Baseline Short Game Test

Main Focus Short Game
Maintenance Full swing, impact, tempo

Golf Course Practice
Short Game Test – Download Short Game Test PDF (take to the course with you)

The purpose of the short game test is to help you understand what your strengths and weaknesses are in your short game. The first shot is an easy chip.

Basic instructions for the chip:

Use a lower lofted club. 9 or pitching wedge is recommended. You may use a sand wedge or lob wedge if that is most comfortable for you.
Use 11 balls
The closest ball to the hole is your best
The ball farthest away is your worst
Remove the 5 balls farthest away from the hole and the 5 closest to the hole and the ball that is remaining is your average proximity to hole
You want to putt all the balls out. Your goal is 8 out of 11 up and downs (1 chip and 1 putt). I do not expect you to do this in your first test. The goal is to reach this by the end of the program when we retest!

Instructions for pitch (medium and hard):

Use whichever club is most comfortable (I recommend a sand wedge or lob wedge)
Follow same steps as above 2-5.
Your ultimate goal is 6 out of 11 at the end of the program!

Feedback: When you get home fill out your “what you learned today worksheet”. Evaluate which shot (easy, medium, hard) you were best at and what your biggest weakness was. When you practice your short game through this program, place 60% of your focus on your area of weakness and 40% on your area of strength.

Full Swing Practice

Dynamic Warm up routine – complete this routine before you get to the golf course or at the golf course in the locker room or on the driving range Tip: Place a towel down if doing on the driving range! Read more about dynamic stretching
15 shots Feet together drill – see week 1 description for drill details
15 Pitch shot with two tees – this will help you develop hand-eye coordination because you can see where you are bottoming out the club with where the divot starts (see skills video for proper contact of the golf ball)
15 shots with alignment stick under the arches of your feet
10 drivers simulating fairway – Make an imaginary fairway. Go through your pre – shot routine before each shot, like you would do on the golf course. Track how many you hit in the fairway out of the 10 shots. On your what I learned today worksheet, write down your thoughts and feelings. This will help you identify ways to improve.

Putting Practice

Completed 3 foot, 10 in a row drill, straight putt

→ Use alignment sticks on short putts. Put one alignment stick down for your feet and one outside the toe of your putter. It should be like rail road tracks with the stick for the feet being slightly left of the hole and the stick outside of the toe of the putter in line with the right edge of the hole.You should use this visual as a guide and swing your putter straight back and through, down the sticks.

Tip: Hold your finish until the ball its the bottom of the cup!
→This ensures proper acceleration through the putt.

At Home Practice
What Did I Learn Today worksheet – fill the worksheet out as detailed as you can. The more thoughts and feelings you can write down, the more you will learn from your game and speed up your improvement.

Dynamic Stretching Routine – How the players warm up before going to the course (see blog post)

Full Swing
Orange whip for tempo – See description for how to use it. 3 sets of 20 swings = 60 swings total

Putting Practice

Gate drill with books, 50 putts – putt a book on the ground outside the toe and heel of the putter. Putt the ball in the center between the books. This helps you in grain the proper putter path if you miss the books while swinging the putter back and through.
Alignment sticks down for feet and club 50 putts – just like you did at the golf course. You can do this on carpet!

Short Game for Impact Drills

Hit 30 shots with soft practice balls– set up like you have practiced in full swing fundamentals. Put the ball position middle of stance. Take half swings. You can buy soft simulated golf balls that are safe to use inside!
Focus on set up and proper impact, slower speed so you can feel the proper pitch shot technique