Best Short Game Drills: Master Pitching, Chipping, Bunker Play & Putting
The short game is the most important aspect to work on for golfers who are serious about lowering their handicap.
How you handle shots from inside 80 yards makes all the difference, and if you are confident with those shots, you will reduce the pressure on your long game.
Of course, it’s more fun to smash drivers and hit towering 7-irons while on the driving range, and those are helpful on the course. But to truly make a difference in your score, you need to work on your pitching, chipping, bunker play, and putting.
Use these drills below as part of a comprehensive short game improvement plan.
Short Game Drills (Key Takeaways)
For a quick review, examine these key takeaways to gain an overall understanding of how to improve all aspects of your short game.
- Pitching requires consistent ball contact with an emphasis on technique and sound mechanics.
- Chipping should be precise and treated more like putts to get your distances and alignment dialed in.
- Putting demands in proper tempo and the ability to adapt to any situation.
- All three aspects require the golfer to be aware of their movements, everything from the body’s rotation to the smallest wrist hinges.
The Secret to a Better Golf Swing Starts with Your Wrists!
Your clubface angle at impact controls over 80% of your shot’s direction—and it all comes down to your wrists. Click here for the best drills to master your wrist mechanics and take control of your swing.
Pitching Drills
Pitching is an underrated aspect of the game and is avoided by many amateur golfers.
In reality, a good pitch is a combination of a full swing and a chip; the key is knowing the fundamentals and practicing accordingly with these specific drills.
Swing Plane Drill
Getting your swing on track is the first step to successful pitching and a complete short game practice plan & routine.
If you can attack the ball at the correct angle, then you’re already better than most recreational golfers. This drill will physically put you in the correct positions to strike the ball consistently.
Once you have the correct swing plane, you can easily adjust the power to control your distance. It will also give you confidence knowing that your bad shots won’t be that bad.
This drill eliminates chunking or blading your pitches, so at least you’ll be on the green and putting for your par or birdie.
Swing Plane Drill – Step by Step
- Take your usual stance and address a ball.
- Insert two alignment sticks in the ground at 45° angles; one just outside your back foot, and one just ahead of your front foot.
- Take practice swings while ensuring your club stays above the alignment sticks both on your back swing and follow-through.
- You can hit balls with this drill as well to simulate on-course play.
Trail Arm Swing Drill
To further increase your consistency and ability to strike the ball solidly, you need to incorporate your upper body. Too many amateurs swing with their arms, which invites inconsistent tempo and accuracy.
Swinging with one arm puts the focus on your body’s rotation. You’ll need to use centrifugal force to produce power, which is much more reliable and easier to control than the brute strength that is created with an all-arms swing.
Trail Arm Swing Drill – Step by Step
- Address the ball with your normal stance and remove your lead arm from the club. You can gently grasp the topside of your trailing elbow or let it relax by your lead side.
- Take normal swings while keeping your trail arm close to your body.
- You only need to take half swings with this, so only bring the club back to parallel to the ground and then follow through just past parallel.
- You can use this in conjunction with the swing plane drill above.
Cross-Handed Pitching
Overuse of the wrists during pitching and most short game shots is common amongst recreational golfers.
Flipping at impact is the cause of thin shots and inconsistency in general. The cure is not to lock your wrists and become rigid, but rather to identify the issue and use your wrists effectively.
Hackmotion was designed to help golfers lower their scores in multiple ways, but one of the most significant benefits is its ability to monitor, track, and improve wrist action in the short game.
If you don’t have Hackmotion, then this cross-handed drill is the old-school way of optimizing your wrist action.
Cross-Handed Pitching – Step by Step
- Address a ball as you normally would, but choose a short pitch shot. You only want to use small swings with this drill.
- Before taking any swings, reverse your hands on your grip. Your top hand should assume the lower position and vice versa.
- Take small practice swings to get used to the feeling.
- Work your way up to full pitches by allowing your backswing to go past parallel to the ground (9 o’clock).
- You should be using your body’s rotation to generate power, as your wrists will become neutralized.
Towel Under the Arms Drill
To put your pitching swing together with proper setup, tempo, and wrist action, the best tool is Hackmotion. It has advanced sensors to track all aspects of your swing and help you correct every mistake. The slower and more traditional method is with a regular golf towel.
With your golf towel, you can train your body to work in harmony. It may feel a little silly at first, but by keeping your arms close to your body, your body will move as a whole.
- Video Timestamp: 2:16 – 3:25
Towel Under the Arms Drill – Step by Step
- Take a golf towel that’s big enough to go across your chest and be secured under each arm.
- Grip your club and take a few practice swings, ensuring the towel stays in place.
- Use Hackmotion to monitor your wrist action and tempo.
- You can hit short pitches with this drill, focusing on your body’s rotation for power.
Chipping Drills
Professionals and low handicap golfers treat chipping as extended putts. The goal should always be to leave your ball within 3 feet of the cup for an easy tap-in.
Use these drills to improve your mechanics and understand what makes a chipping stroke consistent on a daily basis.
Lead Arm Drill
This drill will help you create solid contact with every chip. It will prevent thin shots that rocket across the green and help you get the ball rolling true every time.
It’s also great for developing a smooth tempo to control your distance.
Lead Arm Drill – Step by Step
- Take your normal stance over a short chip and remove your trailing hand from the club. You can grasp your lead forearm or let it hang by your trailing pocket.
- While keeping your lead hand ahead of the clubhead at all times, take a few practice strokes that brush the grass or strike the ground gently just in front of where the ball would be.
