Developing a solid short game is a must if you want to shave strokes off your golf handi-cap. As we’ve often said in our golf tips newsletter, a good pitch or chip from 100 yards and in turns three (or more) strokes into two. These saved strokes add up over the course of a round and can dramatically lower your golf handicap. But most short game shots are “in between” shots. That’s a problem. It’s much easier to make a full swing shot than a shot where you’re in between clubs.

Distance Control Is Key

The key to making these short-game shots is distance control with your wedges. Some players like to control distance by “feel.” But that can be difficult to do. An easier ap-proach is to control distance mechanically. You can do that by controlling the length of your swing. It’s the length of the swing with consistent tempo that creates the desired shot distance. If you can master this method, you’ll be able to dial in your shots from 100 yards and in, saving strokes.

Many players who have trouble controlling distance have two major flaws. They have a backswing and downswing that are not the same length and a swing tempo that varies significantly from shot to shot. Both are killers when it comes to distance control. Both are also the result of trying to hit shots with “feel” only. This method might work for Tour players, but its extremely difficult for weekend golfers to master. And judging from what we see in our golf lessons, few do. What’s needed is method that eliminates feel from the shot.

A Proven Method

A proven method for controlling distance involves three components: 1) where to place your hands on the club, 2) the width of your stance, and 3) the length of the swing. Each component contributes equally to controlling distance. Each changes based on the length of the shot. The method works well for many golfers because it is simple and easy to execute.

For example, if you were half the normal distance of a full wedge shot, your stance would be wide but not as wide as for a full wedge shot, and you’d choke down a couple of inches on the club. Your swing length would be shoulder height on both the backswing and downswing. These components would change if you had a shot that was 20 percent of a full-wedge shot. Your hands would be placed almost at the bottom of the grip, your stance would be narrow, and your swing would be short, both in the backswing and the downswing.

Keys To Method

One key to executing this method is that you must maintain a consistent tempo through-out your swing. Golfers at our golf lessons that often have a hard time achieving a consis-tent swing tempo. One way to overcome this is with a metronome. A metronome is a de-vice used in music to mark time. It’s a great way to train yourself to swing with a repeat-able tempo. When training yourself to do this, make a concerted effort to rotate your body all the way through to the finish while letting your arms and hands follow. This creates a smoother “connected” motion.

A second key to this method is to determine how far you hit the ball with each setup and swing length. That’s easily accomplished by going to the range or an empty field where you have plenty of room and hitting balls using the different setups and swing lengths. Once you learned the distance for each setup and swing length, you’re ready to dial in short game shots from any distance.

Developing a good short game is among the fastest way to chop strokes off your golf handicap. A good short game saves tons of strokes. One way to hit accurate short game shots is through feel. But this method is hard to master for weekend golfers. A simpler and better approach is the method described above. It enables you to control distance me-chanically and eliminates inconsistency. Once you’ve achieved these goals, your short game will take off.

Improving your putting is the best—and the fastest—way to cut strokes off your golf handicap. It has such a bearing on how you play that if you can only practice one phase of the game, putting is the phase you should work on. That makes sense when you think about it because you hit more putts per round than any other shot. If you two-putt every hole you’ll hit 36 putts during the round. If you shoot 100, that’s 36 percent of your shots. If you’re serious about improving your game, master putting.

Improving your putting requires practice. It’s not easy to become a better putter by just playing. But you can also improve your putting without ever visiting the practice green. Studying putting golf tips, such as those we have in our golf tips newsletter, can make you a better putter if you apply them. Below are five golf tips that we’ve gleaned from past newsletters that will help you not only improve your putting but also chop strokes off your golf handicap.

1. Develop A Routine

Better golfers all have routines. It doesn’t matter what type of a shot it is, they have a routine for it. When it comes to putting, having a routine is imperative. It’s necessary for making consistent strokes. That’s why we encourage players in our golf instruction ses-sion to develop one. What kind of routine should you have? That’s up to you. It’s your routine. You can incorporate anything you want into it but make it quick. The routine should never take more than a minute or two. And make sure you do it before every putt.

2. Practice The Right Putts

Watching students in golf lessons practice putting is instructive. Many start with long putts, say 45 feet or so. While these are fun, how practical are they? You could go a whole round and not have a putt that long. So while you want to put time in on those long putts, make sure you practice the shorter putts. Odds are the vast majority of your putts will be from about 15 feet or so in. So start there and work your way in. Force your-self to make three in a row before moving to a shorter distance.

3. Maintain Your Confidence

Confidence is a big factor in putting. If you lack confidence when putting, you won’t sink many. So if you’re putting poorly these days, work on getting your confidence back. One way to do this is to make a change. Try a new grip, for example. You could try a claw grip or a low left-hand grip. Just make it different. New grip styles take the focus off your stroke itself—and often that helps. Also, work on making solid contact on short putts. That’s something we focus on in golf lessons. If you don’t hit the ball on the sweet spot, you’ll miss many of those short putts that we all need to make to drive down our golf handicaps.

4. Relax When Putting

If you’re tense when you hit the putt, you’ll probably be tenser after you’ve putt. You can’t be tense and be a good putter. If your arms and hands are too tense, you’re more likely to make a quick, jabbing strike through the ball, rather than a nice flowing stroke. To release tension, take a few practice strokes. Focus on feeling the weight of the club-head. Try to lag it behind the ball on the forward stroke. This promotes better speed and direction control. It also helps feel.

5. Use Alignment Aids

Every putter has some sort of alignment aid. It could be something as simple as a line on the putter. Don’t be afraid to use them. Confirming your aim helps you focus on other equally important things, like speed and making solid contact. Align the alignment aid with a mark on the ball from behind the ball. Make sure it’s aiming at either the hole or where you want to start you’re putt. Using alignment aids increases your chances of hol-ing more putts.

These five golf tips will help you sink more putts. That in turn will impact your scores and golf handicap. But you do have to put some time in on the practice green. So try to set aside some time each week to practice your putting and incorporate these golf tips in each of your practice session. Also, practice the putts you’re most likely to see during a round. Regular practice will pay off.