Quantifying feedback in short game practice

[stenbjerre]

I have been spending a lot of time practicing chipping because it's a particular weakness in my game. But I am finding it hard to quantify/measure objectively if I am improving. The one method I use regularly is to chip 10 balls to a flag and score all balls holed as 1 point, balls within 3 feet as 2 points, btw 3-6 feet as 2.5 points and everything farther away as 3 - and then summing for an overall score (sadly, from 20 yards I am generally in the 25-30 points range). Does anyone have other/better ideas for producing measurable estimates of short game accuracy?

[glk]

Do this James has a video on many drills and games to play with short game too.

[SNIPERBBB]

I like a bit more pressure added in at times. I like to do the game of getting up and down before moving to the next spot m sometimes repetitive chipping from the same spot over and over isn't always beneficial

 

[jholz]

Up and down is the ultimate measure. I do sets of three balls from random locations and get a sample of at least 15 attempts for a fair measure. Doing this, I can get a real good sense of where my overall short game is, as well as its individual components.

[Zitlow]

As long as you're making crisp clean contact you're okay. Trust your proprioception to take care of the feel needed to control your distance.

[scooterhd2]

I play a similar game with an odd number of balls to start. Say 11. Hit them all, Collect the 5 best shots and the 5 worse shots. Place a tee down where the last ball is. That is effectively your average strike. You can measure and repeat and compare over time, but I like to immediately repeat with pressure. Now only use 9 balls. Collect the 4 worst and 4 best, and the 9th ball needs to be inside the 11th ball from the previous game to win. Essentially, 4 of the 9 need to get inside your mark. Repeat until you win and remark. Now repeat with 7 balls, meaning 3 need to be inside the mark. Replay until you win and so forth. When you get down to 5 balls, there is really pressure to hit at least 2 shots really close. If you can translate this to the course, you'll see half your chips be up and downs. and you can track progress by seeing how many times it take you to repeat until you win.

[Pepperturbo]

I play to a 3/4 now and practice chipping daily and my chipping game inside of 30yrds is in the "+" range. I hole out rather often, sometimes none, other times 1-3 times per game. However, 95% of the time I am inside of 4 feet.

Short game chipping is from the apron or very close. It's a low trajectory - short carry shot that runs a great deal, depending on the chosen club. For clarification, a Pitch is from further away and lands much further into the green and doesn't tend to run as far as an apron chip. I use anywhere from LW to 8i for chipping, depends on green speed, undulations, drainage location outside influences, green condition and where the pin is located.

IMO - Being a good chipper is all about feeling the shot and how much you practice with the ball you regularly play with. It's important to know how your ball behaves under all conditions. Points for different distances is IMO a waste of math. lol You're either in the cup or tap in 2' range or average Joe golfer is too far to likely make the saving par putt. I don't practice with a shag bag either, even though it's filled with the ball I play. I typically practice with 2-10 balls - reason being, it's annoying to collect lose shots and I feel annoyed missing a shot. If you want to be an artist with a wedge, put tour level expectations on every wedge shot, period. I've played with many tour players in Pro-Ams and at our home course. If the ball lands 6'-8' from the pin, most of the time pros think it's a lousy shot, while gallery's clap thinking its a great shot based on their game.

I have to get all the balls in the cup or within 2ft as a tap-in, longer distances don't matter because percentages change the probability of making the putt. Mind you I've spent as much as 3 hrs on a green with 2-4 balls walking back and forth. That number of balls because I don't want balls bouncing off each other going in all sorts of directions including closer to the cup because the goal is ball in cup, not hitting a shag or bucket full of balls; that to me is not practicing anything. Short pitches and Chipping is about feel and accuracy. Make shots from all sorts of turf conditions too, not just perfect apron conditions, but just behind the apron where grass and lie varies. The longer each practice session is the better you are for it. I took up the game at 40 was high single digit inside of 5yrs and a few years later at 2. Not because I hit the ball so far but because of my ability to get up and down to save par. I even practice in the house using real golf balls, LW balls over a coffee table. I like to open the face flat and flip the ball as high as possible in the hall but not hit the ceiling and land the ball where I want down the hall close to the target. When I reach for a wedge I think of putting the ball in the hole, not close, though that is often the result. Practicing inside with a real golf ball makes every shot more difficult than the same shot outside because I can't miss hit the ball on account the consequences can be costly.

