Topic
48 articles tagged “short game”.
As golfers get older, distance usually falls, but scoring doesn't have to. The short game needs touch, judgement and experience rather than strength, and senior golfers often have all three. Many…
You don't need a golf course to improve your short game. A few minutes a day at home, putting on a carpet, chipping into a basket or rehearsing your stroke in a mirror, can make a real difference…
Multi-tier greens, with two or three distinct levels separated by steep slopes, can turn a routine two-putt into a nervy three or four. Putts up a tier come back if hit too softly; putts down a tier…
Being "short-sided" means missing the green on the same side as the hole, leaving very little green between you and the flag. It's one of the hardest situations in golf: a normal chip will run past…
You can make a perfect stroke and still miss if the putter face isn't aimed where you think. Studies of amateur golfers have found that many misaim putts consistently, often by more than enough to…
When you start golf, it's tempting to spend all your time trying to hit the ball further. But the quickest way to lower your scores is the short game: putting, chipping, pitching and bunker play…
A four-foot putt on the practice green and a four-foot putt to win a match are the same distance, but they don't feel the same. Under pressure, hands tighten, the stroke gets jerky and doubt creeps…
Great putters look the same on every putt. They read the green, take their practice strokes, set up and roll the ball with the same rhythm whether it's a two-footer to win a match or a 40-footer on…
Getting "up and down" means getting the ball in the hole in two shots from off the green: one chip, pitch or bunker shot, then one putt. It's the skill that separates golfers who turn missed greens…
Greens are often surrounded by banks, mounds and hollows, so many short-game shots are played from sloping lies. A slope changes your balance, the club's effective loft, the direction the ball starts…
Tight lies, with little or no grass under the ball, are some of the most intimidating chips in golf. There's no cushion to hide a poor strike, so a fraction too early and the club bounces into the…
Missing the green and finishing in long grass is one of the most common situations in golf, and one of the most unpredictable. The ball might sit up nicely on top of the grass or nestle down at the…
