Is a good short game the key?

[EastPreston]

Let's see if we can get everyone's opinion to this question.

Is a good short game the key to a great score?

I here it all the time, but I think it comes second to not topping/slicing and having a reasonable swing. If you swing like you are trying to hit a swam of wasps - you wont be getting to the green in the first place.

Please vote - Let's have this out once and for all.

 

[USER1999]

A good score requires a good short game, but without a half decent long game first, you are on a loser.

 

[Losttheplot]

A good score requires a good short game, but without a half decent long game first, you are on a loser.

Like murph said!! Totally agree. The short game is more important but without the long game being somewhere reasonable then low scores won't happen.

 

[EastPreston]

And by saying "a good short game" are we saying;

Being able to chip/pitch on then a one putt,
Being able to get out the bunker, then one putt,
Being able to lag putt within 1/2ft from over 15 yards?

Anymore you can think of?

 

[MVP]

Without a doubt, next time golf is on the telly see how many greens in regulation they get! Yes quite a few but they also miss quite a few, and with out a decent short game their scores would be terrible in comparison, Ideally they leave themselves just the one putt to save par, which means hitting it close to the pin! A good short game for us amateurs is even more important considering we hit far less greens in regulation then the pros!

 

[EastPreston]

Without a doubt, next time golf is on the telly see how many greens in regulation they get! Yes quite a few but they also miss quite a few, and with out a decent short game their scores would be terrible in comparison, Ideally they leave themselves just the one putt to save par, which means hitting it close to the pin! A good short game for us amateurs is even more important considering we hit far less greens in regulation then the pros!

Your avatar has scared me a little bit...

 

[Losttheplot]

And by saying "a good short game" are we saying;

Being able to chip/pitch on then a one putt,
Being able to get out the bunker, then one putt,
Being able to lag putt within 1/2ft from over 15 yards?

Anymore you can think of?

For me a good short game is not taking many 3 putts. Maybe 1 per round. Being able to get up and down maybe 75% of the time from anywhere around the green. Maybe drop to 50% from bunkers. There's too many factors when looking at 30-40 yards or more certainly if your not on the fairway anyway.

 

[EaseNgrace]

When I played my best round of the year I hit 13 GIR, I dropped a shot at every hole I missed the green. To me that means my shortgame isn't good enough, a good short game to me is making pars from missed GIR and that is the key to low scores yes.

 

[steveyjd81]

IMO the short game is what separates every level of golfer,

a 10 handicap will have a better short game than an 18

a 5 better than a 9

a scratch better than a 5

a tour pro better than a club pro

its no coincidence that tiger n phil have the best short games in the world and ranked 1 n 2
both have dodgy swings but get away with it through great short games

 

[Robobum]

Having a reliable short game gives you the confidence to go for your shots. Safe in the knowledge that if you do miss a green there is a fair chance you will recover without having a disaster.

A good short game isn't the be all and end all of low scores/ h'caps though (IMO)

 

[EastPreston]

A good short game isn't the be all and end all of low scores/ h'caps though (IMO)

Whoah! Here we go

Care to elaborate on that?

 

[The_LHC]

Having a reliable short game gives you the confidence to go for your shots. Safe in the knowledge that if you do miss a green there is a fair chance you will recover without having a disaster.

Really? Is that actually a consideration? When I'm looking at my shot to the green, I'll look at where the danger lies and I'll probably consider where the best place to miss is (ie if there's a pond on the left, err to the right) but I never think about whether I'll get up and down if I do miss. That, to me, is negative thinking, when you're preparing for a shot you shouldn't be thinking about if you're going to muck up the shot after or not if you miss. You should be assuming you WILL make the shot, surely anything else is self-defeating?

 

[CrapHacker]

At whatever level you are, be it 5 handicap, or 20 handicap, the better your short game, the better you will score.

Everyone should spend some time working on their game from 70 yards in.

Although, personally, I need to spend a lot more time trying not to slice the ball into the jungle on every tee, as well.

However

Yesterday my short game was much better than the previous time I went out, but my long game was a lot worse. Apart from 2 blobs yesterday I scored pretty much the same over the two rounds.

But I enjoyed the first of the two rounds more. Because I watched a few drives fly down the middle of the fairway, and I was playing happy relaxed golf. Whereas yesterday, I felt much more pressure on myself to 'save' a score with my short game

 

[freddielong]

A one inch putt and a 300yrd drive both equal 1 on the scorecard.

The game is about getting it in the hole and that is all short game

 

[JustOne]

Whereas yesterday, I felt much more pressure on myself to 'save' a score with my short game

Didn't know you were 'feeling the pressure', I'd have rubbed it in a bit had I known

You played some nice shots yesterday, chin up!

 

[medwayjon]

It is absolutely essential.

You could be the best and most accurate off the tee in the world but if you cant chip and putt, you will be nowhere.

 

[The_LHC]

It's all about the short game for me, a couple of years back I got down to 14 and I couldn't hit a single fairway and I struggled to find greens with my irons (big fade on everything) but my short game was dynamite. Then I had a year or so where I only played once or twice a year, since I've come back playing regularly I've been booming the drives miles, finding more fairways in 12 rounds than I found in 12 years previously and hitting my irons really nicely.

But now, I cannot putt for toffee and my chipping is mediocre at best, really struggling with getting the distance right. End result, I haven't broken 90 all year and some days I'm struggling to get below 100.

Case in point two weeks ago, 156 yard par 3, big green, huge hump in the middle of the green, flag front middle with the hump behind, I put my ball back left, but I am on the green.

I walked off with a 6 and the ball never left the green because I could not get the pace right. Now, it was a long first putt over the hump with the hole on the downslope on the otherside and, if I'm honest, I half expected to 3 putt it from where I was but FIVE putts?

Short game, short game, short game, after the last couple of months I'm tempted to say nothing else matters.

 

[CrapHacker]

Whereas yesterday, I felt much more pressure on myself to 'save' a score with my short game

Didn't know you were 'feeling the pressure', I'd have rubbed it in a bit had I known

You played some nice shots yesterday, chin up!

And I've still got two good wrists as well.

I even changed hands at 99 to keep it exciting.

 

[bobmac]

If you drive it badly, you might not hit the green, then a good short game helps
If you drive it well but miss the greens then a good short game helps.
I think it's about having a good balance in your game but.........
Improving the short game is the easiest way of improving your handicap without major swing surgery and hitting 1,000's of balls a week on the range.
Technically, it's easier to learn how to chip, pitch and putt than it is to learn the full swing

 

[Region3]

It depends on your definition of a good score.

Someone who's never broken 100 would benefit more from having less (or none!) duffed shots.

A low single h/capper is pretty much going to get the ball green high in regulation every hole, so the more often he can scramble a par when he misses the green the better it is for him.