Which is more important to practice? I here that over 40% of your strokes come from the putting green, so 40% of your practice time should be putting. Conversely, you have to be able to get to the putting green, and in as little strokes as possible. You also don't want to be hitting 2+ chips every hole, but putting yourself in position to not have to get up and down every hole is nice. Both are extremely important, but what should you spend practicing more on.

That's an easy answer… it depends.

Somewhat controversial topic that gets discussed often around here. But amateurs are amazingly bad at scoring from 100 yards and in when compared with pros. Practice putting 4 footers, chipping from fluffy lies, and learn your full/partial wedge distances. That's where most of the wasted shots are.

I've found that learning the short game first is better at teaching clubface awareness and control at slower speeds vs trying to do the same at higher speeds with a full swing. It's easier to speed up than slow down.

Breaking 90 - spend more time practicing your driver and irons
Breaking 80 - spend more time practicing your short game (chipping, pitching, and putting)

Driving is fun, but as I get older - they just don't fly as far. The approach shots don't hit the greens as much as they used to, but my scores have remained relatively the same. Why? I'm pretty decent around the green. I get up and down about half the time (and I stay out of the sand and water). When practicing and/or warming up, I hit the 8 thru SW about 70% of the session. I hit the driver, long irons and hybrids the remaining 30%.

You got to be able to get off the box. If you can't do that, chipping/putting for double really doesn't matter IMO. And you don't even have to hit every fairway but at least know where your ball is going. Maybe try eliminating one side of the fairway and go from there. Just for me, personally, my scores didn't drop significantly until I got much better driving the ball. Modern day drivers should be the easiest club in your bag to hit. Get fit with the right shaft and go from there.

Start from the green and work backwards.

Once you are good at putting, move to chipping, then move to wedges, etc.

Today, everyone whips out driver and can't hit a wedge within 20 feet. That is how you score.

For what it is worth, my daughter's coach is Brian Smith at Longwood, who is very well respected on this board and many of the elite girls in the area get coached by him. This topic came up at a lesson recently, he believes the short game is more important. He believes is should be 60/40 or 70/30 practice time, I can't remember which, but a significantly higher percentage of practice time dedicated to short game. That of course doesn't mean you don't practice getting of the tee, but you dedicate more to short game.

Every coach I have ever talked to shares that thought process (I am positive there are some that don't). I have heard several coaches ask my daughter something along the lines of "in a round of golf which clubs do you use more, your driver or your wedges/putter" of course she answers "wedges/putter", then they say "so which clubs do you think you need to be better at?"

Now to really get myself in trouble......there is a reason you .....drive for show, putt for dough! FORE!

I want to be close to the green whether chipping or putting as quick as possible. I feel that you have to get a playable swing down. If you can get to the par 4s in 3 or 4 shots consistently then I'd focus more on short game. It really is feel, if I can get on the green a two putt is expected. Three putt is failure but at that point it's less target focus and more feel for speed. That comes and goes unless you practice often. Finding a chip stroke that gets you within two putt range is critical IMO.

I'd rather try and spend my time getting to green efficiently with where my game is at now. At the range I never really try and hit the 20-40 yd shot, I hit full irons and driver 90% of the time.

MarylandAG said:

---

nm

---

Yeah, I think people forget how bad most people are at driving the ball. Who cares if you turn a few 2 putts into 3 putts if that's the difference between a double/triple or a triple/quad? Avoid penalty strokes and mi****s/duffs to get around the green.

Once you can make consistent solid contact on a ball, reduce lost balls, and have it generally go in the direction you want without a wicked slice or duck hook, then I agree with the short game comments.

That probably means +/- 10-12 degrees to your target line like 80%+ of the time. (That's like +/- 50-60 feet on either side of the target at 100 yards). Even better if you can eliminate a 2-way miss and only have that 10-12 degrees on one side of your target line.

This is what I've always thought. You can be great at putting and chipping, but what does it matter if it takes you 4+ shots to get there and losing your ball all of the time?

Once you have an understanding of your swing and it becomes fairly reliable, then try to dial in the finer points.

I would also say if working on short game, getting creative isn't hitting sky high flops for me. I practice chipping with lower lofted irons and score better that way.

We're all probably over-analyzing this a bit. The real answer is that you have to practice a ton with all the clubs in your bag, in all the varied circumstances. The most consistent club I hit is the driver. Why? Because it's the club in a practice setting that I've hit one million times, and it shows in the rest of my game. Mea culpa.