Short game practice routines

Forgive my little story for deviating a tad off topic about my needed short game practice today.

I went to the range today with the sole intent to use the chipping/pitching area and it all turned out to be a disaster. Firstly drove the 20/25 minutes to get there just to practice shorty game which takes will power for me but I need it so i convinced myself to make effort to head there for this purpose. Well....I get there and find they closed the chip/pitch area for the season. this is ridiculous considering the great weather we've been having all fall and winter thus far.

So now I'm there (a bit disappointed) and ok so I get a bucket and start to hit balls. I was fine with shorter clubs but as i worked down to the 5iron and longer hybrids and than woods I couldn't see the balls anymore. The angle of the sun was such that I could see but only very few balls. The guy next to me and I were trying to watch each others strikes but of course only once in awhile. I've been there a hundred times and never had this issue this bad. I was lucky to see perhaps one in every 6 or 7 strikes with the longer clubs and I honestly don't know how well I was hitting.

The I worked down to the driver and there are no tees around of my size choice. I look everywhere on both levels of the range to find empty mat after empty mat with no tees around and others also searching for certain tees of choice. I went to the office and the owner says people keep taking them and he has to buy more and of course was complaining about how rubber tees don't just disappear or melt down. My reaction was sympathetic and agreeable but was thinking that they still have to do what they have to do and supply the tees. I mean your open and charging for buckets then you must supple the required items regardless of the fact that they slowly disappeared due to theft. Imo just part of the business expense. So with that I had to hit off a tee way too high for my liking and also again not see the darn balls anyway.

So this is what I get for making a rare but good shorty game practice effort. I instead end up with no shorty practice at all and about the least productive range session I ever had. A couple or so hours of my life I'll never get back...lol, what can ya do??

I guess they could be considered drills, but I more or less just need to spend some more time practicing a good chipping stroke. I practiced at about 20 yards today, put my mat in the backyard, got a round tub about 2 1/2' wide, and just practices chipping. I hit my 52*, 56*, and 60* wedges just working on alignment and stroke, as I get better I'll start working in some games so it doesn't get too repetitive. I also plan on getting some different targets too, I need something a little bigger to start out with and as I get further out.

I've also been putting indoor on a little 6' long putting mat. It's not much, but I can use it everyday. Mostly I'm just trying to get a more repetitive alignment and stroke and trying to find the grip that works the best for me. I've never felt very comfortable with any putting grip, but I've been tinkering with left hand low and I think it may be what I go into next season with. I always thought it was odd but nothing else felt right so I tried it, it actually feels pretty good to me. Could be a good offseason change for me.

emart2173 said:

I noticed several THPers including myself want to improve their short game, scoring, drop hdcp, etc for 2016. Owning 125 was an interesting thread to follow a few months ago and one I believe in from an improvement stand point.

i wanted to start this thread so that anyone who plans to work on their short game including putting can drop their practice routines in here or ask for help in what their routines could be on order to help get better in 2016.

Here are something's I plan to do during the year for both chip/pitches and putting. I am definitely looking for other ideas on ways to practice and improve the short game. I have a couple practice circles from eyeline I will be using in my practice

The putting drills I used last year will be in use again this year (first two in the list) and plan to include a few others.

Putting drills
1) 5 balls each from 4 locations around a hole 3' apart starting at 12'. Putt each ball at 12' then move to 15' and so on. Goal is to get at least 10 inside 3' circle
2) 2 balls each from 4 locations around the hole. 1 at 4' and the other at 5'. Putt all the 4' then the 5'
3) 5 balls at 3' - 15'. It's a 1 putt drill so putt each ball and if I miss one then start over until all 5 balls are made
4) clock drill with 10 balls from 4-5' have to make all, start over until all are made

20 min max on each drill.

Short game
1) chip from around the green with 10 balls spread out in different locations, must get as many inside 3' circle. Use different clubs on each round of this for up to 3 rounds
2) if practice area is big enough chip/pitch 5-10 balls from 5,10,20,30 yds and try to get the ball to stop in a 6' circle
3) on the range hit wedge shots to 40,50,60,70,80,90,100 yds

Click to expand...

