Golf Tips

I talk a lot with my regular clients about the importance of devoting enough time to practicing the short game. If you really want your scores to drop on the course, then you must spend a significant amount of time working on your wedge game, chipping/pitching, bunker play and putting.

If you have 1 hour a week to practice, I suggest the following:

1- Get a medium bucket of balls (50 or so) and head to the range for twenty minutes. Hit at least half of the balls with your different wedges. Pick targets, and work on being precise with your distance control. Don't try and hit wedges their full distance...3/4 swings with short irons often produce the best results. Finish with the rest of your mid-long irons and your woods.

2- Once you are done, find a practice green/bunker area and devote 20 minutes to the following:

a- 5 minutes of bunker shots. Try a variety of high/low shots, and mix in a few buried/fried egg lies.

b- 5 minutes of 20-30 yard pitch shots over the bunker, from a tight fairway lie and from some rough to the green. Pick landing spots and visualize each shot.

c- 10 minutes of chips/pitches around the green. Take a 7 or 8 iron and hit some chip and run shots, and your sand/lob wedge for some short/medium pitches around the green. Tip: Try to make these shots. Focus on getting the ball rolling immediately on the green with proper speed.

3- Finally, finish up with 20 minutes of putting. I suggest the following routine:

a- 5 minutes of lag putting. Hit 30, 40, 50 foot putts and focus on rolling the ball just past the cup. Don't be content with lagging the ball in a "3-foot" circle, because if you just miss the circle, you will still be 4-5 feet away. Focus precisely on getting the ball to the hole.

b- 5 minutes in the 15-20 foot range. This is a very common distance for most of you, and a distance that is definitely makeable, but very frustrating to 3-putt from. Focus on speed, and work on keeping the putt on the high side so it always has a chance to fall in.

c- 5 minutes on short putts of 2-4 feet. Work on keeping your head completely still, and listen for the ball to pour into the cup. Make sure the backstroke is short, and accelerate the putter confidently through the ball. Expect to make every putt!

d- 5 minutes on a putting challenge. Create a putting game to put some pressure on you. Make ten 3-footers in a row before you can go home. If you miss any in the sequence, start over. Or, play a game I call the Bermuda Triangle. Put 3 balls at 4 feet around the cup in a triangle, but do it on a sidehill putt. Designate a number of putts you need to make consecutively, and stay there until you do. Ideally, 2 or 3 times around the triangle is a good challenge to start with. If you miss at ANY point, start over.

If you follow this schedule and seriously devote yourself to improving your short game, do not be surprised to see your scores begin to drop. Good luck!