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Short game, how important is it?

Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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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?
 
Huge impact.
Im a terrible golfer with a good short game.
It shows that anybody with some practice and the right tools can get to single digit.
 
Very important, I've gotten my short game to a really good place last year, where it was definitely bailing me out of some tough situations.
 
I think its the most important part of the game. If you have a good short game you dont always have to fire at pins. You just need to get on or near the green and you know you are coming away with a good score. Loosens up the rest of your approach shots as well.
 
Most important part of the game IMO. Amateurs miss greens, we need a solid short game to get the ball in the hole in the fewest amount of strokes possible. bad short game = big numbers
 
All the parts are important. The most important part would seem to depend on where you lose your strokes.
If I'm hitting fairways and missing occasional greens, then the short game's going to decide how I score.
If I'm 3 off the tee a lot, the long game is most important.

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.
 
From the other thread, think it's obvious my perspective on this.

I think it's huge. I've started to drop my most shots after working more on short game. To play well, your entire game is important, from tee to green, but I put a lot more weight on the 50yrds and in aspect.
 
For my game, it's extremely important.
 
I think it's very important. People say 100 and in is the most important, but for me it's more 30 and in.

All shots count the same amount of strokes, but when you miss a lot of greens (even while hitting good shots on the way), multiple attempts to get on the green from in close is a killer. You can skull one over the green (and maybe again coming back), just miss the chip short in the rough or the worst of all, when, other than when you are chipping, do you hit a ball a grand total of two inches?
 
When my ball striking was horrible but my short game was good, I would still post decent scores. (for me)

I can't say the same thing about the opposite situation.

I have put a lot of practice in on short game lately because I've realized that it's a possibility that with my back problems, I will never be an outstanding ball striker. But I've played enough golf with 70 and 80 year old men to make me realize that as long as you can keep the ball in play and reasonably in the short grass, you don't have to hit the ball perfectly or a long way to score well if you've got a good short game. 3 to get on the green, but usually close enough to save par.

And I was told that not everyone can learn to hit 320 yard drives or hit a high draw into a tucked pin. But nearly everyone can learn and be successful at short chips and pitches.
 
I agree with most posts, the short game is THE most important part of the game. Whether its 100yds in or 150yds in, personally the latter, this is where we all lose our shots.
 
Drive for show, putt for dough.
 
I rely heavily on my short game as the weakest part of my game is my approach shots.
A good short game can make up a lot of strokes.
 
It's THE most important part of the game. Wanna lower your handicap quickly? Go practice your short game for 20 minutes a day. You'll be amazed how fast your handicap will drop.
 
I have to agree also with the others here that the short game (chipping and putting) is where you make your money at in scoring. I know that if I am chipping and putting well I am still going to have a good score and it is even more important for high handicappers that do not get a lot of GIR. I think this is going to be my focus for the year and I am going to concentrate on practicing these skills to try and help lower my HCP.
 
It's huge Freddie, you can miss the green by just a few feet and if you can't get up and down you're dead in the water. It's critical in my game.
 
JB said:
Huge impact.
Im a terrible golfer with a good short game.
It shows that anybody with some practice and the right tools can get to single digit.
Click to expand...

I know you don't like your swing dude but I love it, and your short game is ridiculous good.
 
My lack of a real solid short game is what keeps me from shooting in the 70's. That will change in 2014.
 
Short game is crucial for anyone from average up to and sometimes including the best. For me, as an average golfer I can hit well enough off the tee and make a decent approach. In a decent approach, I am talking getting within some range of the green. As an average golfer, on most days and in most shots, I am not dialing in on the approach. The good short game is what can help add two more shots (short pitch and 1 putt) versus a bad short game in which you may have multiple pitches, or leave yourself 2-3 putts. Rambling...but, hope you get my point.
 
GregDan said:
It's THE most important part of the game. Wanna lower your handicap quickly? Go practice your short game for 20 minutes a day. You'll be amazed how fast your handicap will drop.
Click to expand...

Right there! That's what I did last year, I dropped at least 5 shots.
 
Learning and improving short game shots has been huge. It's one of the most important and probably least-practiced element of the golf game. I don't hit very many greens, so learning how to get it close is probably the single biggest part of my improvement as a golfer. Obviously if you're a high-accuracy iron player it might matter less, but I'm reminded of the 1971 US Open, where Nicklaus went bogey-double bogey early in the playoff round due to not being able to get out of bunkers. IIRC, Nicklaus later told Trevino he didn't practice bunkers much because he often didn't need to. So his usual accuracy with irons (and a healthy dash of hubris) caused him to focus less on his short/bunker game, which occasionally cost him.
 
Oh yeah the short game is extremely important. If your short game is awesome your going to have some awesome numbers on your card and have a low handicap.
 
I think the short game is HUGELY important to scoring. My #1 goal in 2014 is to spend hours and hours practicing on and around the green.
 
I would say that I am a 12-15 cap ball striker with the short game of a 7 or 8 cap. The odd round where I put it all together is glorious.

Short game confidence allows me to swing for the green not worrying too much about minor misses, making it critical.
 
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