Swing changes are pretty when they finally stick. The long ball is a thing of beauty. A hammered long iron is the stuff of dreams. A crisp, drawn 7 iron to a tight flag is gorgeous.
But….
80% of your shots – or more – won’t be these. They will be shots from within a small distance of the green. Maybe, 75 metres and in.
A full swing is a full swing. It’s fast by nature and reckless. It hits the ball hard and scars the earth. It can be a disaster and lovely all at the same time.
The short game on the other hand, is a multitude of swings and shots. It’s a sand shot, a putt, a chip, a lob, a cut 9 o’clocker, a hybrid chip and run, a one hop and stopper. It’s a long putt, a short putt, a breaking putt or the impossible straight putt.
To effectively put these into practice we must make it 80% of our practice time. If we spend an hour on the full swing, we must spend four on the short game shots. This, of course is, over-simplified and varies from person to person but as a rule-of-thumb I think I’m about right.
Talk to your coach about learning these shots and effectively bring the old handicap down without the complicated full swing instruction. You don’t need masses of power to have a great short game. You don’t need 86 wedges. What you have will do (for now). Shit, Seve learned with a cut down 3 iron!
Remember, we are all busy and our practice time matters. Use it wisely and use the 80/20 rule.
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