Short Game Thoughts: Why Your Short Game is Important
Drive for show, putt for dough. But what about in between? In this article I talk about why you need to look at your game from 100 yards and in. Enjoy.
How many times have you stood over a 3-foot putt, thought it was going to go in, and you just completely crap the bed? I've honestly done this more times than I can count, and it's because I focused on the wrong things. Can I hit a drive 285 yards? Absolutely. On a good day, I'm hitting it 310. But when you get inside of 150 yards, what do you do? That's your short game, and it's probably killing your score more than your driver ever could.
Your Ego Is Costing You Strokes
John Daly said it best back in the early 2000s: it's best if you start a beginner on the green, let them get used to putting, and then move them out. We've become such an ego-driven society when it comes to golf that a lot of that ego contributes to really, really, really bad scores. Let's not get it twisted. Most people will never break 90 in their lives, but hopefully this blog will give you some building blocks that you could use to make that journey just a little bit easier.
Build Your Wedge Matrix
First things first, understand your distances. Ian Fraser talked about this in a video once, establishing a wedge matrix. Let's say, for example, you have a 58°, a 54° and a 50°. It's good to figure out what distances you can get from a quarter swing, a half swing, a three-quarter swing and a full swing. If you do that over the course of three wedges, you now have 12 shots, 12 separate distances with three clubs that you can easily rely on if you're inside of 100 yards, and then you can start applying them to different scenarios. If you've never actually mapped your own wedge gaps like this, a real fitting conversation will get you there faster than trial and error on the range, more on that below.
Stop Hitting and Praying Around the Greens
Are you short-sided? Do you have a bunker in your way? These are different shots that you can put inside of your mind and just drill them. Coming back to putting, are you really caring about face alignment? Are you caring about aligning your feet to make sure that your ball comes out on the proper line when you're chipping? Are you actually looking at a spot on the green to chip onto and letting the ball actually roll out, or are you just hitting and praying? We've become so driven by distance that we never really think about the finesse side of golf, and that's what is taking your scores to be well over 90, into the hundreds, and so on.
Simplify Your Bag
Think about the most reliable clubs in your bag. I can damn near guarantee you that it isn't your driver. So do me a huge favor, get your Sunday bag out, or grab a bag from my homies at lowercase bags and snag 8 clubs. If you're starting out in golf, you probably aren't using the full selection of clubs anyway. Also, learn shots around the greens like the bump and run, the Texas wedge. These shots will absolutely save your round and give you so much more confidence going into the next hole.
If you don't actually know where your own wedge gaps are, that's not something you should be guessing at on the course. Start a free wedge fitting with Ace at truepathgolf.me/wedge-fitting. No launch monitor required, Ace works off the distances and misses you already know and builds your matrix from there instead of handing you a generic chart. But if you happen to have some pictures of a launch monitor session, Ace is right there with you to tell you what the numbers mean.
Garry Callis Jr.
Founder/Editor
True Path Golf
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