Short game practice ideas

[DShark1]

Master one wedge at a time. I learned how to hit every shot off of every type of lie with a Vokey 50F 12* bounce. That gave me a ton of confidence and made using other higher lofted wedges feel like a cake walk. I play a 50F 12* 56S 10* and 60K 14* bounce. Because I can hit high flops (rarely do ) with the 56 I play the 60k for bunkers and deep rough where I am short sided. Then putting is the place where you can shave a bunch of strokes. You have to make 90% of the putts inside of 6ft. You miss 3 or 4 putts a round in that range and your scores will stay where their at no matter how good your wedge game is. Spend a lot of time reading putts from 15ft in and you will get confident. If you have a good stroke. I feel like I am going to make everything inside of 15ft and I make a lot of them if I miss it’s a tap in not a stressful 5 footer coming back. Long game comes down to getting inside of 100 yds. Always, always try and get as close to the green as you can. Laying up to a wedge or short iron is bullxxxx. If you can’t get to a par 5 in 2 get it as close as you can. That is why you practice the short game. 3 shots is 3 shots and I would rather have a 30 yds pitch than a 100 yard full shot. Good luck. Long game is just covering distance short game is the scoring zone. 

[aggiegolfer21]

Do you struggle with contact? Distance control? Hitting the ball too high or too low?

[Robert L.]

When I step up to the ball for a pitch I have a few keys that have helped me in the past:

1. Get under the ball. I avoid a lot of skulls and chunks by doing this.

2. Stick your a** out. Helps me with #1.

3. Aim for the middle of the green. Fortunately I'm a good putter so I feel the worse I can do is bogey.

4. Swing smoothly. You're not driving the ball!

 

As far as chipping goes I usually chip with an 8 iron. One thing I could never understand is how the British YT pros like Rick Shiels and Matt Fryer are always chipping with a lob wedge. I get a lot more control and accuracy with an 8 iron.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Robert L.

[realjeffin]

Do not underestimate the effect of the ball on your short game especially. Practising with range balls and pro v1x's, you will notice a large difference on any wedge shot. Crappy balls will slide up the face, be less consistent, and have much less spin. If you struggle with distance control consistency from the rough, this may be contributing significantly.

 

I have 5 pro v1x practice balls that I use all the time, and use the same ball on the course. It was a game changer when I switched to maintain consistency.

[Nard_S]

Play up & down. 5 balls from generous distance, 50 to 90 feet, par is 2 for each. Do 50 shots, what's your percentage? Getting to 50% is decent,  65% is hard. Do lag putts, chips and pitches. Tough lies, easy, tight & fluff. High/low, spinny and running. Every 5 change out, new shot, new distance, want to really break balls, change every 3x or less. Good drill.