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Short game, how important is it?

Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:
The better I get, the more important it becomes. This to me is where scores are salvaged or sunk. We aren't on tour. We don't play EVERY single day. We WILL have bad ball striking days or days when our swing "isn't on". Our short game saves us those days.
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I agree with this to a certain extent, but no one is going to score really well if their long game is bad. What I mean is that I can chip up and one putt every single green, but if it takes me 3-4 shots to get to every green, then my score isn't going to be good even though my short game was pretty good. Maybe I'm influenced by Mark Broadie's research (see Hawk's thread on the Every Shot Counts book), but I think that long game is more important than short game. For me, I know that my scores usually go down when my GIR goes up, and that's not related to short game at all.
 
Getting up and down to save par is the best feeling for me in golf. Striping a drive or making a birdie doesn't even compare.
 
I think the short game is most important, the real question is do you include putting in the short game? If so then it is the most important, if not I'd say it's second most important and putting is paramount in my opinion.
 
it's very important, sometimes I will go to the practice chipping area and just keep throwing balls to different spots and hitting them as they lie, doing that helps confidence that you can hit a pitch/chip out of any lie
 
arydolphin said:
I agree with this to a certain extent, but no one is going to score really well if their long game is bad. What I mean is that I can chip up and one putt every single green, but if it takes me 3-4 shots to get to every green, then my score isn't going to be good even though my short game was pretty good. Maybe I'm influenced by Mark Broadie's research (see Hawk's thread on the Every Shot Counts book), but I think that long game is more important than short game. For me, I know that my scores usually go down when my GIR goes up, and that's not related to short game at all.
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Then again what good does it do if you are greenside in 2 and it takes a chip or 2 and then 2 putts to finish the hole
 
arydolphin said:
I agree with this to a certain extent, but no one is going to score really well if their long game is bad.
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I beg to differ and are proof that that is incorrect.
 
I would say thay its verh important to have a shortgame. All too many times most golfers spend so mich time on drivers and 7 irons on the range. Hitting bucket after bucket trying to improve their game. Its truly amazing to see how quickly a handicap drops the better the short game gets.
Now I dont know about being single digits without some kind of game off the tee, but Im pretty sure all who are lower hamdicaps have a solid short game
 
Golferbest said:
I would say thay its verh important to have a shortgame. All too many times most golfers spend so mich time on drivers and 7 irons on the range. Hitting bucket after bucket trying to improve their game. Its truly amazing to see how quickly a handicap drops the better the short game gets.
Now I dont know about being single digits without some kind of game off the tee, but Im pretty sure all who are lower hamdicaps have a solid short game
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As long as you can keep the ball in play and avoid penalties off the tee, I think you can get pretty low. You don't have to be able to hit the ball 250 yards, hit it 180 and keep in somewhere near the fairway. mightyquinn and I play with a guy who averages about 175-180 off the tee, maybe hits 1-3 greens in regulation and normally shoots in the low 80s. He just seems to be able to get the ball up and down from anywhere most of the time.

He was having some chipping and putting issues last month and his scores shot up to the mid-90s. He worked on his chipping for one day and I let him borrow a Cleveland Classic HB #2 just to change it up and he's been killing us on the course.
 
Short game is the area I spend the most time on, I've found that it can save a round either by keeping momentum going if I am on a nice run or by minimizing the damage in rounds where my ball striking is not good.
 
mikedean441 said:
Then again what good does it do if you are greenside in 2 and it takes a chip or 2 and then 2 putts to finish the hole
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Good point, but the closer that you get to the hole, the easier the shot should be. I think there many more way to screw up a long game shot (aka full shot) than a short game shot.

JB said:
I beg to differ and are proof that that is incorrect.
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You don't give your long game enough credit, you can't scrape it around and only rely on your short game to get to a sub-5 handicap. I've seen you play, you are downplaying your long game significantly.

I guess what I mean is that while a short game is important, I'd prefer not to have to rely on it to have a good round. Give me a better long game where I can hit more fairways and greens and then I don't have to rely on my short game as much. That's a much simpler and less stressful way to play the game. That also comes from the fact that I have a decent short game (not as good as yours), but I've hit <50% of fairways in regulation and greens in regulation over the past 3 years, and I want to improve on that.
 
The answers may vary based on ability level. If it takes you 5-6 shots to get to a green, your short game won't make you a great player. But at the highest levels, good short game beats good ball striking stats for the most part.

Sent using Tapatalk on my Samsung Galaxy S4.
 
I would say I probably hit half the greens on average, so short game can be a big part of the score.
 
Short game is critical for me since injuries have killed my distance. I have always had a very good short game ( pretty much natural - I never really practiced it much ) but now that I can't get the ball out there as long as I used to, it's time to make it from very good to superb! That - and maybe I can start making some putts!
 
