Short Game Drills

[Garnet Haze]

Does anyone have any good chipping drills?

Currently, when I practice at the chipping green, I just practice from different distances with different shots. The only real practice drill I try is a ladder drill when I will try to hit each chip within the last shot.

[Shindig]

Does anyone have any good chipping drills?

I'm assuming you have your chipping ability down, and need a practice regime.

In addition to practicing from different areas and lies, don't allow yourself to leave until you've holed two chips from different lies. This accomplishes two things: 1. It forces you to think about holing your chips. This may seem immaterial, but the fact of the matter is, if you're good enough to break 100 (and you are, unless either your course is impossibly difficult or you have a serious vanity handicap, both of which I doubt), you're good enough to hole chips. I holed 5 chips in my last ten rounds, plus one from the sand. I do this whenever I am practicing chipping (as opposed to warming up before a round). People ask when I'm going to be done, and I tell them what I'm doing and invite them to share the chipping area. 2. It gets the image in your head that you can hole chips. I try to think about this before I chip in a round. Each of my chip-ins began with the thought of "let's hole this."

[Ringer]

I grab 8 tee's and put them in the ground in a circle around the hole 3 feet in radius. Then I take 10 balls and sprinkle them all around the green. I try to get all of them in the 3 foot circle but don't allow myself to leave until I get 9. Make sure you sprinkle them in all different situations too. Don't just hit from one spot. You aren't given the same shot over and over again in golf so you shouldn't practice it that way.

[Shindig]

I grab 8 tee's and put them in the ground in a circle around the hole 3 feet in radius. Then I take 10 balls and sprinkle them all around the green. I try to get all of them in the 3 foot circle but don't allow myself to leave until I get 9. Make sure you sprinkle them in all different situations too. Don't just hit from one spot. You aren't given the same shot over and over again in golf so you shouldn't practice it that way.

I may well start doing this (in addition to what I do, above). Do you make them all LAND in that area or end up in that area? i.e., are you working on result or target practice?

I ask, in part, because one of the clubs at which I practice short game doesn't always mow the green on the practice chipping green to the same length as the greens on the course & putting area. It's generally a bit slower, but not too much.

[Ringer]

I use one club and try to get the balls to end in the circle. This means I have to get creative sometimes. If I have a lot of green but a lob wedge I may have to try to blade it like a putt, or put the ball really far back in my stance. If I have a club with not enough loft then I have to really play a bounce out of the rough or even putting side spin on the ball and hit it on a hill.

The point is that you have to become creative and are confronted with a different situation each time.

[Shindig]

I use one club and try to get the balls to end in the circle. This means I have to get creative sometimes. If I have a lot of green but a lob wedge I may have to try to blade it like a putt, or put the ball really far back in my stance. If I have a club with not enough loft then I have to really play a bounce out of the rough or even putting side spin on the ball and hit it on a hill.

I really like this idea and I will give it a try, probably in the next week or two. Thanks! How do folks react to your putting tees in a practice green? I've seen folks use tees as ball-marks on regular greens, and to do things like "putting for field goals" on practice greens. Do folks in general know that this is OK for the green (i.e., you aren't going to get an aerated effect in the greens by doing this)? Also, do you do anything to make the tees stand out? Or do you use green tees so you have to check afterward if you succeeded?

[Ringer]

I usually use white or brightly colored tee's but I'm not sure it really matters. People don't seem to care, in fact sometimes I get asked if they can use it too. Just make sure you pull em out before you leave.

[Everardo]

See Pelz Golf for more details. Click on "About Pelz / Research" then "Short Game Handicap" - This takes a little while to setup but is pretty effective

[JonnyGolf]

I grab 8 tee's and put them in the ground in a circle around the hole 3 feet in radius. Then I take 10 balls and sprinkle them all around the green. I try to get all of them in the 3 foot circle but don't allow myself to leave until I get 9. Make sure you sprinkle them in all different situations too. Don't just hit from one spot. You aren't given the same shot over and over again in golf so you shouldn't practice it that way.

Another piece of solid advice from Ringer. When I see people hitting 20 balls from the same spot to the same spot, I wonder what they're actually doing. Almost invariably, they also put the ball in a preferred lie. If you're working on swing action, that's fine. But you should be evaluating your contact and swing, and be much less concerned for the outcome.

My favorite drill is with one ball. I drop a ball off the green, pick a hole on the practice green, and see if I can get up & down. If I do, I get to putt for 5 holes. If I don't, I bat the ball off the green and pick a different target. It really simulates the experience on the course and you have to live with whatever lie you get. Have fun! jg