Having a solid short game is crucial to shooting lower scores and reducing your handicap, but so many golfers blow their scorecard up with errors around the green.
As you can see in the video below, expert short game coach Dan Grieve explains that there are many common mistakes amateur golfers make around the greens... but our comprehensive guide has the solutions to your problems.
Every golfer needs to understand the fundamentals of how to chip, how to hit a bunker a shot and how to hit pitch shots, so why not learn from the best?
In this curated list of the 20 best short game tips, a wide range of Golf Monthly's Top 50 coaches share their advice and drills to help you play your best golf around the green...
20 Best Short Game Tips From Expert PGA Professionals
This list of the best short game tips and drills for amateur golfers has been curated using the extensive experience and knowledge of the Golf Monthly Top 50 Coaches.
Each tip has been carefully explained and each drill has been expertly designed to help you improve your performance around the green.
01 CLUB CHOICE AROUND THE GREEN
Take various clubs to the chipping green (not just your wedges) and mark out some landing zones. Note how far the ball rolls out from each zone with different clubs. This highlights where to land it and how much roll with each club.
02 LOB SHOT OFF A TIGHT LIE
For this testing shot, push the ball a little further forward in your stance at address – not too much though – and focus on keeping the hands very soft with lots of wrist hinge in the backswing. This is quite a soft impact shot, so just let the weight of your arms swing past you for a really gentle release as your hands sweep through impact.
03 CHIPPING FROM WET LIES
The key is to avoid digging the club into the ground by really using the bounce on your wedges. It’s important to ensure the clubface doesn’t move away too closed in the backswing, so set the club a bit more open at address and let your left hand weaken slightly in your grip. This helps expose the bounce and stops you duffing these chips.
04 STOP DECELERATING ON CHIP SHOTS
Often, deceleration occurs when you aren’t confident and don’t commit – you slow down and stab at the ball. Work on your strike by keeping the backswing shorter. Get your weight on the front foot, grip down a little and look to just bruise the turf under the ball.
Commit to the shot and keep the speed up - it's the only way to chip successfully
05 IMPROVE YOUR CHIPPING STRIKE
When you chip, your hands should move gently inside, back to impact and gently inside coming through. Many club golfers don’t move their hands on this arc, with lots of scooping and stabbing. Pop two alignment sticks down beneath where your hands hang naturally to create a visual to encourage this arc.
06 CHIP AND RUN
For this shot, use a mid- to short-iron and stand a bit closer, with the heel of the club a little off the ground. Grip down a touch as the shaft will now be more upright due to you standing closer. Then just rock the shoulders exactly as you would when putting.
07 PLUGGED LIE IN BUNKER
The safest option for handicap golfers is to keep the face square or slightly closed with more weight on the lead side, then muscle it out somewhere via a full-ish swing with lots of speed.
08 STOP SCOOPING CHIPS
This is a great drill for understanding what the upper body is doing and how little is going on via the grip of the club. Have your upper arms resting on your rib cage, then hold your palms, as here, with your little fingers together. Get used to rocking your shoulders and rib cage, but not your hands and arms. The shoulders rotate with the body, with no excess work being done by the hands.
A great drill that you can do anywhere to prevent that 'scoopy' action
09 SHORT PITCH SHOTS
Set the ball a little behind the sternum, with just a little forward shaft lean at address. Make sure you maintain your weight distribution during the swing – if you start 60/40 on your lead leg, ensure it’s the same at the end of the backswing, at impact and at the end of the waist-high swing.
10 THE HYBRID CHIP
Try practising hybrid chips one-handed with your thumb on your sternum and your fingers on your bicep to help retain the connection. As you go back, your arm’s on the side of your rib and will still be there as you come through.
11 HANDS AT ADDRESS
Poor chipping often stems from the hands being too far forward at address, so you present the leading edge and not the sole bounce to the ground at impact. Have the ball position a little further forward – just inside the back foot – with limited shaft lean. Your sternum should be in front of the ball at address, at the top and at impact.
12 HOW TO SPIN CHIPS
You need good contact nearer the bottom of the club while retaining the loft in order to spin your chip shots. Set the ball in the centre of the stance without too much forward shaft lean. Feel like you’re lighting a match at impact. If you drag the club too slowly, there won’t be enough friction.
Friction is your friend, so feel like you are striking that match through impact
What's The Best Short Game Tip You've Ever Heard?
We are just over half way on our comprehensive guide to the best short game tips and drills, but you can also have your say on this topic.
Let us know some of the best short game tips you've ever heard by dropping us a comment in the box below.
I'd also love to hear how you are getting on with the tips listed above, so keep us posted on your progress. Play well and go low!
13 IMPROVE YOUR FEEL
Here’s a drill you can do at home in the garden. Pop open an umbrella and set it about eight feet away. Start by chipping balls at, or just over, the brolly. This will help you to develop a solid strike. Focus on having more follow-through than backswing and make sure you commit. Then, work on bouncing the ball directly into the umbrella.
14 STOP THINNING CHIP SHOTS
Golfers thin chips when their body stops and they drive the leading edge down too quickly, or the clubhead overtakes the hands. Try clipping balls off the turf, finishing with your chest and hips towards the target – and just hold it.
15 TEE PEG DRILL
Having the ball too far back in the stance on chip shots can cause fats and thins. Move the ball to the middle and set your weight evenly at address. Hit chips off a tee in practice to develop technique and boost your confidence.
16 DOWNHILL CHIP SHOTS
The steeper the slope, the wider you need to stand. Put the ball back of centre in the stance, as that’s going to allow your club to come up a little bit higher in the takeaway. Don’t try and rotate as you normally would – keep all the pressure in your lead leg and finish nice and short.
Short game guru Dan Grieve is the perfect person to teach you how to play this tricky downhill chip shot
17 COMPACT SAND IN GREENSIDE TRAP
Steepen the attack angle to release the club while the leading edge stays down. Put the ball just back of centre and really feel like you're leaning your whole body towards the target.
18 PRACTICE BLUEPRINT
After you've completed your next 30 minute driving range session, go to the short game area and split your remaining practice time into thirds. First, hit a variety of shots to establish your weakest areas. Secondly, work on those shots or specific techniques. Finally, have some fun as you put it all into practice. Keep things creative and interesting.
19 RELEASE THE CLUB
Issues arise when you don’t release the club properly on chips. Some ‘flip release’ it to help the ball up; others ‘block release’ it, with the lead hand taking over. Let gravity do its thing and keep the hands soft. Try taking your left hand off to get the right hand to play more of a role. You want to feel the club passing your body nice and naturally.
20 CHIP OFF A BARE LIE
If the grass is sparse and the ground unforgiving, you need a specialised approach. At address, lift the handle of the club slightly to encourage the toe to sit closer to the ball, with the heel elevated above the grass. Stand a bit closer to enhance control and maintain an upright shaft angle throughout, keeping those high hands.
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