Here's a number that should change the way you practice: the average golfer hits 8–10 full shots per round that they'd call "good." The rest of their score — the part that actually determines whether they shoot 82 or 92 — is decided inside 100 yards.
That's not an opinion. It's what the data says, and it's what twenty years on the lesson tee has shown me over and over again. The golfers who make the biggest leaps in scoring aren't the ones who add 15 yards to their drive. They're the ones who learn to get the ball up and down from 40 yards.
And yet, when I ask a new student what they worked on at the range last week, the answer is almost always the same: driver, then irons, then maybe a few chips if there's time. The short game gets the leftovers.
It's time to flip that around.
The Framework That Changed Everything
My approach to short game coaching is deeply influenced by James Sieckmann, widely regarded as one of the best short game coaches in the world. His students have won on every major professional tour, and his methodology is built on something beautifully simple: master the fundamentals of contact first, and creativity follows naturally.
Sieckmann's framework centres on a small number of non-negotiable principles. Once you understand these, every short game shot — from a 20-yard bump-and-run to a 70-yard lob over a bunker — becomes a variation on the same theme rather than a completely different skill.
"Great short game players don't have 15 different techniques. They have one framework and infinite adjustments."
The Three Pillars of Scoring
Low Point Control: The Foundation of Everything
This is the single most important concept in short game play, and it's the one that separates competent short game players from everyone else. Low point is the bottom of your swing arc — the point where the club is closest to the ground.
For clean, consistent contact, the low point needs to be in front of the ball — toward the target. When the low point is behind the ball, you get the two misses that haunt every amateur: the fat shot that barely moves and the thin shot that rockets across the green.
How do you move your low point forward? It starts with where your weight is at impact. If you can feel 60–65% of your weight on your lead foot through the strike, and your hands are leading the clubhead into the ball, your low point will naturally shift forward. It's not about hitting down aggressively — it's about letting the club brush the ground in the right place.
Distance Control: The Skill Nobody Practises
Ask a golfer what they're working on around the greens and they'll usually say "technique." Ask them how far their pitching wedge carries on a half-swing and you'll get a blank stare.
Distance control is the most under-practised skill in golf, and it's the one that matters most. A chip that's on line but 15 feet long is a three-putt waiting to happen. A chip that's 6 feet short but slightly off-line is a tap-in par.
The Sieckmann approach to distance control is built on matching swing length to distance — not by manipulating speed or hitting harder. You develop a library of swings: a 7 o'clock swing, a 9 o'clock swing, a 10:30 swing. Each one produces a predictable carry distance with each wedge. Once you know your numbers, you pick the combination and commit.
This is where practice time pays off enormously. Spend 20 minutes hitting your sand wedge to three different targets at 20, 40, and 60 yards. Do that twice a week and within a month, you'll have a distance control skill that most golfers never develop in a lifetime.
Consistent Face Control: Let the Bounce Work
This is where most golfers unknowingly sabotage themselves. They've been told to "keep the face square" or "don't let the wrists break down," and so they lock everything up and drag the leading edge into the turf.
The secret that every great short game player knows: the bounce of the club is your best friend. The bounce — that angled sole on the bottom of your wedge — is designed to glide through the turf and prevent digging. But it only works if you let it.
This means allowing the face to rotate naturally through the shot, maintaining soft hands, and trusting that the loft on the club will do the work of getting the ball airborne. You don't need to help the ball up. You need to let the club do what it was designed to do.
The Mistakes I See Every Day
After thousands of short game lessons, patterns emerge. Here are the three most common mistakes, and they're all connected:
- Trying to scoop the ball into the air. The instinct to help the ball up moves the low point behind the ball, producing fat and thin shots. Trust the loft. A 56-degree wedge has more than enough loft to get the ball airborne — your job is to deliver the club to the ball, not lift it.
- Using one technique for every shot. A 10-yard bump over the fringe and a 50-yard pitch over a bunker are fundamentally different shots. Treating them the same — same club, same swing — costs strokes. Developing a short game "menu" of shots is one of the most rewarding skills you can build.
- Practising without a target. Dropping a bucket of balls and chipping aimlessly builds no skill. Every shot in practice should have a specific target and a specific distance intention. Simulate the shots you'll face on the course — that's where the transfer happens.
A Practice Session That Actually Works
Here's a 30-minute practice routine you can use the next time you're at the course. This is similar to what I assign my students between lessons:
Part 1: Contact Quality (10 minutes)
Place a tee in the ground about an inch in front of your ball. Your goal on every chip and pitch is to clip the tee after you strike the ball. If you're hitting the tee, your low point is forward. If you're missing it, the low point is behind. This is instant, honest feedback — no launch monitor required.
Part 2: Distance Ladder (10 minutes)
Pick one wedge — your most comfortable one. Set targets at 15, 30, and 50 yards. Hit five balls to each target, trying to land them as close as possible. Don't change clubs. Change your swing length. Notice the relationship between the length of your backswing and where the ball lands. This builds the internal calibration that great short game players rely on.
Part 3: Simulate the Course (10 minutes)
Play 10 different short game shots, each one unique. Vary the lie, the distance, the trajectory, and the landing spot. Imagine a specific hole at your course. Give yourself a lie and a situation. Play the shot, then move on. No two shots should be the same. This is where practice becomes performance — because on the course, you never hit the same shot twice.
"The golfer who practices 10 different shots once will always outperform the golfer who practices one shot 10 times."
Where the Strokes Really Are
These numbers aren't abstract. They show up in real rounds, with real students, at Mad River every week. When someone commits to short game development — even just two focused sessions per week — the results come faster than almost any other area of the game.
It's also the most rewarding area to improve because you feel it immediately. The first time you stick a 40-yard pitch to 3 feet, or get up and down from a bunker to save par, something shifts. You stop seeing the area around the green as a danger zone and start seeing it as an opportunity. That's when the game changes.
The Mindset Shift
The best short game players share one quality that has nothing to do with technique: they expect to get it close. They walk up to a chip shot with a plan, pick their landing spot, trust their preparation, and commit.
Average short game players do the opposite. They walk up hoping not to chunk it. They're focused on what could go wrong instead of where the ball needs to land. That tension shows up in their hands, their tempo, and their contact.
Building a great short game is as much about building confidence in your ability as it is about building the ability itself. That's why the practice routine above matters — every shot you hit with intention deposits confidence you can draw on when you're standing over a pitch shot with the match on the line.
The scoring zone is waiting. And the path to lower scores is shorter than you think.
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