5 Short Game Myths You Need To Stop Following To Save Shots

For many golfers short game practice is the same as the new exercise and health regime you promise you’ll start once you are home from holiday, but for now you are going to enjoy yourself.

Only instead of being on holiday you are at the golf range smashing drives and hitting full swing shots. You promise yourself you’ll practice some short game next time, only next time comes and goes, then before you know it you are out on the course and faced with the consequences of your practice choices and a chip shot you have absolutely no feel for.

But lack of practice isn’t the only thing that can make the short game harder than it needs to be. Now more than ever before we are bombarded with rules and advice about how we should chip, pitch and play from around the greens and some of those ‘rules’ can actually make the game more complicated, not less.

Here are five of the most common ones I see shared amongst golfers as gospel, which are often misinterpreted or simply not true!

Play Your Chips Off Your Back Foot

This is a favourite of many and one of the most misunderstood. Moving the ball back can help produce a lower flight and encourage ball first contact, but putting every chip off the back foot can cause problems. It can encourage leaning the handle excessively forward, de-lofting the club and producing a shot that comes out too low and runs too far, or worse, a fat!

Instead, think about matching the ball position to the shot you want to hit. The ball slightly back can work beautifully for a low running chip, while moving it more towards the middle can help you launch the ball a little higher and land it softer.

There isn’t one perfect ball position for every short game shot, you need to get comfortable with experimenting how the ball position affects the ball flight and how it behaves when landing.

Open The Clubface To Add Loft

Opening the face can be incredibly useful, particularly when you need to get the ball up quickly but for the vast majority of chips, it’s simply not required. Opening the face comes with extra risk, it changes not only the loft but also the way the club interacts with the turf and the direction the face is pointing. Plus it can get messy quickly with duffed chips or knifed ones through the green.

Most golfers I coach see a huge improvement by setting up to the ball with a square clubface and simply using the loft their wedge already has. A well struck chip shot with a softer ball and wedge with good clean groves can work wonders.

You Need To Get Underneath The Ball

This one has ruined countless chips and many scorecards. When you try to implement the get under the ball advice it often leads to one thing - the dreaded scoops! Because how can you possibly get the club underneath the ball and up without using your wrists to scoop? Then it’s even more confusing when you end up thinning or topping the ball.

Hitting good quality high shots and bunker shots is golf’s equivalent of a trust fall. You have to let the club's loft do the lifting for you. Your job is to strike the ball with the club travelling slightly down and through the shot, rather than trying to physically lift it into the air. I tell my golfers to think of squashing a bug under the ball, so you hit down and brush through, which will pop the ball up nicely.

Keep Your Head Down

This without doubt is one of the worst pieces of advice golfers give to each other after seeing someone mess up any golf shot. To the point where I think people say it reflexively, like saying bless you after a sneeze. Yet I can count on one hand how many times throughout my coaching career I’ve ever had to say that to a client.

Around the greens, becoming overly focused on keeping your head still can create tension and restrict the natural movement of your body and arms, it kills flow. Your head doesn’t need to be completely stationary throughout the shot.

Instead, focus on making a smooth motion, allowing your body to respond naturally to the swing and target. Like in other racket sports, be focused on the ball you are trying to hit, then allow your body and head to move naturally through as the club finishes.

You Need To Use The Same Wedge For All Your Chip Shots

When starting golf I understand the temptation of turning to the same club for all your chips, but once you have been playing a while, it’s important for your progression to expand your horizons and try different clubs for a variety of shots.

Your wedges are like a set of artist’s brushes, each one offers something a little different and opens you up to the world of short game creativity. Rather than changing your technique dramatically, try using the same chipping action but with a different club.

A lower lofted club can produce a lower, more releasing shot, while a higher lofted wedge can help you fly the ball further and stop it more quickly. Experimenting with different clubs while keeping your technique consistent can give you far more options and help you find the shot that best suits the situation.

So, rather than getting caught up in what you’ve been told you should do, start by looking at the shot in front of you and asking yourself: what does this shot require? Look at your target and imagine you’re throwing the ball. Would you bowl it along the ground, throw it overarm to go further, or throw it high to land softly? Your answer can help you choose the right club and shot without overcomplicating things. The more you practice reacting to what you see, rather than trying to play every shot with the same club and technique, the more feel and confidence you’ll develop around the greens.