The 3 Most Important Short Game Shots to Practice

The chip, the 30 to 60 yard pitch, and the greenside bunker shot, with drills, rep counts, pass marks, and member scorecard data on doubles and three-putts.

By Flighting Editorial Team 2026-07-19

The three short game shots worth practicing most are the low running chip from just off the green, the 30 to 60 yard pitch, and the greenside bunker shot. They decide whether a missed green costs you one stroke or two. Learn one reliable technique for each, then grade your practice against a pass mark.

What are the most important short game shots to practice?

Pick shots by how often they show up and how much a bad one costs. A mid-handicap golfer misses most greens in regulation, so the next shot is usually from somewhere between the fringe and 60 yards. Three situations cover most of it.

• The low chip. Ball on the fringe or in light rough, plenty of green to work with. This is the shot you will hit most often.
• The 30 to 60 yard pitch. The awkward in-between distance after a layup, a punch out, or a short miss on a par 5. A half swing with a wedge that has no stock length is where scores leak.
• The greenside bunker shot. Less frequent, but the cost of a bad one is high. Leaving it in the sand or blading it over the green turns a bogey into a double straight away.

Flop shots, bump and runs with a hybrid, and shots off hardpan are useful later. Build the three basics first, because they handle the bulk of your missed greens.

How do short game misses show up on a scorecard?

We looked at hole by hole scorecards from Flighting members to see how often holes turn into doubles and how many of those involve three putts. Hole scores are USGA adjusted scores, capped at net double bogey, and handicap bands use each member's current index. Our data does not record where every stroke was played, so it cannot say how many doubles began with a duffed chip. It can show how big the problem is and what share the putter owns.

The doubles columns use 5,723 rounds from 525 members with full hole data. The three-putt column uses the 1,813 of those rounds where putts were logged on every hole (234 members). The jump from one double a round to more than four between the first and third bands is bigger than any other gap on the card.

The last column is the useful one for practice planning. Even for golfers at 15.0 and up, fewer than 3 in 10 doubles included a three-putt. The other 7 in 10 came from strokes before the green: a tee shot in trouble, an approach that missed badly, or a chip and a pitch that both failed to find the putting surface. Good short game play is how you stop a missed green from becoming the second dropped shot.

Putting still matters. Members in the 10.0 to 14.9 band average 34.5 putts and 2.23 three-putts per round, against 31.4 putts and 0.99 three-putts under 5 (192 and 824 rounds). A chip that finishes 4 feet away instead of 20 removes most of that three-putt risk, which is why chipping sits first on the list. The full breakdown is in Golf by the Numbers.

How to practice chipping: drills with pass marks

Use one stock chip. Narrow stance, weight favoring the lead foot, ball just back of center, hands slightly ahead, and a putting style motion with very little wrist. Change the club to change the roll, not the technique. A pitching wedge rolls out more than a sand wedge from the same swing.

Landing spot drill

Place a towel on the green about 3 feet onto the putting surface. Hit 10 chips from the fringe with one club, trying to land each ball on the towel. Pass mark: 6 of 10 land on or touching the towel. Then hole the putts out. Landing spot control is what makes your roll predictable.

Six foot circle

Lay tees in a 6 foot circle around a hole. Chip 10 balls from 5 different spots around the green, 2 balls each, mixing good lies with fluffy ones. Pass mark: 7 of 10 finish inside the circle. If you pass twice in a row, shrink the circle to 4 feet.

Up and down ladder

Drop a ball, chip it, and putt out. Count how many of 9 attempts you get down in 2. Record the number each session. A mid-handicap golfer who goes from 2 of 9 to 4 of 9 has picked up real strokes.

How do you practice pitching from 30 to 60 yards?

Most amateurs have full swing yardages and nothing in between. Fix that with a clock system: keep the same tempo and change only the length of the backswing. Lead arm at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and 10 o'clock gives you three stock distances with each wedge. If you are unsure which wedges to carry, the wedge guide on loft, bounce, and grind covers the setup choices.

