Practice Balls for Short Game Practice

[Hardspoon]

Does anyone use the soft or plastic (ie, "wiffle") practice balls for short game (chipping and pitching) practice?

I really want to start practicing that part of my game a bit more...the best way to do that, without taking time away from other practice, is to use my backyard.  Since it's a bit too small to hit real golf balls more than 20' or so, I'm thinking I'll use the practice balls to work on technique and making proper contact with different length pitching and chipping motions.  Then, when I can get to the actual practice area at the local range, I can use real golf balls to dial in the distance that each of those different lengths corresponds to.

This would definitely help add "free" practice time, but I'm not sure how much it will actually help since the feedback will be limited.

 

[newtogolf]

I prefer the soft foam practice balls as the plastic whiffle type balls tend to crack easily with steep wedge shots. 

[Patch]

I like the foam ones, but I don't use them that much. If there is any wind at all, the fake ones get blown all over.

[Rainmaker]

Almost Golf Balls and Birdie Balls are the most realistic "fake ball" I've tried.  Neither one is very realistic, though.  Especially for short game shots where you're trying to judge distance, spin and roll-out, etc, I would feel, personally, like I was wasting my time practicing with anything but a real ball. 

I sometimes practice chipping in my backyard by chipping into a bucket.  Put the bucket where you would want to land the ball on the green.  You can tilt it towards you or leave it straight up for a higher shot that drops, etc.

Short game practice is the toughest, I think, for the "regular guy".  In my city, I only know 2 places that have proper short game practice areas (ie - greens you can chip to, bunkers to hit out of, etc). 

The par 3 course is where I most often go to practice my short game. 

[WUTiger]

If I'm going to a strange course to play, I always bring five of the limited-distance along. That way, if the practice range is closed, I can warm up a little.

I find hitting the soft foam practice balls helps my swing tempo, as I'm less likely to swing too hard.