5 Ways to Improve Your Golf Short Game
If you were looking to improve your short game look no further, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll cover five pro tips to improve your golf short game.
Who can forget one of the greatest Tiger Woods’ moments of all the time. Remember…The famous 16th-hole chip in at the 2005 Masters in Augusta, GA?
It’s still regarded as–and probably always will be one of the greatest moments in golf.
Of course, Tiger has always paid close attention to his short game skills. In truth, most of the best players in the world spend at least two-thirds of their total practice hours honing in their short game.
How can I improve my short game fast?
Soften Your Hands Around The Green
Someone once told me to hold the golf club like you are holding a baby bird. A common mistake most amateur golfers make is having too much tension in the hands. But the truth is that your golf grip can make life much harder–lighten up to improve your short game. You should never have tension in your forearms or hands when you’re putting on the green.
When it comes to chipping around the greens, you can’t have a strong grip on the club here. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the strongest) shoot for a grip pressure around 4-5.
This will ease the tension in your arms and wrists. Allowing you to have a better opportunity to hit a good shot. Once your grip is in check… you can focus a basic chipping stance, which includes keeping your feet are closer together and your back straight.
Make Sure You Rotate the Body
Just because we don’t move the ball very far when chipping and pitching. You still need to have some movement in the body.
If you want to make solid contact with the ball time and time around the greens, it’s crucial to have body rotation during the swing.
Start by swinging the club head back. Move your right knee towards your left knee as the”trigger” for your downswing. This will free up your right side and help your body rotate through impact and finish the swing.
Find Your Short Game Tempo
Another common mistake we see around the green? Swinging with way too much speed.
Of course, speed and power go a long way off the tee. But around the greens, it’s a much different game.
Don’t think too much. Get your stance, soften your hands and get the nice smooth tempo thoughts in your head.
I like to let the club head feel like its falling naturally from the top and then try and keep the clubs momentum through impact to ensure a good strike.
The idea here is to accelerate through the ball — not attack the ball like a football player.
Use the Bounce to Your Advantage
I believe there is one main ingredient to engaging the bounce when playing standard chip shots, and it is shaft lean at impact (or how far your hands are ahead of the ball).
If we come into impact with our hands ahead of the ball then the club can shallow out after impact given us a nice clean chip shot.
Left Arm is the Driver, Right Arm is the Passenger
When it comes to chipping and pitching tips, this golf tip could be the icing on the cake.
Hitting the golf ball with your left side (for right handed golfers) is where your true control will come from. Think of your left hand/arm being the driver and your right arm is just going along for the ride staying close to the rib cage. Find that center dimple on the ball your looking to hit and really focus on the center face contact. I can’t tell you how important that is when you’re in the zone.
Let your left side guide the way through your back swing.
Improving Your Short Game With Drills & Games
Check out these challenging short game drills you can do at your local course next time you’re out practicing.
When you are practicing always try to put yourself in a scenario on the course when your hitting your shots. That way your brain is engaged and feels the same pressure as you do on the course.
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