Build your pitching chart

Hit 5 balls with each wedge at each clock position and note the average carry, not the total roll. With two or three wedges that is 30 to 45 balls and gives you a written chart for the 30 to 60 yard gap. Keep it on your phone or in the bag.

Three target pitch drill

Set targets at 30, 45, and 60 yards. Hit one ball to each, rotating so you never hit the same distance twice in a row. Do 3 rounds for 9 balls total. Pass mark: 6 of 9 finish within 15 feet of the target. Random order matters more than volume here, because on the course you never get a second try from the same spot.

How to hit a greenside bunker shot every time

The greenside bunker shot is the one shot in golf where you are meant to miss the ball. Open the clubface a little before you take your grip, set a slightly wider stance, dig your feet in, and play the ball forward of center. Swing along your body line and splash the sand about 2 inches behind the ball, letting the sand carry the ball out. Commit to a full follow through. Decelerating is the most common reason balls stay in the bunker.

Line in the sand

Draw a line in the sand with no ball. Take 10 swings trying to enter the sand on the line or just behind it, with a long shallow divot. Pass mark: 8 of 10 entries within 2 inches of the line. Then place a ball 2 inches ahead of each line.

Out in one

Hit 10 balls from a normal lie to a hole 30 to 50 feet away. Pass mark: 10 of 10 on the green and 5 of 10 inside 10 feet. If you keep failing the first part, stop chasing distance and hit only for "out and on" until it is automatic. A bunker shot that finishes 25 feet away is a bogey at worst. One that stays in is a double.

What does a good short game practice routine look like?

A 45 minute session covers all three shots with time to keep score. Split it roughly like this:

1. Chipping, 15 minutes. Landing spot drill, then the six foot circle.
2. Pitching, 15 minutes. Five balls per clock position with one wedge, then the three target drill.
3. Bunker, 10 minutes. Line in the sand, then out in one.
4. Up and down test, 5 minutes. Nine balls from mixed spots and write down the score.

Weight the time toward your weak spot. If you are failing the bunker pass marks, move 5 minutes there from chipping. If your practice facility has no bunker, give that time to pitching and find a course with a practice bunker once a month. For a full week of practice built around these blocks, see our weekly practice plan to lower your handicap.

How to practice short game at home

You can keep chipping sharp in a back garden or even on carpet. Chip foam or plastic balls into a laundry basket from 10, 15, and 20 feet, 10 balls from each, and count how many land in. Pass mark: 15 of 30. Work on your setup in front of a mirror so the ball position and hand position stay the same each time. Bunker technique is hard to rehearse at home, but you can practice the full, accelerating finish with slow swings and a towel under your trail foot.

How do you take short game practice onto the course?

Practice only pays off if you choose the right shot under pressure. On every missed green, pick the lowest shot that works: putt if you can, chip if you can't putt, pitch only when you need carry. When a hole starts going wrong, take the safe option that guarantees the green. Our guide to avoiding big numbers in golf covers the decisions that keep a bogey from becoming a triple.

Track your up and down rate and three-putts by round so you can see whether practice is moving the numbers. Flighting logs hole scores and putts from your posted rounds and shows your trends over time, and you can create a free account to start tracking yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the single most important short game shot?

The low running chip from just off the green, because it is the shot most golfers face most often. A reliable chip that finishes inside 6 feet also cuts down your three-putts.

How often should I practice my short game?

Two short sessions a week of 30 to 45 minutes beat one long session. Keep score with pass marks each time so you can see progress from week to week.

Should I practice chipping or putting more?

Split the time, but lean toward chipping if you rarely get up and down. In member scorecards, fewer than 3 in 10 doubles include a three-putt, so many strokes are lost before you reach the green.

What wedge should I use for chipping?

Use the least lofted club that carries the ball onto the green and lets it roll to the hole. Many golfers chip with a pitching wedge or 9 iron from the fringe and save the sand wedge for shorter, softer shots.

How do I stop leaving the ball in greenside bunkers?

Open the face, enter the sand about 2 inches behind the ball, and keep accelerating through a full finish. Decelerating is the most common cause, and the line in the sand drill fixes it.

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