How To Pitch, Chip And Putt Better This Weekend With A 30-Minute Practice Routine

Amateur golfers often wonder how best to use their time before a round or organise their practice in general.

Turning up and machine-gunning through a bucket of balls is something you should never do on the driving range, but sadly so many amateur golfers totally neglect their short game in favour of more time with big stick in hand.

But, if you want to cut your handicap in 2026, you need to flip the script. Our short game clinic and ultimate putting improvement guide are a great place to start, as they provide top tips from expert coaches, but you still need a clear routine to follow.

In order to help you put together a consistent and effective 30-minute short-game practice routine, we reached out to a Top 50 Coach with more than 30 years of experience helping golfers to shoot lower scores.

Below, Keith shares how committing to half an hour of practice time can seriously sharpen up your short game...

30-Minute Short Game Practice Routine

Short Putting

When faced with a short putt, focus on a specific point at the back of the hole, commit to a ‘followthrough and hold' position and be more conscious of where your follow-through ends.

It's a bit like a full swing – if you focus on where it needs to finish, the journey can take care of itself. Avoid anything too technical just before you play.

A simple drill to narrow your focus is to reduce the size of the hole with tee pegs to get you really focused on the centre of the hole – two at the front, just wide enough to get the ball through, and one at the back as a target.

Instead of trying to hit the hole, which is just over 4ins wide, focus centrally on something as small as the stem of a tee peg. You then have 2ins either side in case you pull or push it.

Here, our intention is to hit the back of the hole. So, hold the follow-through and be aware of where the putter finishes. You will find you accelerate to that point, which will help you to keep the putter face on line and squarer for longer.

Long Putts

In preparation for your round, and assuming that you are comfortable with the mechanics of your putting stroke, you need to create a feel for, and rapport with, your target.

A great drill for long putts is to look at the hole while swinging the putter backwards and forwards in your practice strokes.

This builds your natural awareness of the distance to the hole through your eyes and is more effective than staring down at the ball with an occasional look.

Our eyes are pivotal when it comes to aiming and judging distance. If you're throwing a dart or rolling a ball on a bowling green, your eyes are the most important thing. We all have an in-built skill to judge distance through our eyes.

Try and get away from worrying about the length of your stroke too much. Instead, stare at that target and build up a visual for what a 40ft putt requires. When you take your practice swings, stare at the hole and swing the putter.

You're not actually analysing how you're swinging that club. Rather, you are analysing subconsciously through your eyes how far away the hole is. So, establish a rapport with the target and then step straight in and execute.

Ball Above Your Feet

It's important that you don't just practise your chipping from perfect lies, as you'll get all sorts of lies out on the golf course. It's therefore important to learn how to manage slopes.

When the ball is above your feet, keep it simple. Stand a bit further away as it becomes a slightly flatter action, and get right down to the bottom of the grip to naturally shorten the club.

Now you've factored in that the ball is a few inches above you. Also, lower your hands slightly so the toe doesn't dig into the slope.

Now, just make the usual move with the torso as you've taken care of impact by gripping down. Favour the balls of your feet with your weight as it's easy to sit into your heels due to the slope. Finally, allow for the ball to move a little left.

As with any awkward lie, focus on maintaining stability for a decent contact. Be realistic with expectations and what constitutes a good shot from this lie.

Ball Below Your Feet

This lie is quite awkward. You don't want to put your weight on your toes because it will feel like you're toppling down the hill, so people generally sit in their heels, which straightens the spine angle.

It's almost impossible to get the club back to the ball properly then. Instead, tilt a bit more from your hips to lower yourself a little and hold the grip at full length.

You need to get the shaft as tall as possible to avoid the heel making contact with the slope, as this can flip the toe of the club over.

Lob Shot

This is a risky shot as it involves additional moving parts. You can stand slightly open or square if you're more comfortable.

Many golfers tend to complicate things and, if you're a bit worried about a shank, opening yourself up means an across-the-line hit, which increases the risk.

This is one of the few shots where you don't want the club releasing via rotation of your forearms.

Try and keep your glove's logo pointing skywards so it stays above the other hand. This will keep loft on the clubface.

Hinge your wrists to get the club steeper in the backswing and to create an aggressive angle of attack for added height and flight.

Push down on the butt of the club with your gloved hand to promote the hinge motion. It's a longer swing, so commit through the ball and keep the upper body rotating into a full-ish finish.

Greenside Bunker Shot

The only interaction you have with the sand as you prepare to play from a bunker is through your feet, and this will give you your first impression of what that sand is like.

Then it's about securing your stance – it's a longer swing than a standard chip and you don't want to slip. How much you lower yourself into the sand with your feet (top left photo) will automatically set your divot's depth – the low point of your swing.

I would then recommend the line drill, which is all about whether or not you can direct the club onto the desired point of impact in the sand behind the ball. Can you hit that spot with a bit of energy and keep the energy going?

You won't get any better feedback than this. If you hit one fat, it will be behind the line. If you don't hit the line at all, you know you've thinned it.

The depth of divot will also highlight how you are swinging it. So, practise your ability to hit a certain point by drawing a line in the practice bunker and trying to make contact as close to it as possible.

Chip And Release

This is all about ‘collecting' the ball, with the follow-through and finish position crucial.

Stand tall with the toe of the club more in contact with the ground than the heel. Adopt a narrow stance with weight favouring your lead leg, ball slightly back and hands down the grip.

Take enough loft to carry any fringe or obstacle, but with the strength of loft to give you your desired roll/release. Then rock your shoulders, with hands and arms simply moving with the shoulders.

Having the toe down minimises contact with the ground. It won't impact your follow-through unless you decelerate, hence why rocking the shoulders is pivotal.

Not everybody can ‘get' the feeling of the shoulders going up and down, so think about moving the V of your forearms. It's all about getting your forearms going backwards and forwards in that V, with minimal hand/wrist action.