I think short game is by far the most important part of your game. I can agree that if you shoot 120's you dont notice as big of an impact but not too much better and it becomes easily the most important. I play with a guy who is about a 2hcp and he doesn't always hit more greens than me but when I chip on and 2 putt he gets up and down. Makes such a big difference in our games. He is a better all around player but getting up and down is by far the biggest difference.
 
It's not a mistake that tour success often tracks with putting and scrambling rankings, not drive distance, etc... So it's very important.
 
jmatt said:
Overall, for my standard day, I'll say long / tee game is most important for me. Keeping it in play saves me a bunch of strokes. And the better my tee balls, the closer I am for the approach so the short game SHOULD be called on to save me less.
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I was typing something similar up as you posted this. It think we're in agreement-ish.

"I feel short game is paramount to good scores and can save you if your long or short off the tee but scoring well usually means you didn't have to put your short game into play. Short game saves you only when you don't hit the green. So hitting the green should have a higher importance.

If you are short off the tee you are constantly playing mid irons into the greens which, if you hit the green, usually decreases your proximity to the hole on almost every attempt.

If you are long off the tee and your wedge is at least equal to your mid iron swing your proximity to the hole in theory should be closer as there is less off target deviation when your ball travels less distance.

So with those two thoughts in mind I still think short game is important but distance off the tee with relative accuracy is more. Having a solid short game does give you more confidence to go at the ball though =)"
 
Short game is the most important part of golf, especially if you include putting. You obviously have to get to/near the green first, but about half of your strokes are taken in this realm. And it obviously becomes more and more about the short game the lower your handicap gets. I'm at the stage where I believe my short game holds me back - I think if you asked most people who play with me, they'd say I strike the ball like an 8 or 9 handicap, but my short game is like an 18 handicap. It's definitely getting better, but it's killing me not to be able to get out and practice chipping after work right now (not enough light). If I can improve my short game to the level of my ballstriking, I really feel like I'll be at a 10 or better in no time.
 
I practice short game a lot and it gives me the confidence to get up and down from anywhere around the green. That being said I hit approach shots a lot better when I can be confident regardless of the outcome. It is the best part of my game and by far the most important.
 
arydolphin said:
I guess what I mean is that while a short game is important, I'd prefer not to have to rely on it to have a good round. Give me a better long game where I can hit more fairways and greens and then I don't have to rely on my short game as much. That's a much simpler and less stressful way to play the game. That also comes from the fact that I have a decent short game (not as good as yours), but I've hit <50% of fairways in regulation and greens in regulation over the past 3 years, and I want to improve on that.
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This is where imo the debate gets tricky. Because many will argue that is the shorter game that can make up for the poor long and mid range stuff and in that lies some of the logic when they say its more important. The logic being hit an 8iron 10 yards off the green and the short shot can still save the hole. I cant disagree with that. And many will also argue that hitting GIR's all the time is impossible so therefore the importance of the short game has to be most important.

I can agree with that too but its also simply by default it becomes more important since it is the next shot in the process of playing the hole. But that doesn't mean what was done prior was of less importance. So I do agree with some of what you say. I think its all very important. The better you were at the previous shot generally means your in better position to make the next one an easier one. Getting that 8iiron on the green, or 2feet from the green is going to prove to generally be of significant importance vs the 10yards off. Of course only now that one is 10yards off is that short shot now the most important. But imo was not any more important than the that 8iron approach at the time you took it.

Here is an interesting article I copied from Golf digest. It doesn't say don't worry about the short game of course but does imply the huge importance of approach shots as "strongest indicator of scoring". It also makes suggestions on how to accomplish it but its the first bold highlighted part that is very interesting statistic and point of view that leans towards your view.


Want Lower Scores? Hit More Greens
Tour stats reveal that GIR percentage is all-important



inar01_jim_flick_gir.jpg

GREEN MACHINE: Tom Lehman won the 1996 British Open at Royal Lytham with consistent ball-striking.

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By Jim Flick
Photo by Stephen Szurlej