What's the total time to complete this drill. Putting and chipping. 1 or 2 hours etc.

Can it be broken into segments.

How many days per week. Daily?

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QUOTE=Johan185;4212104]What's the total time to complete this drill. Putting and chipping. 1 or 2 hours etc.

Can it be broken into segments.

How many days per week. Daily?

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You can do as many days a week you want. Last year I did putting drills 1 & 2 once a week for several months and would go through each one twice...sometimes I would do #2 three times...goal is to make minimum 6 but per my instructor should be making all 8.

The other putting drills can be done during the same practice session. I would chip either after or before the putting drills and since the areas I practiced at didn't have a lot of room I only did #1. #2 I will be including this year and #3 I do on the range usually at the end of my sessions.

in reality the time on each or total time and how often is dependent on each person. For me I plan to spend 60-90 mins at least once a week on short game area. I will be trying to,get 2 range sessions in each week at lunch

I am trying to let my body rest for a bit this winter and have worked mainly on short game.
I recently read "Every Shot Counts", James Sieckmann's "Short Game Book" and some of the Practice Manual ( having a hard time reading this one)

For the winter months my routine has been:

Six balls at each distance - 20-70 in 5 yard increments. Decent amount of Block training.
I have the good fortune to have access to a launch monitor so it makes the data easy to get.
I run something similar to a Trackman Combine using error percentage.
The data can be brought into a spreadsheet for feedback. Standard Deviation seems to be a good measure for this. Gets rid of the really good and really bad shots.
Leaves you with what you will probably do. I have tightened up my spread so some of my better shots are in the first deviation and my bad ones are not as bad.

It has taught me that keeping a couple of benchmark back swings and changing clubs is what is working best for me.
Also when to change from a finesse swing to my normal swing.

This one I got from James Sieckmann. Random Number Generator between 10-100 yards for carry.
The RNG spits out a number and I try to carry the ball that far. I use this a lot for my random practice.

I have also been using the challenges with SkyTrak & WGT. One shot propositions for how close to the hole you can get. It is also great random practice with different clubs popping up. A lot of people are cracking on WGT but I have really enjoyed it. When I hit a good shot I get good results. Seeing water, trees, bunkers, elevation changes has really helped me engage with the shot. I am a horrible range golfer. I hate it & find it boring. This has helped me keep my head in it.

If you are interested I have a playlist of some of the shots. I use it to bank good shots in my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeOU0Whood8h4cY9ejPm84Q79LeIEZupz

Someone had mentioned the coin drill for putting. I do that one as well. Tiny target that is not a hole frees me up.
The coin drill also give you a good idea of your speed. I like to see the ball die about a 18" past the hole. Seems to be a good capture speed.
I line up every putt with a line. It gives the feedback regarding strike that I like. Similar to the 2 ball drill for feedback I would imagine.

Putting balls to finish 1' farther than the previous ball is something I work on as well.
I find it useful before teeing off to gauge speed for the day.


It all sounds extreme but it is helping & the numbers are improving.

Follow up on the winter short game practice indoors now that I have been able to get outside. Very pleased with distance control & direction has greatly improved. Able to flight & work the ball. Control of spin & launch angle has improved as well.. The Sieckmann fineness techniques work great for me 35 yards & in. My green side bunker shots have benefited as a byproduct oddly enough.. I struggled a bit in the sand last year. I know now why. Bad delivery.. Too much shaft lean. Too much sand.. Too much digging.. Getting a nice thud now.


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I have pitches and chips from 10,15,20,25,30,35,40,50,60,70,75,80,85,90,95,100 and 105 yards. On the range I pick a number and try to shoot that distance, on one condition - I have only one try. No Mulligans.

For putting before the game I try to hit the practice green. I just try to hit all sorts of putts to get the feel on the green that day.