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Chipping - Short Game ---- Is it the Most Important Part of the Game?

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You'll improve more quickly and see lower scores when your short game is on. That means 100 yards and in. Especially around the green. We all miss the green, and if you could get up and down for a Par 50% (or better) of the time, then my guess is your score would drop by at least 3 to 5 strokes a round.
 
rbarthle17 said:
Same issue, why are they 20s? You need to find two people with similar games (i.e. same general issues) and then your test will be valid.
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Wouldn't be an issue. If they come out the same then it shows both are equally important. or...you take the person at 20 who claims their tee game is strong and pick them for the short game and vice versa. But in all honesty...if you're a 20, and you have a strong tee game, you're probably saying short game is already pretty important. In this case just take two 20's who are claiming tee game is more important then. It really wouldn't be hard.
 
I would say a better short game helps to reduce stress on the other parts of the game because you know that no matter what, you'll be able to save a score once you get near the green. For myself I consider the scoring zone within 75 yds. If I can get up and down higher than 50% of the time, then I know it was a good round


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alez367 said:
I would say a better short game helps to reduce stress on the other parts of the game because you know that no matter what, you'll be able to save a score once you get near the green. For myself I consider the scoring zone within 75 yds. If I can get up and down higher than 50% of the time, then I know it was a good round


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Ok, I am absolutely horrible off the tee, but would consider my short game much ahead of my handicap level....

The importance, is knowing your weaknesses as a player. Then either playing to limit that weakness, practicing to lessen the weakness, or accepting it and be mired in mediocracy.

Short game
Tee game
Putting
Irons
Mental

They can all be limitations in ones game that can be equally important to players score being high.
 
Absolutely. Around the greens is what makes or breaks your round.
 
So, I think my answer to this is "yes and no".

If you look at the research, the long game is costing people more strokes. But... how many times do you see guys take 2-3 shots to get near the hole from right on the apron because of chunked or bladed chips. To me, those shots are a lot easier to fix than the 170-180 yard approaches - there's less that can go wrong with those shots. But, there's a cap on improvement, because if you're spraying the ball into the woods, you're going to take forever to actually get to the green.

I've spent a lot of time on my short game and putting as of late - I find that when my driving is on, I'm way more likely to be flirting with breaking 80 then I was before. But if I'm spraying the ball off the tee, big numbers are in play.
 
FOR ME, long game is more important. i did 3-putt twice today, but that was because of where my approach shots ended up relative to the hole. from 30' and in, i made some really nice putts and never 3-putted. my two 3-putts were from longer range. so as long as my tee shot puts me in a reasonable position to hit a green (i'll say 8i or less), and i actually hit the approach well, i will par that hole. if my tee game is off and i'm in tough spots, i now have to rely on recovery and short game. so let's get the tee game on point. with a gir, i very often make par. so let's just hit the green.
 
It depends on where you're losing strokes. If you miss 18 greens per round, there are 18 opportunities to save or lose strokes. Assuming you either get it up and down, or up and 2 putt you have 18 strokes up for grabs in this situation. Thats a ton of strokes.

On the flip side, if you only miss 3 or 4 greens per round, you have a lot fewer strokes up for grabs, and you can probably benefit more from working on other areas of your game.

The root of the problem with missed greens is poor ball striking. Fixing the problem before it starts is always justifiable. Didn't TaylorMade do an ad campaign with something to the effect of "The best way to improve your short game is to not need a short game" or something similar? Thats not wrong.

Spend your time where you're losing the most strokes.
 
A great short game can mask bad ball striking. Ball striking can only mask awful short games so much.

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The best player at scrambling last year on Tour only got up and down 2/3 of the time from 20-30 yards. His name is Will Wilcox - how many of you ever heard of him? I hadn't.

However, I doubt that anyone on this board will ever come close to that much scrambling success, so relying on improvement there isn't going to work unless you are total crap to start with. Of the top 15 in this category, only Day and Spieth were winners on Tour. The point being that reliance on short game over driving and irons won't get you where you want to be.
 
bobgeorge said:
My GIRs % per round are pretty low and reading threads I am not the only person with this issue. So based on that is the short game to include chipping and putting the most important part of the game and the difference maker in the between a good and bad round?

So this season I am going to spend 50% of practice time on the short game.

What say You? Do you think a better short game is the best way to lower your scores?

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Yes... Your scores will drop faster from short game that from full game up to a point. Say you hit 3 girs and improve to 6 girs.. That still leaves 12 up & downs to make, Not to mention 3 jack opportunities. #GolfIsHard
 
Even though my position on this is set, it is fair to say that the least likely variance between rounds will come from the shots that spend the least time in the air. So having even a solid (if unspectacular) short game should help you on any course. I am glad I chose to work on it for the winter, but that was an analysis of MY game, I would not automatically say "work on your short game" to some random person asking me what they can do to improve because there is no one right answer.

Similar to a poster above, if I am having a average to good day with my irons and a not-terrible day off the tee, I can flirt with breaking 80 because my short game is solid enough to warrant that. Can it be better? Absolutely. But it's not the place right now that I am losing stroke after stroke every single round. Because the number of days that I have even an "okay" day off the tee are minimal. There has been little that is more deflating for me than a round where every hole I am having to "take my medicine" after the first shot.
 
