Turn Short Game Practice Into Full-Swing Results

How important is your short game to your golf handicap? The following statistics tell the story: On average about 60 percent of your shots occur within 100 yards of the hole. Of these, about 65 percent occur from 60 yards in. More important, about 80 percent of the shots golfers lose to par occur inside of 100 yards. Obviously, when it comes to scoring, your short game is paramount. Perfecting it is the key to quickly chopping strokes off your golf handicap.

But that doesn’t mean you should stop practicing your full swing. You can’t break 90 or 80 without a good full swing. In fact, mastering your “long-game” is important, too well. So what do you do if your practice time is limited? Do you practice the shot-game instead of the long game? Fortunately, you may not have to choose between the two. While you still must work on the longer clubs, practicing your short game can help you hone an effective full swing—all while chopping strokes off your golf handicap. To do this, you must be aware of the similarities between your short-game and full-game swings.

Below are a description of these similarities as well as some golf tips on how to improve your full swing and master your chipping and pitching.

Chipping Swing And Full-Swing Similarities
One place where your chipping swing and your full swing are similar is at impact. For example, we teach players who take our golf lessons, to set up for chips with 80 percent of their weight on their front feet, their shafts leaning forward, and their back feet rolled in with their heels just off the ground. We also teach them to keep their shoulders in line with the target and their hips slightly open. It’s the same for the full swing. So in mastering one type of swing you’re also perfecting the other.

Another area of similarity between swings is eye alignment. In both cases, your eyes should be level to the ground at impact. If you tilt your right eye lower than your left eye at setup, you’ll shift your weight to your back foot. That’s not good. Keeping your eyes level gives you the best chance of putting the swing’s bottom ahead of the ball during impact. But it’s easier controlling your movements with a shorter swing than a longer one. So in mastering your chipping swing, you’re also perfecting your full swing.

Pitching Swing And Full-Swing Similarities
The pitching swing also is similar to the full swing in several areas. Consider the takeaway of a full swing. In golf lessons we tell students that a one-piece takeaway is essential to a good swing. A good takeaway increases your chances of keeping the club on the correct plane and hitting good shots. You pitching swing also benefits from a good one-piece takeaway. So in practice a one-piece takeaway for a pitching swing, you’re also working on the takeaway for your full swing.

Another key area of similarity between the two swings is wrist hinge. Hinging your wrists as you take the club back puts you on the proper swing plane and in the proper position to hit down on the ball. That’s a fundamental of both a good pitching swing and a good iron swing. Unfortunately, many weekend golfers don’t hinge their wrist enough regardless of the type of swing it is. To achieve perfection, you must make an “L” with your left forearm and clubhead in your backswing—whether you’re pitching, driving, or hitting long irons.

Practice Dills That Work Similar Fundamentals
Practicing drills designed to help you master similar swing areas are a good way to perfect your short and your long-game swings simultaneously. Take the Hinge-and-Hold drill. It requires you to grip a wedge about mid-shaft and make a backswing as if you’re pitching. Then, swing down over the top of an imaginary ball while keeping the butt end of the club from hitting your body.

This drill helps ingrain body motion and the hinging you need with any club, regardless of the type of shot you’re making.

You need to master the short game to quickly chop strokes off your golf handicap. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on your driving or long iron shots. You still need to do that. In fact, you need to master both to break 80 or 90. But knowing the similarities between the swings enables you to pick out drills that will not only help generate improved full-swing results but also better short-game play.