Need help with short game

[DrvFrShow]

And don't forget follow-through on your chips. You have to follow-through, otherwise it's almost a guaranteed duff. People sometimes take the club back too far, then decelerate and duff it. If you think you took the club back too far, stop, and reset.

Putting - practice your putts within 6 feet. Practice lag putting. If you're good at sinking 3 footers, and you can lag a long putt to about 3 feet from the hole, you can two putt a green. Lag putting is about feel. You should get to the practice green and lag putt for about 20 minutes before you play your round so that you get an idea of the speed of the greens - they should be reasonably close. 

At the range - work on those short pitch shots - those 30 to 50 yd lob shots to a target. These are like easy half-swings with a 60. They're difficult, and you probably rely on them for your up and downs. So get good at them.

Bunkers - even though that practice area isn't well groomed, spend time banging balls out of that bunker onto that green. I had a round where I found 8 bunkers, and I'm glad I practiced bunker shots that week. 

[vangator]

Chipping is the strongest part of my game.  I think the trick with chipping is knowing how hard to swing (or how far to bring the club back) to get the yardage you're trying to hit.  I don't shoot for the pin.  I pick a spot to land the ball.  You need to imagine the trajectory, spin etc. 

Many years ago I decided I needed to get up and down from around greens no matter the lie.  So I hit balls for hours from the worst, toughest lies imaginable.  Most of the time it was digging the ball out of some weeds,a deep divot, the thickest rough I could find, etc, so my chipping is dominated by hitting with the leading edge.  That's trickier, but I've practiced it a lot.  Every shot is about where I need to land the ball on the green or apron.  You have to know how you ball will fly and if there will be spin on the ball.  Practice, practice, practice and you'll get there.  Chipping from just off the green is more accurate than my putting.

I haven't practiced with the bounce as much.

Can't help with putting.  I suck.  I have good distance control, but I can't read green to save my a$$.  Lots and lots of two putts with an occasional 3 putt to test my sanity.

[dave s]

My thoughts on short game:

1. It's definitely a 'been there, done that' proposition.  This means practicing all short game scenarios--fringe chipping with less-lofted clubs; deep rough, over traps/bunkers; out of the sand.  There are so many different shots, (flop shot, hit-skip-stop, low shots that roll out to hole) we need around the green. Practicing them is essential to confidently pulling off any of them.  So many green side shots to learn.  Check out some videos and get to working on them.

2. An instructor of mine told me years ago to a) get a wedge that feels good and make it your go-to club for most shots around the green.  He had an old beat up 56* titleist wedge.  I have two Titleist Vokey wedges--a 54* and 58*.  The 58 is my go-to wedge of choice around the greens.  The other thing he said that stuck with me: "Soft hands around the green and through the shots."  He was a witch with a wedge.

3. Something I see nearly all amateur golfers do when chipping:  Come up SHORT and leave themselves a putt with 10% make rate.  My last mental thought on every chip/pitch shot is 'get the ball ALL THE WAY to the hole.'  You'll be surprised at how many actually go IN the hole if you get the shot all the way to the hole!  Again, this takes practice and confidence to hit those shots without the fear of air-mailing a green taking over.

4.  On putting.  You have to make 90% of putts inside 5 feet to score well.  Think of how many 'shorties' you miss during an 18-hole round.  Practice those putts from all sides of a hole from 2, 3, and 5' before teeing off each round.  Also, get better at lag putting.  20-50' putts that get inside 5' should be automatic 2-putts if you practiced enough and made enough of the short ones.  Making a 3' putt should be like a layup in basketball.  Been there and done that so many times that it becomes automatic.

As my long game goes due to age, (56 this year) keeping up a sharp, effective short game is the only thing keeping me in the ball game anymore.  It's easy to practice, free for the taking and frankly, nothing beats an up-and-down for a birdie or to save par.

dave

[Lihu]

On 12/7/2015 at 0:53 AM, Graygar said:

 1) I just don't get the time to play on the course, having work and a young child it's difficult.

2) Mental side gets in my way when I play.

I can deal with not playing on the course as I often spend a couple of hours on the range 2 - 3 times a week and I hit great shots everyone complements me when they see my swing saying you look like a 5 handicapper and that makes me smile but I know inside I'm not that good. I get to the course and often hit magic shots only to follow up with a duff chip or missed putt. I get to a good range see the flag and just tense up... I went out this weekend and was hitting 270 yard drives the best I've hit, and great follow up mid range irons but no matter how much I try my wedge and putting game leaves me when that pin appears. On a couple of holes four putting, I mean how do you four putt?

This is why the first item comes into play. Spending more time on the course to become comfortable hitting the shots you do on the range. Also, I found that if I am not on the course at least 2 times a week, I tend to under hit a lot of chips/pitches just because I'm nervous about it. Can you try to get in a couple early morning 9 hole rounds on the weekends before the family wakes up?

The inhibitions due to reduced on course time goes away with even 9 hole rounds along with your normal 18 hole rounds. Chips and pitches seem to become more confident.

2-3 times for 2 hours per week on the range is plenty of practice time.

Maybe start "scoring" yourself on every shot on the range after a shorter warm up? Practice your chipping and pitch shots like they count. Try hitting specific targets on every single shot after the warm ups?

I play a simulated game that incorporates everything including putting, and score myself and track my progress. I also compare my "scores" with actual 18 hole rounds.

That's been helping me, and I am hoping to also improve my game doing this as well.

[Dave2512]

Problem I see for higher handicap golfers practicing around the chipping green isn't that they have bad technique, though some do. The guy playing bogey golf isn't hitting many third shots just off the green it takes them three shots to get there. The problems with their short game starts further away from the green.