Best Short-Game Drills?

cheymike · July 1, 2010

Especially with short chips/pitches, I think its a good idea to look at the landing area. Plan your target and then, like putting, dont look at the flag. Chose your line correctly, choose the spot and plan for the roll out then hit the spot and you'll get it in or close. :lol:

spoo18 · July 3, 2010

our high school golf coach has a putting drill that many of you probably know called 3,6,9 put a tee at 3 feet 6 feet and 9 feet grab three balls and try making all of them if you miss one go back to 3 feet and start again until you have completed it, i think it works very well

Matt Saternus · July 3, 2010

our high school golf coach has a putting drill that many of you probably know called 3,6,9 put a tee at 3 feet 6 feet and 9 feet grab three balls and try making all of them if you miss one go back to 3 feet and start again until you have completed it, i think it works very well

I've been doing this drill for a couple years now, it's a great one. Not one I would have my HS golfers do, because I don't want practice lasting all night!

pughdog · July 11, 2010

I've been lucky enough to find a new 'home course' to practice at. The putting green is great so I've been able to go through my drills again. I have a number of friends across the globe that I 'compete' against weekly with our scores.... got me thinking.

Anyone up for a MGS Putting Drill challenge? :huh:

Matt Saternus · July 11, 2010

I'm up for it, though I don't know how often I'd be able to post my scores. My practice schedule varies wildly and sometimes the green is too crowded for the longer putts. That said, I'll be happy to post my score when I get a chance to do the whole drill.

pughdog · July 11, 2010

I'm up for it, though I don't know how often I'd be able to post my scores. My practice schedule varies wildly and sometimes the green is too crowded for the longer putts. That said, I'll be happy to post my score when I get a chance to do the whole drill.

Well rather than having weekly competitions we could have a monthly one on each drill? Folk just post up their scores as and when they get chance to have a go or when they beat their own best score.

Matt Saternus · July 11, 2010

Well rather than having weekly competitions we could have a monthly one on each drill? Folk just post up their scores as and when they get chance to have a go or when they beat their own best score.

Sounds like fun to me. You might want to start a whole thread just for that so we don't overload this thread with scores.

Phana24JG · July 11, 2010

Ok, this may ruffle a few feathers but I strongly advise against practicing your short game that way!

Let me explain why...

I'm guessing said shag bag holds anything from 30 - 100 balls depending on size. Hitting that many chip / pitch shots from the same place is, only in my opinion of course, mind numbingly boring. Worse still I believe it to be counter productive. Sure, the first 3 - 5 balls may be a quick learning curve but once you've got the 'feel' of the distance all you're doing is repeating the same shot over and over. To make matters worse, as the attention level drops with the more balls hit, balls that have finished around the target now become obstacles. Potentially good chip shots strike other balls short and end up nowhere near the hole or worse still, balls that would fly past the hole strike another and stay close to the hole, both giving 'false feedback'.

OK, let me weigh in on the other side. I think this is a great way to work on your chip/pitch technique. I have a tendency to get too "handsy" (throwaway) with these shots, and a slight blade may hit a soft spot and die near the hole, or a slight chunk will run up to an acceptable distance. Beginning the short game practice with a "contact only" perspective enables me to focus on technique. Later, I will move around the green and begin to select targets. However, I think simply showing up for short game practice is sound advice for 95% of golfers.

pughdog · July 12, 2010

OK, let me weigh in on the other side. I think this is a great way to work on your chip/pitch technique. I have a tendency to get too "handsy" (throwaway) with these shots, and a slight blade may hit a soft spot and die near the hole, or a slight chunk will run up to an acceptable distance. Beginning the short game practice with a "contact only" perspective enables me to focus on technique. Later, I will move around the green and begin to select targets. However, I think simply showing up for short game practice is sound advice for 95% of golfers.

Dangerously Long Reply Alert!

I agree that some practice is better than no practice at all but as the thread is entitled "Best short game drills" I thought I'd point out that, and again IMHO, the chip and drag technique shouldn't be used too often for regular practice. Warming up? OK, but the danger is folk get lazy and feel they can 'hit more balls' that way so why then go back to only 3 balls? It's the old quality v quantity argument again.

