But a lot of golfers keep this awareness of the importance of the short-game in the back of their heads, like fading dreams, and never fully discern the impact of short-game failures in their own games. Too many golfers relate success on the course to having a beautiful, fluid, powerful swing–and if they sense early in a round that the ball-striking is off, they often tend to check out of the round mentally, as if to say, “Well, there’s no way to score well with this kind of swing….”

Of course a good swing, and good ball-striking opens the door for good scoring, and takes pressure off the short-game (it’s generally a lot easier to score if we hit 13 greens instead of 8 greens in regulation), which introduces the “chicken or egg” discussion many golfers have about the way to lower their scores. If a golfer hits straighter, longer drives and more accurate irons, then there will be less need for a sharp short-game to score well, right? Or maybe a stellar short-game takes away the need for much accuracy or length in full shots, as displayed by many of the senior members at any club. Which way a golfer answers this question will have a lot to do with his practice routine and his ability to improve over time.

As a teaching professional who has watched thousands of golfers struggle to conquer this game, I look at it like this: no matter how amazing a golfer’s swing and ball-striking, the full swing can never cover the sins of a terrible short-game (unless a golfer can routinely drive the green on par-4 holes, or hole shots from the fairway), but an amazing short game definitely has the possibility to cover the sins of a poor swing. Since scoring is defined by dropping the ball in the hole, and since dropping the ball in the hole almost always comes as a result of short-range shots, it’s only by reducing the number of short-range shots that most golfers can dramatically reduce their scores.

That’s why there are only two statistics I keep for myself, and that I consistently ask my clients to track. Score, and “black marks”. Black marks are my way of tracking the number of “extra” short-game shots in a round of golf and how they affect the final score. Here’s what a black mark is: any stroke taken after the second short-game shot, per hole. Basically, once you are approaching the green and have less than a full shot, the clock is ticking. You have two shots to hole the ball. Every shot after that is a short-game “black mark”. So, if you hit the green in regulation with a full shot, you have two putts to hole the ball without a black mark. If you miss the green, you have one chip or pitch, and one putt to hole the ball. If you get close to reaching a par-5 in two shots, you have to get up and down for birdie to avoid a black mark.

This sounds tough for most golfers, and unrealistic for high-handicappers, but the point is that the extra short-game shots are exactly the shots that make them high-handicappers. Even for beginners and people who play above double-bogey golf, generally 70-90% of their shots over par are black marks. They may not hit the ball very well, or far, and might lose some strokes by hitting a few shots out of play, but the fact remains that they generally reach the short-game zone in a reasonable number of shots and then take a pitch, a chip, and three putts to make their big number (three black marks on one hole!).

In this example, Mark shot 102 with 19 black marks, and I shot 75 with 8 black marks.

And as a golfer improves, the percentage of lost strokes that are black marks actually increases to 85-120% (meaning they could shoot under par by removing their black marks)! This is because a single-digit handicapper doesn’t lose too many balls, or hit too many out of bounds, so his lost shots tend to be failures to get up and down when he misses 6-8 greens per round, or doesn’t convert on reachable par-5′s.

A high handicapper will often average close to two black marks per hole (four total short-range shots per hole). This means if he shoots 108, he might have 32 black marks. In this case, 89% of his shots over par are black marks. If he cut them in half, he could shoot 92, and if he got rid of all of the black marks, he could shoot 76!

Personally, I might shoot 75 and have 6 black marks (despite the fact that the short-game is generally my strength). This means that the rounds when my black marks disappear (which is very tough and rare) are under par, and possibly even in the 60′s.

If you want to have a full awareness of the short-game’s impact on your scoring, play several rounds and track your black marks. Take notice of how low your scores could be if you dropped almost all the black marks. And consider focusing your practice time and instruction on the parts of the game that will make the biggest difference to your scores!

Here are some thoughts to put the pitch into context:

1) The pitch is generally a fairly high trajectory shot, and we play it from short range when we need more fly than roll from the ball (over some rough and a sand trap to a pin on the close side of the

Pitching is similar to full shots since it requires some power to loft the ball to the target.

green , for example). A chip is the opposite: we play it when we can roll the ball most of the way to the target.

2) The pitch is similar in technique to the full swing, and is mainly different from the chip in that we cock the wrists to create enough force to loft the ball. In rolling shots (putt and chip) we generally keep the hands and wrists quiet, whereas higher and longer shots (pitches and full shots) usually require setting the wrists to provide power.