[scooterhd2]

i appreciate your skill and commitment, and have no doubt that my game would be better for it, but i cannot afford a divorce right now.

[596]

When I go to the chipping/pitching area I'll hit a tube of 21 balls maybe 4 times for about 80 balls. I then pull 2 or 3 balls and try to get them each inside 2 to 3 feet from different spot each time. Repeat for at least 45 minutes! It's much different hitting 2 or 3 balls, retrieving and hitting again then it is just standing in one spot hitting 20 in a row.

Feed back would be within 3 feet for single balls hit from a different spot every time. No standing there hitting 20 in row and calling 18 of them one putts. When was the last time you were on the course and hit 20 balls from the same spot.

[Petethreeput]

I believe Harvey Penick said to practice with one ball and hole every ball. Do it for “X” number of reps and try to average 2.

How do I do it? I have a shag bag of my game balls, about 70 balls. I hit to different holes and only focus on contact. Which invariably leads me to fiddling with ball position and grip pressure. This is why I suck around the greens.

I am not you, and if I wasn’t so lazy, I would listen to Harvey Penick.

[stenbjerre]

Thanks for all the ideas. Does anyone use either physical or tech tools - other than ladders :) - for practicing short game accuracy?

[Pepperturbo]

I understand that concern. When I took up the game I was not married, though I was CEO of a company I founded. Back then I only dated women that played golf and my wife is a golfer (12handi.) More important though, she understands I am the one that pays so doesn't concern herself with my practicing inside. Good luck

[bortass]

The short game practice game I played was pretty basic. Take three balls, scatter them around, pick a flag and see how many strokes it takes you to hole all of them. Rinse and repeat. It kinda replicates what you do on the course when you actually play.

[crapula]

Same as above.

Hitting multiple balls from the same location to a single target should be reserved for training technique, not necessarily distance control. Need to vary practice.

If you can get within 10% of the distance to hole, that's really good, really good. Finding out your make percentages of putts can help you determine how close you need to chip to get up and down, for example, 50% of the time. If you make 50% of putts from 6 ft the goal would not be to chip everything to 6ft though, the goal would be to average 6ft from the hole. But, the further away you start the more difficult it will be to avg 6ft. Which is why then you have to measure your approach game and find out how much you miss the green by when you do miss.

Tour median scrambling from 20-30 yards is 50% which makes absolute sense if you assume they average 50% made putts from 8ft. The tour median for proximity to hole from 10-20 yards is 7 feet.

Having realistic goals and knowing realistic results are the first steps to improving your short game. From 30 yards out, being within 10ft is extremely good and more often than not, an end result that is far too lofty for many.

Another factor is what kind of putt to you leave yourself? Is it your easiest putt or most difficult? Good short game leaves you with your easiest putt, and sometimes you just chip in. Getting close is good, but getting close with a putt you prefer is better.

[SNIPERBBB]

Another one thing about hitting multiple balls from one spot is that you tend to stop doing the #1 thing that is the most important thing for chipping which is reading the lie.

 

Usually when I screw up a chip on the course is when I get lazy and forget that part.

[LeoLeo99]

I've thought about this before and came to the conclusion that you have to get pretty good before you see results in scores. For example, if you average 30+ feet proximity to the hole from your chips and pitches, you are probably going to 2 putt. You can improve to averaging 20 feet proximity to the hole which is a significant improvement but you probably won't see much improvement in your scores. Now, take it down to 10 feet proximity to the hole and you're in business.

Chipping in practice and on the course are two different things for me. I'm pretty good on the practice green.

[SNIPERBBB]

You don't need practice if you average 10+ feet proximity for your chipping, you need an intervention.

[juststeve]

One ball at a time. Chip it and putt it out counting the stroke. do it over and over trying to reduce the number of stroke per ball.

 

Steve

[DFS PFD]

As many have said, up and down drill is the ultimate. One ball, random locations/lies, gotta get up and down.

[Nard_S]

Play up & down with 3-5 balls, no two are exact same shot (several feet apart). From 30-90 feet distances. Net par or 2 for each ball, do this for an hour, while tallying percentage, 75 percent net is goal.