GSS 30 Day Challenge - Short Game - a podcast by Marty Griffin brings you top golf content from Golf Digest Top 40 under 40

Glad to see that you're back for the practice routines for week 2!  Now please excuse the upcoming bold font, but this is a crucial part to any practice you're doing and it will be a theme that's applied through the rest of the 30 day challenge.

 

 

So keep that in mind when you are doing these practice routines.  If you are able to do them with better than a 70% success rate you need to make it harder and vice versa if that success rate is below 30%.

 

So on to the good stuff!

 

This week we are going to look at some short game practice routines. Let's start with the flat stick.

 

 

Here's the thing, just about every instructor is going to look at your alignment first so let's get that out of the way right now.

 

Step 1: Pick a putt that's straight, about 10 feet long.

 

Step 2: Set up

 

Check with your course to see if it's okay to put chalk on the practice green.  Then draw two lines, I like to use an actual builders chalk line.  Line #1 should be the intended starting line of your putt.  Line #2 should be a short line that runs perpendicular to that line and should be at the very beginning of line one forming an uppercase T.  (See the picture below)

Use line number #2 to align your putter face throughout this drill. Go through your entire preshot routine and hit a few warm up putts.  Monitor if your putts roll down line #1.  If they do, then you know your path is good!

 

The real test comes from The Gate Drill.

Our second practice routine is called the Putting Ladder Drill.  This one builds the confidence to make those knee knockers and other pressure putts.  This is going to start sounding repetitive but always make sure you go through your complete preshot routine when hitting any shot, even these practice drills.  Anyway, here's how we do the Putting Ladder:

Again, we do this drill 10 times to see if we are in that 30%-70% success zone.  If you make it all the way through the five putts without starting over that's a win!  If you miss one and have to start over, that's a missed attempt (it counts toward your 10 reps).  

 

This is a pretty tough drill for most people starting out so don't be surprised if you have to tone down the difficulty.  If you are under 30% success and need to make it easier just shorten the distance between each ball to about 3 feet.  (Make sure you keep track of the new distance between each putt!)

 

If you need to make it harder (over 70% success) you can add another ball at 36' or even just increase the distance between the ones you have (7' instead of 6').

 

The real beauty of this drill is that it gets us familiar with experiencing failure.  That way when we are out there on the course standing over a really tough putt, we've already experienced that emotion and taught ourselves how to handle it.  Which helps to eliminate fear in the moment.

 

Here's a quick little video from LPGA professional Katie Detlefsen that gives you the general idea for set up and execution. - Please remember to go through your entire pre shot routing before every putt though!

 

Our second structured practice is for chipping.

Practice #2 Chipping

 

This practice routine is going to sound eerily familiar.  It's the big brother to the putting ladder, it's the chipping ladder!

 

The set up is similar pretty similar.

From here we emulate the putting ladder.  

If you hit your landing zone target and your stop the ball inside the circle then you get to move on to the next landing zone!

Remember your preshot routine each time, and don't be afraid to change clubs!

 

You can add or subtract landing zones as needed to maintain that 30%-70% success rate.

 

This drill helps eliminate fear, just like the putting ladder but it also adds some creativity to your game because you learn to alter you carry distance and ball flight around the greens.

 

 

Here we are looking at the "fun" in between zones that a lot of people struggle with.  For this drill you will need to find a facility that has a designated pitching area or a random patch of grass where you can practice (about 80 yards).

This drill is awesome because

A) It helps you practice distance control, which is crucial for scoring

B) It helps you separate the pin from your target because those two things are rarely the same!

 

Make sure to share you progress in the Golf Strategy School Facebook Group to get that added support!

I'll see you next Monday with the new set of practice routines.