with, and use it whenever possible. But also become skilled at an entirely different kind of shot that will work in those instances when your first choice will not. By having just the two shots to work on, all you might have to do is grip up or down and vary your amount of backswing/followthrough on either shot type to adjust for the different distances, hole positions, and hazards that need to be considered.

With limited available practice time, learning just those two shots might be prove easier than learning several???

[dave s]

Actually, I really like practicing on my short game.  Not long off the tee, don't hit ball solid a lot of the time so something in my game has to be tight.  It's definitely my short game.  Here are a few things I work on to give me the best up and down opportunity from around the greens. 

1.  First off, try to stay AWAY from those 30-60 yard shots.  If there's a tougher shot in the bag, I don't know what it would be.

2. Practice putting religiously so when you face the 'makeable putts' during your round, they go in.  These are the 2-5 footers we often take for granted.  I take two balls and hit 2, 3 and 5' putts from 4 sides of a hole.  I do this twice before teeing off each round.  During and 18-hole round, I might miss 1 or 2 max of what I call 'makeable' putts.  Keeps me away from 3-putts and doubles.

3. Practice lag putting.  If you can get the 20'+ putts inside the 'make range,' (see #2) you should be able to 2 putt most of the time.

4. I've tried hard to 'up my game' around the greens using everything from 8-iron to my highest loft (58*) wedge around the greens.  I don't use the 8-iron much, but the gist of what I do when faced with a long pitch to back and middle hole location is to use a similar putting stroke with each club or wedge.  The longer the roll, the longer the club chosen.  This is something that requires practice and an understanding of how far the 8-iron rolls out compared to how far each of the shorter clubs roll out.

5. On all green side shots that have to clear an obstacle like deep rough, a bunker or any other bad spot that a miss adds a stroke, I have a go-to wedge and a go-to shot.  I use my 58* wedge and open the face a little or a lot depending on how far the shot has to fly.  I also try to take the same swing and adjust distance based on how much I open the face at address.  Open a little, it goes farther;  open a lot ball comes out soft, goes high and stops close to the hole.

6. MOST people I play with RARELY get the ball to the hole on pitch shots.  We all know the never up, never in mantra.  When you practice, practice getting ALL your chips and pitches to the hole and past.  You'll be surprised how many you actually hole out if you can do this.  My last thought on every chip and pitch is 'get the ball ALL the way to the hole!' 

7.  Trust the loft in your wedge(s), the grooves in the face and the soft cover on the golf ball and go after those short shots.  Nothing worse than throwing a well-struck pitch shot 20' short of the hole and watching it check up and stop on a dime ... 16 feet SHORT of the hole!

8. Short game practice is FREE at just about any golf course close to you.  Find one you like that has opportunity for you to work on a number of green side shots and visit often.  I try to get to my local practice place once a week during the season.

dave

[iacas]

1.  First off, try to stay AWAY from those 30-60 yard shots.  If there's a tougher shot in the bag, I don't know what it would be.

You're costing yourself shots by avoiding them. They're not overly difficult shots. Almost everyone is better at a 50-yard shot than they are from 80 yards. They're better from 35 than they are from 70.

2. Practice putting religiously so when you face the 'makeable putts' during your round, they go in.  These are the 2-5 footers we often take for granted.  I take two balls and hit 2, 3 and 5' putts from 4 sides of a hole.  I do this twice before teeing off each round.  During and 18-hole round, I might miss 1 or 2 max of what I call 'makeable' putts.  Keeps me away from 3-putts and doubles.

Please don't practice your putting all that much - you shouldn't practice anything "religiously" and of the skills in golf, putting deserves the least amount of attention unless you have a glaring weakness… and only then should you practice it until it's not a glaring weakness anymore.

3. Practice lag putting.  If you can get the 20'+ putts inside the 'make range,' (see #2) you should be able to 2 putt most of the time.

20' is not a long putt. Virtually everyone two-putts from 20'. In fact, I'd go so far as to say never practice from 20 feet.

6. MOST people I play with RARELY get the ball to the hole on pitch shots.  We all know the never up, never in mantra.  When you practice, practice getting ALL your chips and pitches to the hole and past.  You'll be surprised how many you actually hole out if you can do this.  My last thought on every chip and pitch is 'get the ball ALL the way to the hole!'

I'd prefer that people simply focus on getting the ball as close to the hole as possible without worrying about getting it TO the hole as that often leads to being too aggressive and hitting it too far past the hole. I'll take two feet short over six feet long.

[mvmac]

@dave s, time to pick up Lowest Score Wins 

Tons of practical info and I think you'll really enjoy it.