3) There are many types of pitches, including the blast, flop, the low spinner, and the pitch and run. The average golfer should at least feel comfortable with a basic pitch, and then learn the others over time.

4) Pitching tends to be difficult for people because it has all the moving parts of a full swing, but adds a finesse element as we try to regulate the distance of the shot. The average player is generally better off putting and chipping the ball whenever possible.

Here are some of the most common problems that emerge when golfers attempt to pitch the ball:

1) Some golfers struggle with the pitch because they try to take distance off of their wedge shots by taking a fairly normal backswing and then decelerating as they approach impact. Contact

Connecting the arms and the body, and dropping the front foot back a little are setup tips that help lead to better pitch shots.

usually suffers when we do this, and even if we make decent contact, the shot will likely go off line.

2) Many golfers try to control the shot too much with the arms. Lifting and pushing with the arms causes a disconnect between the body and the arms, and often causes the body to come off balance as well.

3) Just as it happens in chipping, many golfers fight the instinct to scoop or lift the ball when pitching; the tendency is even worse in pitching, though, because there is so much loft on the club-face and we know we need to get the ball air-born, so we try to “get under” the ball. Contact and distance control suffer greatly when we use the arms and hands to try to lift the ball off the ground.

4) As in all shots in golf, if we get off balance or out of plane during the swing, we will struggle to hit solid shots. The same is true in pitching.

Here are some thoughts about the setup and execution of a basic or simple pitch:

1) Set up fairly close to the ball, with an athletic posture and “soft”, bouncy knees. Consider dropping the lead foot away from the target line and the ball a little (this does three things: helps keep weight off the toes, clears the left hip out of the way for impact, and allows us to build a little bit of coil in the body even if we make a smaller than usual backswing).

2) Which wedge you choose and the ball position are variable based on the shot required: more loft and the ball further forward for high

Ball position and length of swing are variable in pitching, but we generally need the wrists to cock to hit the ball high.

pitches, and the opposite for lower pitches.

3) Feel a connection between the lead arm and the upper torso. Start the swing by turning the lead shoulder with the arm still connected; soon in the takeaway, cock the wrists in a fairly steep angle, forming a “letter L” between the lead arm and the shaft of the club. Unwind the swing through impact by smoothly turning the knees and belt buckle to face the target, allowing the club to follow. Try to let the wrists un-cock and release naturally rather than using them to hit or lift the ball.

4) A few general thoughts: imagine having a wrist set in the

Coming into impact, let the knees and hips lead the way, and avoid using the hands or wrists to "scoop" the ball into the air.

backswing, but not in the follow-through (this help to avoid lifting and scooping); avoid deceleration by thinking “short to big”, meaning a short backswing to an almost full follow-through; and imagine the tempo and balance of an easy side-arm toss to keep centered and rhythmic. Regulate the distance of the shot by adding shoulder turn and a little extra arm-swing to the backswing as necessary.

Since the pitch is generally the toughest shot for golfers to conquer, it is also the shot that has the most potential to give golfers an advantage when they do become proficient at it. A good goal for any golfer would be to become very good at a simple pitch and then add various other pitching techniques to become a true short-game genius.

1) A chip is a low trajectory shot that allows the ball to run on the ground more than half of the distance it travels (a pitch is the opposite).

2) Since it is a low, running shot, the chip is similar in technique to a putt, whereas the pitch is closer in technique to the full swing since it flies more. As is true in putting, golfers tend to struggle more with the distance control of chips than the direction of their shots. Distance control in chipping is a matter of club selection, length of swing, consistency of contact, and PRACTICE.

3) The general rule for short-game shots is that we get the ball on the ground as soon as safely possible; so the chip is the shot of choice when we cannot putt, but when we do not need to loft the ball (when we do not need to fly a significant distance over an obstacle like thick grass or a bunker).

4) We can chip with almost any club, but most chips can be played from 7-iron and up through the set (the higher irons and wedges). We choose the club based on the fly/run ratio of the shot. The 7-iron will provide a lot of run after a relatively short amount of flying (a lie close to green-side with a pin far across the green for example), whereas a sand wedge will give almost an equal fly to run ratio (when used with a chip technique). A shot that requires a more fly than run (again, because of something like thick grass or a bunker we cannot run through) is a pitch, not a chip.