Maybe I didn't explain my use of the drills clearly. For a golfer that has technique issues, 'handsy' movement or irregular contact, I can see that repetition can be a cure. I'm still not sold on hitting lots of balls to the same hole. I would rather see someone chipping a lot of balls into say a chipping net or into a bunker, as big a target as possible. If the target is easy or even better unimportant then the golfer can concentrate more on the technique.

I realise this forum has a huge range of golfers with differing abilities and I appreciate that many golfers practice in different ways or not at all. I am talking from my own experience, not just my own short game but also coaching thousands of golfers with varying levels of short game skill. As I think I pointed out earlier, a complete beginner would not be given these drills straight away. I would find easy ways to gently break a golfer into the world of chipping practice first. However, and it's a big HOWEVER.... :blink:

...When a golfer is stood practicing chipping thinking about their technique, the likely hood is concentration very quickly moves away from targets and feel. Once you start to think technical thoughts, it gets pretty difficult to execute a smooth chip shot that lands where you want it to. More likely the stroke may improve but the timing and feel will need to be adjusted later on. Hitting good chip shots whilst thinking how you are doing it rather than where you want the ball to land / go is difficult. We're getting back to the old 'train it then trust it' situation here. Ideally, once someone is happy enough that they can loft most balls in the air and their technique isn't too flawed I'd say they were ready to move on and start to forget about technique and embrace the challenge of getting better at controlling their golf ball.

There are many many golfers out there that believe that their chipping (we could use this analogy for putting and every other shot in the bag) technique has to be perfect to work. That anything out of the ordinary, be it a bit too much wrists or a shortened follow through will be frowned upon and can't possibly work under pressure. This belief is reinforced by listening to TV commentators who constantly analyse top golfers techniques live on air and point out all the correct things the player does and why this makes them a better chipper / putter / driver etc. When someone 'different' comes along (I'm thinking Billy Mayfair's putting stroke here or even Jim Furyk's full swing) it's quickly pointed out by the back-tracking analyst that "Billy's putter face points to the intended line at impact, that's the most important thing" or "Jims swing just before impact is the same as Tigers blah blah blah". My point is that suddenly, perfect technique goes out of the window.

I have been around the game long enough to understand a golfers concern however of doing something 'wrong'. Phana24JG, you talk of a fault of being 'handsy' with your chipping. Without seeing your technique in the flesh of course it would be wrong of me to comment on whether that is what is holding back your short game. But, and it's a big but, I think that it's your fear of being 'handsy' that probably effects your chipping control more than the actual amount of wrists in the stroke. I have had the privilage of watching up close and practicing with some pretty good golfers. Let me tell you, some of the best chippers and short game players I have ever seen had very active hands. Think Seve in his hay day. Mickleson with his famous flop. That shot would never and arguably should never be taught to a golfer as the risk outweighs the reward. Phil managed to use it for a good length of time with critisism usually only coming when the shot (rarely) went wrong.

My god I ramble on when I get going eh! My point is this. Things are deemed to be 'wrong' if they don't work. I believe that almost all golfers would benefit from thinking about their short game in a less technical way. If a player uses 'too much' wrists but chips well I believe there is no point in changing that technique as long as the player is confident and consistent with it. Getting confident with it is the hard part! With enough practice alone I believe most golfers short games would improve without 'fixing' dodgy technique. I've seen too many 'robotic armed', sterilised chipping techniques with no feel or touch over the years from golfers that have read in a magazine or heard third hand that the hands MUST stay ahead of the blade or the left wrist MUST NOT break down through the ball. Often these same golfers are the guys that will shell out hundreds of bucks on the newest Vokey Oil Can wedge or will buy golf magazines for the 'quick tips' that are promised to "Save your short game".

STATEMENT - Good quality time spent practicing the short game is going to make you a better golfer. A sound technique will help but the knowledge of how your ball behaves with different clubs and a good feel for distance will outweigh almost all technical frailties.

