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Do you Practice Short Game?

For us to practice our short game, we'll play the par 3 courses. Haven't been doing too well on 150 yards and in :(
 
almost every course around here has a short game area... some better than others
 
I spend more time practicing my short game than any thing else. Putting is probably the one area most people don't practice enough but without question spending time doing drills of trying to get up and down from around the green will help you with confidence and your ability to make par on the days the ball isn't flying great. As the OP pointed out half of your shots are inside 100 yards so it no doubt needs no less than half of your practice time but 75% of your practice time would help your scores tremendously.
 
OEM Kevin said:
I actually enjoy practicing the short game. I just wish more places had the short game area to do it.
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not too many places have an area to practice the short game around here. Sometimes I will go over to the course around 7:30-8 and get an hour of practice in around the 2nd green. That green is surrounded by 7 bunkers. Gives me a chance to pitch over them, hit out of them, and work on other areas of the short game.
 
ddec0418 said:
not too many places have an area to practice the short game around here. Sometimes I will go over to the course around 7:30-8 and get an hour of practice in around the 2nd green. That green is surrounded by 7 bunkers. Gives me a chance to pitch over them, hit out of them, and work on other areas of the short game.
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Any course around here you'd already have the 5th or 6th group playing through by then. First tee time on my home course is 5:42 right now, and nobody is allowed on the course anywhere before then. They have to have that time to let the mowers get out ahead of the players. Maybe that's why most local courses have short game practice facilities... can't let players practice on a course that always busy.
 
I find it hard to practice my short game, as none of the courses I play have pitching greens or short game practice areas. The only time I really get to practice short shots is during my round when the course isn't crowded (which isn't often). Also, living in an apartment with zero grass doesn't help either.
 
man i need to invest in property near some of you guys courses... its amazing to me that some courses dont even have ranges let alone short game areas... either that or you guys need to move here or san diego or hawaii for that matter... lol
 
I feel like I have my driver problem under control with the Edge and blue now its time to focus/work on the short game.
 
Just got this little device called Greg Norman's Secret. It's a little plastic thing you velcro on your wrist to hold the wrist angle. I chipped a few balls in my backyard with it and made perfect contact every time. I'm going to take it to the club to really try it out. So far so good.
 
I feel my short game is quite better than the rest of my game because I have spent many hours practicing the short stuff. Now I am talking little shots within the 40 yard range. I still have problems at the 60 to 75 yard distance. Need more work there.
 
my home course is really just one big practice facility which is awesome and I go nearly every day now. They have a short par 3 9 hole course, large chipping and putting practice area ($6/30 min. or $8/hour but usually they just charge me $6 no matter how long), a couple small (free) putting greens, and a full driving range with sweet automatic tee feeder and lots of targets and nets out there.

only problem there is the wind!

Yesterday I demoed the TM r9 driver and hated it. I'm too used to a smaller Cleveland 360cc Launcher (You get free range balls when demoing a club). Putt for 30 min focusing on my wishbone stance and standing more over the ball, balanced. Then chipped with my LW and PW experimenting with when to run the ball or flop it, and then back to the putting green.

I can't wait until this practice really starts to translate over to the course. Unfortunately i think it's allll gonna come down to 2 putting way more consistently.
 
Sir Shanksalot said:
Just got this little device called Greg Norman's Secret. It's a little plastic thing you velcro on your wrist to hold the wrist angle. I chipped a few balls in my backyard with it and made perfect contact every time. I'm going to take it to the club to really try it out. So far so good.
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I've used The Secret before. Its very useful if your clubhead tends to flip in front of your hands on chips and short pitches. That right wrist angle and the flat left wrist are critical when chipping IMO. I wish I could get my stepdad to try it out, he is a chronic flipper and duffs 50% of hhis chips.

How'd it go?
 
So tomorrow I am going to just work on short game. I don't really care for our short game practice area but at least we have one so I plan to take full advantage of it. It's just two holes and some dead grass but it will do. The putting green has three holes and a sand trap so I will work on that as well. I may go to the range after and work on a few full swings with my longer irons and driver but for the most part I really want to work on my short game more that is where I suffer the most with my scores.
 
I practice short game 1 time for every 2 times I hit the range. I can understand the argument that short game is the majority of the shots and therefore should get the most attention. But its also harder to screw up a 20ft chip than it is a driver. And when you do screw up that driver you could be looking a crooked number that ruins a round. Drivers OB put me on tilt.

Now if your short game fundamentals aren't there yet then I completely agree that this is where one should focus. The game is best learned inside out.

50/50 is probably a good ratio... also short game practice is free. bonus!
 
bgoody said:
I've used The Secret before. Its very useful if your clubhead tends to flip in front of your hands on chips and short pitches. That right wrist angle and the flat left wrist are critical when chipping IMO. I wish I could get my stepdad to try it out, he is a chronic flipper and duffs 50% of hhis chips.

How'd it go?
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Really well. I even started to use it for long pitch shots then even some full swing shots. I don't think it's really recommended for the full swing because it started to cut into my finger after a while but I was getting crisp contact consistently with it. I also tend to lose my wrist angle and miss hit the ball so it helped me. After a bunch of swings I removed it and continued to hit the ball well. I'll continue to practice with it.
 