October 2012
From 2000 to 2010, the PGA Tour leader in driving distance averaged 100th on the money list. But the leader in greens in regulation (GIR) averaged 37th. By the way, the leader in putts per GIR averaged 66th and the leader in scrambling averaged 60th.
From 1995-'96, Tom Lehman (above) led the PGA Tour in GIR. It's no coincidence that he won the '96 British Open and Tour Championship and more money than any other player over those two years. In 2011 he was No. 1 in GIR on the Champions Tour, and sure enough, he won the money title.
Golf Digest Professional Advisor and statistician Lou Riccio points out that for average golfers GIR is overwhelmingly the strongest indicator of scoring. He says that if you really want to lower your scores, find a way to increase your GIR percentage.
So how do you hit more greens? Play to the center, not at sucker pins tucked behind bunkers or water. Learn your true distances with your approach clubs. (Hitting the ball pin-high will give you more birdie putts.) And start hitting more fairways. It's much easier to hit shots that hold greens when you're playing from good lies.
Here's a drill to help you find more fairways. I give it to all my junior students, including Beau Hossler, who contended in the U.S. Open in June. Tee up six balls, and with a driver hit the first ball at 50 percent clubhead speed. Hit the next one at 60 percent, the next at 70 and so forth until you hit the last at 100 percent. Do this several times. Which effort level produces your most consistent shots? For many, it's 80 or 90 percent. Sam Snead told me for him it was 80, and that's what he usually played with.
This drill teaches you to swing in rhythm with your best tempo. Try it, and I'll bet your GIR percentage will increase dramatically.
JIM FLICK, a longtime Golf Digest Teaching Professional and PGA Golf Professional Hall of Famer, worked with hundreds of amateurs and tour players including Jack Nicklaus.
 
My game, even when I was practicing ALL the time was nothing if my short game wasn't working. Looking at my last 18 hole round of golf I played. I shot an 84 (as I recall) and I missed EVERY green on the front nine and didn't get up and down at all, not once (on the front)...and shot 9 over! On the back nine, I started hitting a few greens, had one birdie....things started clicking again. Once I starting hitting GIR's and getting up and down, I leveled out. I only 3 putted ONE time all day too.

Soooo it's easy for me to look at a round like this and say to myself....self....if you would have got up and down at least 1/2 of the time you didn't, you would have shot at least 5 strokes better! I would have shot in the 70's (79).
Short game is the key for playing better, no doubt about it...there's no second in my book. The BEST PGA Tour players hit, what, 70-75% GIR? So they hit maybe 11-13 GIR in a round, more or less. So 5-7 (ish) greens they miss...as a PRO!

So for us NON Pro's...the best way to improve our scores is to get up and down as much as we can, and putt better when we DO hit those GIR's....simple as that.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Trout has started some really good thought provoking threads the last couple of days and his latest about drives and approaches got me thinking.

None of makes a hill of beans if you miss the green. And when you miss the green your short game comes into play. To me the short game far out weighs the drive or approach.

I actually think a solid short games help with the approach and the drive. A solid short game breeds confidence and also for free swings as you know you can get up and down or up and in.

What are you thoughts? Is short game important? If so how important is it to you?
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Great idea Freddie! In the past I never put a lot of work into my short game because I was never really serious about my game. What I've learned in the past 18 months is that my short game KILLS my scores. Since I've been tracking my stats I found the number of strokes I left on and around the green shocking. So many 3 putts that came as a result of bad putting and horrible pitching and chipping. What ended up happening is that I would put so much pressure on myself to hit the green every time or stick it close that I started hitting awful shots from the tee all the way to the green. If I took away most of the 3 putts and improved my up and down %, I would easily be 8 strokes better than I am.

Now, the short game is the part of my game that gets the most work. I've got a chipping basket in my basement that is right next to my 14x4 Birdie Ball putting green. I just can't wait to get outdoors and start putting this all to good use.
 
Short game is very important. I think scrambling for amateurs is one of the most important abilities you can have.
 
Another reason I think the short game is important for me is that having confidence that I can get up and down allows me to be a bit more aggressive with some approach shots since I am not scared of missing the green.
 
lmh3 said:
Another reason I think the short game is important for me is that having confidence that I can get up and down allows me to be a bit more aggressive with some approach shots since I am not scared of missing the green.
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That is a good point.
Not that I am good enough to be more aggressive but it does relieve some tension on not having to worry so very much about it if you know you can work the short game. Allows for feeling a tad more at ease even for a basic approach shot and being a tad more relaxed in turn leads to more successful ones in the first place.
 
80% or so of amateur golfers shots are from 100 yards in or less. Knowing the shot, 1/4 swing, half swing, full swing, etc ..
and the exact distance are critical .. we hit our drivers what .. 8-12 times a round? 13 at the most for a majority of amateurs?

Lets say we arrive at a # of 25 shots, NOT from 100 yards in .. (Off the tee and second shots on par 4's, along with 2nd shots on par 5's)
If you shot 100, that would be close to the 80% or so of shots inside that 100 yards because of missed greens, landing in GS bunkers, etc ..

I average 11-12 FW in almost every round, but I only hit an average of 6-8 greens. I play the middle tee's (very rarely the tips) and hit it 240-250.
So I leave myself sometimes a fair-way wood in, mostly my go to trusty Callaway Heaven 7 from the ole days. I can hit it 175 to 200 no problem.
And it doesn't leave me with much of a miss when I do .. so I practice all of the shots, and try to know what distance I usually miss more than others.
There is a consistent yardage there also .. and the better I am at that "consistent" yardage, the shorter that putts going to be.

That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it .. :)
 
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