Dreadful short game - Help!!

[titch]

When pitching, I make sure I properly rotate my hips and torso, back and through the ball so that my belt buckle is facing the target. Relax the wrists, don't break them too much or try to hang on to the angle. Just let them break naturally. Doing this will produce much more consistent strikes.

Chipping is the opposite. I stand with my feet together pointing 45 degrees towards the target with the ball level with my right foot and make no hip rotation. The shaft is leaning towards the target at address and I focus on getting it back to the same position at impact. Think of it a bit like a defensive cricket shot. If you left your wrists break either way you will get inconsistent strikes. I practice in the house using a CD as a hole. I can 9/10 within gimme range for a 30ft chip and some even in the hole. All my strikes and ball flights are consistent. It's technique, not practice. You can practice the wrong technique as much as you like but then when you're facing that tricky shot under pressure on the course, you duff it. You need to be confident with your technique, then practice it.

I'm no expert by the way, but I've suffered the same issues as the OP so hopefully these techniques will work for you as they did for me.

 

[Nosevi]

Just following up on what I said earlier about hitting ball then turf in the short game, not sure if guys work with spin numbers but obviously the faster backspin you get the more 'check' the ball will have on the green. Also the harder you hit the ball the more spin you get - a full shot gets more spin than a pitch, all thing (dynamic loft, ball, temp etc) being equal.

Hit 2 shots earlier, both 60 degree lob wedge, both ProV1.

First shot I deliberately got a naff contact, hit ground and ball and kind of flipped a bit, look at the backspin number:



Next one I made sure I made a crisp contact and hit ball the turf with a downward strike (hence the lower launch angle), now look at the backspin number:



This is only a small 20 yard pitch but spinning at a tad over 7000 rpm it'd skip and stop dead. That's how the pros control their shots around the green, it's all in the strike you get on the ball and to do that you need to get ball then turf.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Listen to bobmac is my advice, I chip very well thanks to him! Just his videos, advice and passion for the game (plus a v-easy) made getting up and down a regular thing.

Also, you don't have to be the worlds best chipper if you can putt well.

Get confident on those under 6 foot and a mediocre chip can become more than good enough. I know if I stick it reasonably close I am going to walk away with an up and down most of the time, I don't HAVE to chip it to 1-3 feet for it to be good enough. (Just the right side of the hole)

Some other key advice is:

Don't shaft lean, be just leaned on the side of neutral (like a putter) and ride the bounce through to the finish (ie no "hinge and hold" on short-medium chips). Finish with the nice neutral pose too!

Play it like a putt and grip lightly for backspin (trust me this works!)

Hit down on it not up and flick!

 

[MadAdey]

Fortunately I have watched a couple of good episodes of Golf Channel academy, one with Pelz and one with Pavin. They both have some fantastic advice and Pavin especially made it so simple. Short game has always been my downfall, but thanks to Pavin it is pretty damn good now. From all the advice I have taken from these 2 people, the things that have helped are these:

1) play with a slightly open stance to enable you to complete the through swing and maintain loft.
2) weight slightly on the front foot to encourage a downward strike to get backspin
3) neutral ball position with very little negative shaft lean to maintain loft
4) do not concentrate on a landing spot, but an area the size of a golf towel.
5) grip it lightly and relax
6) always try to get the ball on the putting green running as soon as possible.

 

[Howsey]

As per "MadAdey" above... also not sure if this will help, but it's sorted my short game out which was awful (thins and fats everytime).
I decided I was fed up of ruining my game, so I've started practicing pitching / chipping a lot (early days) but I found that by dropping my hands slightly at address, opening face a touch, slowing my back swing right down, having a slight delay and feeling the weight of club, slight break of wrists with clubhead dropping down before taking my hands through slightly ahead of ball and waiting before looking up. Chipping into the sun without sunglasses helps Probably lots of other factors but that's basically what's helping me.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Dropping my hands slightly at address
Opening face a touch
slight break of wrists with clubhead dropping down

These are things I worked out of my chipping to become better, I used to do them and it worked but I found it better without. Especially the wrist break, now I have no break at all like a putter, even with a 56* in my hands.

I now put my hands more in a putting position, actually I drop my hands less throughout my game but most noticable during putting.

slowing my back swing right down
having a slight delay and feeling the weight of club
Taking my hands through slightly ahead of ball and waiting before looking up

These are the things I worked into my game to be a better putter and really helped.

I did slow my backswing down but only to match the tempo of my whole swing together, so it was not fast and flicky.

The last one is more "not beyond the clubhead" due to flicking through rather than "slightly ahead" due to forward shaft lean or wrist break during the swing. I think there is an important distinction here as the latter brings the club in to ride across the sole where the latter delofts the club and adds an extra motion into a swing that does not need it.

 

[dontfancythisputt]

Best tip for chipping/pitching I ever got was to get a lesson on the basic techniques then practice until you have some consistency, then, and here the important bit, during a round forget about the techniques completely and think only on the flight/roll of the ball you want. let your muscle memory/sub conscious sort out physical bit.

Might be worth a try, works a treat for me, as soon as I start thinking about the techniques I freeze, tense up, decelerate the lot, fats thins and dreaded shanks are the result, only another practice session will get me chipping nicely again.

you will need to practise a fair bit mind you which isn't always easy.

 

[ScienceBoy]

During a round forget about the techniques completely and think only on the flight/roll of the ball you want.

do not concentrate on a landing spot, but an area the size of a golf towel.

Spot with these, I pick my landing spot and a zone around it to land in. I just focus on the spot to focus my mind.

I would say you MUST ensure whenever possible to have this zone be FLAT! Pick your club to land in the flat zone, sometimes its an 8 iron, sometimes its a lob wedge. Depending on how far the flat zone is from the hole and how much run out there is between the two.

Of course sometimes there could be two flat zones, I usually default to the one closest to me and treat the rest of the shot like a putt.

 

[MadAdey]

The UK needs the Golf Channel academy on TV as the stuff from it is fantastic as normally it is a Tour Pro giving the tips. So the complex technical side is forgotten about and it is put in simple terms. I have it programmed into the DVR to record every show. Since watching it my short game has improved to the point that it is probably saving me 3 or 4 shots a round.

A good tip from Mickelson I remember is to be imaginative around the greens. Rather than trying to land a flop shot on a penny, why not bump it into the fringe to take the pace of it and let it release. It's a far more reliable shot and easier to do. He said to always look for 2 ways to play the shot, then pick the one that has the greater chance of working.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

When are you going to update your blog Homer I see you havnt updated for a while.
Did you say you were going to knock it on the head?

I'll be keeping it going. Just need to get cracking but to be honest I've not played too much and no-one wants to read about range work.