My short game is terrible, but, since I don't get out much anymore, it's usually the least of my concerns. Like somebody said above, my biggest issue is currently off the tee. I used to be solid, but I find I over-swing a bit and snap it into the woods. If I find the fairway, I'm pretty solid with my irons...at least solid enough that I'm right around the green and can either putt or have a manageable bump and run.

When I do get the itch to play, but can't get to the golf course, I often find myself chipping golf balls into my pool.
 
ironman70 said:
You arrived at the correct conclusion, but I think you need to think it through a bit more. While all parts of the game come together to make a score, there are some parts that are much more important. We agree on that. In the scenario I posed, all drives and approaches were theoretically perfect, and still 40 out of 72 shots are attributable to the short game...and this is for people that are hitting fairways and greens most of the time. For the higher handicapper, the short game is so much more important since it is sometimes the only thing that turns tripples into doubles, and doubles into singles and pars. The philosophy of learning the game from the hole back to the tee is something well worth exploring.

Yesterday I played with a friend who is learning the game. While he was a bit wild off the tee, he managed to make it up to green side in a reasonable number (usually 3 strokes on the par 4's). Once there, it was clear that he had no feel for short game. As he chipped and putted balls raced by the hole, or did not get up to the hole. How many times have you seen that among higher handicappers? What could have been 5's and 6's turned into 7's and 8's.

If a golfer starting out became a proficient short game player in the first year, and then kept practicing the short game, he/she would come down to the single digits much faster than most.

The fact is that most new golfers will dedicate 75% to 95% of their practice sessions to the long game, and some will not practice short game at all, when the smart thing to do would be to concentrate on the short stuff.
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awesome advice... my golf pro told us when we were taking lessons to get good at 100 yards and in... I tend to agree on that more and more as I play more and more... LoLz...
 
I do practice my short game, but not enough...

We have a pretty good short game practice area, I just need to be more dedicated to hitting up that part of the range.
 
jbardet said:
my home course is really just one big practice facility which is awesome and I go nearly every day now. They have a short par 3 9 hole course, large chipping and putting practice area ($6/30 min. or $8/hour but usually they just charge me $6 no matter how long), a couple small (free) putting greens, and a full driving range with sweet automatic tee feeder and lots of targets and nets out there.

only problem there is the wind!

Yesterday I demoed the TM r9 driver and hated it. I'm too used to a smaller Cleveland 360cc Launcher (You get free range balls when demoing a club). Putt for 30 min focusing on my wishbone stance and standing more over the ball, balanced. Then chipped with my LW and PW experimenting with when to run the ball or flop it, and then back to the putting green.

I can't wait until this practice really starts to translate over to the course. Unfortunately i think it's allll gonna come down to 2 putting way more consistently.
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You must be talking about Mariners Point yes? I worked right down the road from there about 10 years ago. Fantastic practice facility.
 
I know I have mentioned this in another thread, but I go to a specific course every once in a while to nail down my short game. It has a great practice facility, including 2 practice par 4's, a chipping area and a huge pitching area. Other than that, I spend some time at a normal range practicing my short pitches. Below is a pic of the practice facility at that course. I am going there this weekend to play 36 and then spend some time practicing. You can see the 2 practice par 4's and, more importantly, the huge pitching area where you can practice those 100 yard and in shots.

PractHoleAerial.png
 
interlooper said:
I know I have mentioned this in another thread, but I go to a specific course every once in a while to nail down my short game. It has a great practice facility, including 2 practice par 4's, a chipping area and a huge pitching area. Other than that, I spend some time at a normal range practicing my short pitches. Below is a pic of the practice facility at that course. I am going there this weekend to play 36 and then spend some time practicing. You can see the 2 practice par 4's and, more importantly, the huge pitching area where you can practice those 100 yard and in shots.

PractHoleAerial.png
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Wow, I'm jealous.

Most practice chipping greens in my area are small and fairly flat. And on the greens with various undulations, they restrict it to only putting. I like to practice situations I may face on the golf course and most short game practice areas don't necessarily simulate a real situation.
 
Ive started focusing a lot more in my shortgame. Its nice to know that even if you miss the green, you still have enough tricks in the bag to save par.
 
interlooper said:
I know I have mentioned this in another thread, but I go to a specific course every once in a while to nail down my short game. It has a great practice facility, including 2 practice par 4's, a chipping area and a huge pitching area. Other than that, I spend some time at a normal range practicing my short pitches. Below is a pic of the practice facility at that course. I am going there this weekend to play 36 and then spend some time practicing. You can see the 2 practice par 4's and, more importantly, the huge pitching area where you can practice those 100 yard and in shots.

PractHoleAerial.png
Click to expand...

Thats just pimp! I like practicing the short game and wish I had more time to do it! But not at the expense of working over night!
 
OEM Kevin said:
Thats just pimp! I like practicing the short game and wish I had more time to do it! But not at the expense of working over night!
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Ha. Why can't we all just retire early (is it ever too early to dream of that). The best part of that facility is that all-day access to the entire place is granted with the payment of your greens fees. So, my buddies and I try to get out there a few times a season and spend a huge portion of a day out there.
 
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