Covering All Aspects of the Golf Short Game

It only seems logical that we think of a golf hole beginning at the tee box and ending at the hole.  But I’d like to propose a different way of playing the hole, and it will place even greater emphasis on your golf short game.  And before I get into that, the logic behind this is that for most amateur golfers it is easier to shave strokes off your game around the green than from tee to green.  You may be able to keep the ball in play with more practice, but unfortunately if you have played for a while you are not going to get much more as far as distance.  Your long game for the most part is going to decrease as you age.

This is why the Short Game is So Important

But that doesn’t mean your short game can’t improve, and dramatically as you get older.  For a moment think about setting up a golf hole for your short game: that is, before starting the hole think about where you want to be around the green to get down in two strokes.  If you can consistently put your ball near that spot in regulation (that is, one shot on a par 3, two shots on a par 4 and three shots on a par 5), you will wind up with a lot of pars, provided your short game is where it can be.  And getting to that designated area in regulation not only leaves you with a very large target normally, but often those areas are not as protected by the course designer.

This will leave you with less birdie opportunities but will make the game much more fun, because you will stay out of trouble on more often and you will likely score better.  Now the only thing you have to do is develop an impeccable short game, and that’s what this website is designed to do.  So look through our articles and I’m sure you will find some very helpful information.

It starts with the Short Putt and Works Out from there

If you are confident with any putt five feet and under, especially without a lot of break, is the first key to an effective short game.  If you’re confident in making the short putt consistently, it means you have a bigger target for your chips and pitches, which will allow you to relax more on those shots.   If you likewise have confidence in your longer putts, you will not be under such pressure to get your short irons close to the pin.  In other words, having a confident short game translates to taking pressure on the rest of your golf game, making everything easier.

Pitching Tips for the Short Game

Methods for pitching and chipping a golf ball differ significantly from the long game in the fact that the golf club ought to be taken using a more up and down arc as opposed to the sweeping action employed for longer shots. Everywhere you go you see individuals counseling golfers to take the club back “slow and low”. Even though this is excellent advice for your long game, it can do little good for shorter shots.  One final point: to get more control with your short game, take the club back a shorter distance and follow-through a greater distance than you are used to.

The Golf Short Game- The Game within the Game

Whereas the long game is about the mechanics of the golf swing, the short game is more about what goes on in the mind.  Certainly, technique plays a great part in golf short game success, but mental approach perhaps trumps what you do technique-wise.  Think of golf’s great putters throughout the years, and their technique varied significantly.  But what they all had in common was the confidence which comes with visualizing the ball into the hole, and then doing it on a consistent basis.  The same goes for chipping, sand play, and the other shots close to the green.  This aspect of the game involves the ability to relax and play the shot confidently.  Obviously we will on this site go into the mental aspects of the game so important to successful golf.

This interesting fact from Into the Rough:   The largest golfing green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.