Take it from me, short game practice is the quickest route to
shooting lower scores. The vast majority of the shots that you hit in a typical round are from within 100 yards of the hole, and so it follows that the extra effort you put into your short game will produce big dividends in terms of cutting your handicap.
That’s simple logic and – perhaps more importantly – a huge return for little effort on your part. As attractive as that prospect sounds, however, working on the short game just isn’t regarded as sexy when compared to smashing drivers into the middle distance.
The talk in the bar is usually all about the guy who hit the par-5 in two, or who hit an enormous drive round the corner of the dogleg, even if he ended up three putting.
Funny how the guy who hit three shots onto the green and holed the putt rarely rates a mention.
It isn’t for me to tell you how to spend the limited amount of time you have for practice. And yes, I understand that chipping, pitching and putting may not quite hold the allure of launching your latest titanium. But think of the benefits.
A tight short game helps you play well; it helps you to score even when you play badly; it makes you consistently a better golfer. I don’t know about you, but all of that sounds like a whole lot of fun to me...