Fourputt said:
To be honest, I've never met a player who hits a long driver and keeps it in play consistently but couldn't follow it up with a reasonably good approach shot most of the time. You are talking about a rare exception to the rule, not the norm.

When I make big numbers, it usually starts with a bad drive. When my driver is in control, the rest of my game follows right along.
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I agree. If I can drive the ball well and stay out of trouble I can usually give the rest of my shots a chance. For me, big numbers come from hitting 3 off the tee, having to punch out from trees, etc. etc.
 
rbarthle17 said:
Even though my position on this is set, it is fair to say that the least likely variance between rounds will come from the shots that spend the least time in the air. So having even a solid (if unspectacular) short game should help you on any course. I am glad I chose to work on it for the winter, but that was an analysis of MY game, I would not automatically say "work on your short game" to some random person asking me what they can do to improve because there is no one right answer.

Similar to a poster above, if I am having a average to good day with my irons and a not-terrible day off the tee, I can flirt with breaking 80 because my short game is solid enough to warrant that. Can it be better? Absolutely. But it's not the place right now that I am losing stroke after stroke every single round. Because the number of days that I have even an "okay" day off the tee are minimal. There has been little that is more deflating for me than a round where every hole I am having to "take my medicine" after the first shot.
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i very much agree with you on two counts. 1- getting off the tee (and long game) are very important, and 2) you have to know yourself. for me, i'm driving the ball very well, but i'm not hitting as many greens as i would like. so i need to focus more on my iron play. truth be told, if i could get up and down 2-3 more times per round more scores would be much improved. so i should continue to focus my energy probably 75% on short game, 15% on iron play and 10% on driver/fw. which is funny given how i feel about the importance of long game over short game.
 
I'm not a fan of "most important", it's all important and you can't have a good round without all the clubs working for the most part.

That being said chipping/pitching is a very common shot for most, so it's wise to be strong there, anyone looking for strokes can probably find them around the greens.
 
Chipping and pitching are delicate shots which can improve the game, that's why I've got hypnotized thinking cleveland 588 rtx cb wedge everyday :hypnotized:
 
saying short game and putting is more important overall is kind of like saying 3+3*2 = 12
 
No. But it is important. It can save you strokes. There is not a single golfer whose short game is better than their long game.

I would say this - working hard on your short game will deliver quick results. It can make a 100 golfer into an upper HC bogey golfer.

Working hard on putting can shave about 3 - 5 strokes off a game depending upon how bad you putt from 3-5 feet. Just remember that the odds are very much against you sinking a string of 10' putts so you can't build your game around this. Even pros can't bank on this. Learn to get the ball to 10% of the distance you are from the hole from 8 feet and out: if you're 45' away and you can get it to 4-1/2' you did well - it's your approach shot that needs work, not your putting.

Full swing work is hard and will lead to long term results. The problem is that most of us don't have the time or money to practice sufficiently to see it deliver - especially if we took up the game later in life.

You can't buy a swing. Practicing twice a week and playing once or twice a week isn't going to get us from shooting 100 to a 5 HC.

Go have fun on the course. Remember you're outside enjoying the fresh air. You could be stuck inside on a beautiful day, but instead you're on the course, and that's a good thing even if you shoot 100. Just relax, drink a beer, and remember you're not doing it for a living.
 
InTheRough said:
There is not a single golfer whose short game is better than their long game.
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Sorry, this is 100% inaccurate. I alone disprove that theory.
 
I know this is a cop out, but I think the mental aspect is the most important part I have had to work on.

Tempered expectations help dealing with the inevitable bad shots that occur. Keeping my cool and staying focused on the shot at hand, be it off the tee or near the greens really helps me get better results. Feeling confident over a putt is a big part of the game on the greens. Course management can really help or hurt my scores. On my best days I know what pins to go for and how to navigate through bad situations.

I think the mental aspect is something we can work on and will help all other aspects. I'm still a work in progress but there is definitely a correlation between my mental game and my scores.
 
rbarthle17 said:
Sorry, this is 100% inaccurate. I alone disprove that theory.
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I shall add with whom I've played, and that will include 3 professional golfers.
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
What I can say is that it's much easier to make measurable improvement in the short game vs the full swing because you don't have to have perfect technique to succeed here (with the possible exception of bunker shots). All it really takes is time and a little creativity once you have the basic technique.
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I agree that I think it is easier to improve short game vs long game. I believe the short game has less moving parts.
 
dazeedmonds said:
Read Dave Pelz short game bible. Pretty eye opening stuff he put together after watching the pros for a couple of years.

In short, yes the short game is very important. Missing your target on the green is much more penal than missing your target on the fairway.
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I have a copy of Dave Pelz's short game bible. A lot of very good info.
 
Fourputt said:
If you are missing greens, then your iron play is what is holding you down. Or if you are missing greens because your driver puts you in bad places, then that's what's holding you back. I used to think like you, and short game work can be a quick fix for a few strokes, but it's like putting a band aid on a broken leg. You need to address the real problem, which is the fact that you are missing greens.
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You are right. Sometimes different parts of my game let me down. But I think for golfers like me who hover around a 15 hdcp....missing greens is pretty common. I mean how many GIRs does a 15 capper avg per round? My guess would be 5 or less.
 
I think if you have a difficult time hitting GIR then chipping and short game becomes a very important aspect of the game.
 
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