I put a lot of time in on my long game, with out neglecting my my short game. The reason I practice with the longer clubs more is to keep those long swing muscles, and bone joints flexible. For scoring purposes however, the short game should recieve the majority of practice time. Reading greens, and how the different grasses, and conditions react to a putt should also be a big part of a person's short game practice time.
Without a doubt, I practice the short game and mostly pitching from 10 to 40 yards. My personal feeling is that pitching is a mini version of the full swing and I don't always have time to go to the range. If I practice putting, I try to only practice 3, 5 and 7 foot putts because these are the most important to scoring. Unfortunately, a 3 foot putt counts the same as a 250 yard drive.
The main idea in golf as in life I suppose, is to learn to accept what cannot be altered and to keep on doing ones own reasoned and resolute best whether the prospect be bleak or rosy. Bobby Jones
hi liam,
dont want to sound smug but i got a cobra 4/R rescue and mspeed 3 wood recently so my long game is going really well they are so easy to hit so my focus will be on putting,sand play and pitching in that order
Putting. Ive recently spent hours and hours on the putting green until I now feel condifent that I can run the ball 2 foot by and get the one coming back. Id got into a habot of always lagging short and never giving it a chance and then pulling/pushing the short ones. So I have spent a long time working on setup, posture, alignment, accelaration etc
And as a result ive shot my best two rounds of the year this weekend. Long game was actually so-so but my short game was bang on. Got me up and down at least 4 times when id missed the GIR
I've changed my practice routine considerably over the past few months. I'm learning to leave my practice sessions in a positive frame of mind and I've incorporated my pre-shot routine into my practice.
Long - Rather than just banging balls at home or at the club, I'm spending more time on the course. Eg I'll borrow the cart, go to the tee, hit a drive and pick the ball up and hit it onto the green about 140m out.
Short - I'll chip ten balls over a 2m tall tree landing it just past it, punch a handful of balls over the handle bars of my toddler son's bike which is 25 metres away, lag putt and so on.
I've done 6 strokes in 9 months - by working really hard on my mental application and course management. I'm off 12.1. My goal is 10 by the end of the year. Thereafter, low single figures.
I spend hours at the range trying to hit cannonballs off rubber tees or 160yd 7-irons off a rock hard mat.
When my body starts aching, I head home, completely neglecting the short game.
Then, the next day, I head to the course, hammer 250yd drives, miss the green by inches (or hit and roll off), chip the ball across the green and into the greenside bunker, spend 2 to get out, and 3 putt. Then I sigh - mark it down as 'another 8' - and go on to the next teebox, where I'll have a fit and yell four-letter words at the collective contents of my golf-bag, forget everything I've worked on at the range, hit one in anger and slice it 40yds to the right into a lake ... Understandably!
What I DON'T understand, is why I'm not a scratch player.
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