5) The errors in chipping tend to be less dramatic than the mistakes in pitching, so we will choose to chip whenever possible; and the average golfer is often better off choosing a chip-style “bump and run” across the fairway even from as far out as 30-50 yards (if there are no obstructions) rather than trying a finesse pitch.

The simple chip earns its name because it reduces the technique to the most basic stroke we can use for most green-side shots. It is essentially “tilted putting with a little loft”. Here’s what that means with a few thoughts about the execution of this shot:

The setup for the simple chip and a drill to learn clean, descending contact.

1) To set up for a simple chip, choose the club that will give you the right amount of fly and then run, choke down on the grip to set up close to the ball and over the ball, similar to a putt. Place the ball closer to the rear foot, and then lean the head, sternum, and club toward the target. Moving the hands and handle toward the target at address tilts the face of the club downward slightly, which reduces the loft on the club. Now you have a “tilted setup with a little loft”.

2) The swing for the simple chip is essentially a putting stroke after taking this stance.  Try to maintain the triangle formed by the arms and shoulders (no breaking of elbows). Connect the arms to the upper chest and use the shoulders to swing the arms and club as a unit. The tilt of the head and sternum toward the target should allow this motion to ascend in the backswing and then DESCEND through the ball.

3) In the simple chip there is no cocking of the hands or the wrists (though there are other chips with some hand action), but there might be a hint of hand rotation that softly opens the clubface and allows it to close again or “release” through impact.

4) Some of the most common problems that arise: trying to make the club move in too much of a straight line back and through (this causes contact and directional issues); ideally the club will move in a shallow arc around the feet. Hand and wrist action going back and through creates unnecessary moving parts and inconsistent ball-striking. And a lot of beginners really struggle with an instinct to lift or “scoop” the ball into the air–they do not realize that a DESCENDING blow with the little bit of loft on the club-face will loft the ball just the amount needed to get safely on the green and then run to the target.

5) It often helps people to drop the front foot back, away from the ball, which “clears” the hips out of the way and keeps the weight off the toes, which is a common reason for more scooping or lifting of the club through impact. ”Wristy” chippers often do well to arch their wrists toward the ground (like trying to point their thumbs directly at the ground); this helps “lock” the wrists so they can make their “tilted putting stroke with a little loft” while minimizing hand action.

Here’s a drill for golfers who struggle with the instict to make a chipping motion with a lot of hand and wrist action, usually because they want to lift or “scoop” the ball off the ground:

A drill that discourages using the hands to lift or scoop the ball while chipping.

Take a good, tilted setup for the simple chip with something in front of you that you can chip under. A chair or bench might work, or a rope or string hung between two posts would do the job. Seeing the low angle of the shot required to go under the object will encourage a DESCENDING approach into the ball. The contact of such a chip will be much better and more consistent (which leads to distance control with some practice), and ironically the shot will often launch HIGHER than shots when you instinctively try to lift the ball.

Chipping and putting combined account for about half of all the shots played in a round of golf, so their execution is crucial for golfers who want to play and score well. The simple chip is a “must-have” shot for golfers of all ability levels.

In the short-game, and especially putting, golfers see the greatest improvement by developing very good distance control. If I give an average player several putts to a hole, usually a definite pattern emerges–what I call the “cigar”

The "banana pattern" of the balls show a typical lack of distance control.

pattern, or if there’s some break to the putt, the “banana” pattern. What the pattern shows is that the direction of the putts are pretty good, and very consistent. But the pattern is stretched out like a cigar or banana, suggesting the speed of the putts was not accurate or consistent.

To improve the distance control is to improve the putting, so I usually recommend the fringe drill for putting. By putting to the fringe line on the green with multiple balls, golfers become focused on the aspect of the putt they most need to improve–the speed. And they get the repetitions that help them develop “feel”.

The fringe drill helps golfers develop distance control.

I recommend doing this drill uphill and downhill, with long putts and short ones so that the golfer’s brain stores “data” about various putts, and how much swing it takes to stroke putts of various distances. My junior golfers play this as a game, earning three points each time the ball comes to rest on the fringe line, and one point each time the ball comes to rest on the front half of the fringe (no points for short putts, or excessively long putts).

Over time, as a golfer turns the cigar pattern into a circle pattern by controlling the speed of his putts, he will have fewer three-putts and see more putts fall after the first stroke.