I love golf, I especially love the challenge of getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. Chipping and putting has always been the area that I practiced well into the dark as a kid. I can honestly say I've thought as little about technique in these two areas as anyone, yet I have continued to get better by practicing correctly. It's too easy to get caught up in the technique trap, let yourself practice 'stress free' and see what I mean. :blink:

pughdog · July 12, 2010

Sounds like fun to me. You might want to start a whole thread just for that so we don't overload this thread with scores.

I agree. If there are enough golfers wanting to get involved it could be fun to see scores improve over the month. This thread is turning into me sounding like some kind of 'psycho' chipping guru anyway. I honestly am not trying to disagree with folk just for the sake of it! :blink:

pughdog · July 18, 2010

MSaternus, I'll start up a thread and see how it goes...

Might well be just you and me posting scores though

sparnar · May 29, 2013

I was just looking for some short game practice plans, and came across this thread. Couple of drills in here that look great.

Definitely gonna give them a go!

apprenti23 · May 30, 2013

Drill #1 for right handed golfers-

Chip with your right foot off the ground

Most golfers who are not good with short shots try to hit under the ball. The key to good contact is a decending blow and this is easily created with your weight positioned on the front foot.

Here's a pic of my buddy Todd performing the drill.

sparnar · May 30, 2013

Yours was the only post that I read however I don't know if you currently do them though I believe that the "L" & "Y" drills are hands down not only the best short game drills, I think that they are the best ball striking drills, period.

These drills allow you to work in the two most critical factors in quality ball striking and they is distance & direction. You can start with green side chips and move I back.

They were good enough that Ben called them the two most important drills that he practiced, hence, they are also know as the "Hogan" drills.

I think that you might already be using them.

They are the only physical swing thoughts in the Tour Tempo books.

John Sr.'s thoughts are that if you can execute both drills effectively, them your swing's in fine shape and you can deal with the tempo.

Anyways, as always, the Best to ya Bro

Fairways & Greens 4ever

Thanks, Richard.

My chipping technique is very much a Y-drill, while I could perhaps work harder on a L-drill type of action for my pitch shots.

But the "drills" I referred to is more of a practice plan, than a drill to ingrain a specific technique.

These drills in a nutshell are as follows:

The chipping drill

Chipping to a bag towel from about 5 feet, with the aim of landing the ball on the towel. Place a smaller item, like a tee, or a credit card in the middle of the towel to really focus on. Aim is to land 3 in a row on the towel. Move back to 6 feet, 7 feet etc as you manage to land the ball on the towel.

Two putting drills

The two putting drills consist of hitting putts from varying lengths and lines, and keeping a score to par. Aim is to finish the course at par, or under. Longer term is to better your personal best score.

The drill marked as putting drill #1 looks especially interesting, as you will have 9 holes to play. Each consecutive hole is on a different line, and of a different length. Seems like this drill would give good sense of distance control.

So I suspect a better name would be chipping practice plan, or a putting practice plan. But that is just semantics.

Thanks for the advice.

sparnar · May 30, 2013

Drill #1 for right handed golfers-

Chip with your right foot off the ground

Most golfers who are not good with short shots try to hit under the ball. The key to good contact is a decending blow and this is easily created with your weight positioned on the front foot.

Here's a pic of my buddy Todd performing the drill.

Thanks, apprenti23. I like to think that my technique for chipping is pretty solid, but I will give this one a go next time I'm at the short game area.

GolfSpy Barbajo · May 30, 2013

My pro just posted this in his newsletter -- seems like a fun way to practice:

A game that I often play when I practice and suggest to my students is "21." You need three balls and a wedge. Hit a low, medium and high shot from 10, 15 and 20-yards and putt them out keeping track of your score. The Tour up-and-down percentage is 66% or 2 out of 3 which after nine holes equals 21. Try this with a few different wedges and when you go out and play, you'll laugh and find yourself saying, "This is a 10-yard chip... this is a 15-yard lob... this is a 20-yard pitch....