- Hit short chip shots that focus on consistent contact and smooth tempo.
- This is a great warm-up drill before rounds as well.
Ladder Drill
This is a great competition drill to help you get your distance control dialed in. You can track your scores and work on making new personal bests each time you perform it.
You can also incorporate a friend to get the competitive juices flowing. Applying a bit of pressure will create the same on-course nerves and help you get used to controlling your emotions.
Ladder Drill – Step by Step
- Lay down two alignment sticks on the green perpendicular to your target line but parallel to each other about six feet apart.
- Line up your shot just to the side of the alignment sticks.
- Hit your first chip so it passes the first alignment stick but stays short of the second.
- Hit your second chip so it passes your first shot but still stays short of the second alignment stick.
- Hit your third chip so it passes your second chip but still stays short of the second alignment stick.
- Continue this trend until one of your shots either comes up short of your previous chip or passes the second alignment stick.
- Keep track of how many shots you can squeeze inside the alignment sticks using this pattern.
Par 18 Drill
This is another competition drill that incorporates putting. It will mimic on-course scenarios and improve your confidence to get up and down from various positions around the green.
It’s also great to play with a partner to increase the pressure and gamesmanship.
Par 18 Drill – Step by Step
- Drop a ball off the green but within five yards of the green’s edge and choose a hole to play to.
- Go through your pre-shot routine, select your club as you normally would, and hit to your target.
- No matter where your chip ends up, take your putter and attempt the putt as you would in a real-play scenario.
- If you make it, then you ‘parred’ the hole. If not, continue putting until you do and mark your score.
- Do this for eight more holes and keep track of how many you successfully get up and down.
- Keep track of your results and work to improve each week.
Alignment Stick Ramp
Optimize your ball striking on chips with this simple alignment stick drill. This will help those who struggle with chunking or hitting thin chips.
You can even use it for various lies to help you get comfortable with hitting out of the rough or sidehill shots.
Alignment Stick Ramp Drill – Step by Step
- Insert an alignment stick in the ground at roughly a 20° angle directly on your target line.
- At the bottom of the stick, place a ball about six inches in front of the insertion point.
- Use the alignment stick to guide your club on the backswing and downswing into the ball.
Bunker Drills
Don’t fear the bunker; use it to your advantage by practicing bunker shot drills. Many skilled golfers would much rather be in a greenside bunker than chipping out of the rough.
The bunker is predictable and provides a consistent surface that, if practiced correctly, can be used to get up and down easily.
Connect the Lines Drill
Bunker shots require a different kind of impact. While every other shot in golf requires ball-first contact, bunker shots need you to strike the sand first.
This can be a tricky concept because if you take too much sand, you risk leaving it in the bunker. If you take too little sand, your shot will rocket past your target. This drill will help you solidify the correct impact point time and time again.
Connect the Lines Drill – Step by Step
- Draw a line in the sand from your ball to your lead heel.
- Draw a second line in the sand 3 inches parallel to the first line that lines up to the center of your stance.
- The second line represents your impact point. Each swing should take out the sand between the two lines, no more, no less.
- You can use the same lines for four or five shots by placing the ball closer to you each time and adjusting your stance.
Made in the Shade Drill
Your wrists play a very important role when hitting effective bunker shots. The Hackmotion system is designed to track your movements and alert you when your wrists are not optimized.
This alternative drill will give you a basic idea that is not as effective as Hackmotion but operates under the same principles.
Made in the Shade Drill – Step by Step
- With an open umbrella, grasp the handle the same way you would grip your sand wedge.
- Take your backswing with the umbrella so when your lead arm is parallel to the ground, your hands are completely shaded by the umbrella. This should be done with a proper wrist hinge.
- If the umbrella is at an angle and your hands are still in the sunlight, then your wrists are not hinged enough.
- This drill is only to be performed on your backswing to help your wrists get in the correct position.
One-Handed Bunker Drill
Proper impact point and correct wrist action are two of the three keys to hitting consistent bunker shots. The third and final key is smooth tempo.
This drill helps you develop tempo while also teaching wrist hinge and optimal impact point.
One-Handed Bunker Drill – Step by Step
- Take your normal stance in a practice bunker and remove your lead arm from the club.
- Using only your trail hand, grip the club and swing back so the shaft is perpendicular to the ground.
- Be sure to use your body like you usually would and follow through to avoid deceleration.
Putting Drills
The best pitching, chipping, and bunker shots can be negated by poor putting. Unless you’re able to roll the rock with confidence and accuracy, you will never reach your full potential and score your best.
Use these drills to complete the short game formula and improve your distance control, mechanics, and accuracy.
Heads Up Putting Drill
Some of the most effective drills are the simplest. This drill is easily executed and can be used during practice, before a round, or even during your round.
Many professionals incorporate this into their pre-shot routines to be used before any and all putts. While you don’t have to go to that extreme, this drill should be used in every practice session.
- Video Timestamp: 5:45 – 10:48
Heads Up Putting Drill – Step by Step
- Take your normal stance and address a putt that is at least 10 feet long but shorter than 30 feet.
- Just before you’re about to initiate your swing, lift your head and look at the hole.
- Take your putting stroke while looking at the hole.
- It helps to take a few practice swings before addressing the ball, to get your body used to taking a stroke with your head in a different position than normal.
Chopsticks Drill
For those who use their arms too much and fall victim to the dreaded yips, this drill will be a big help.
It forces you to swing in a one-piece motion by engaging your shoulders and minimizing your arms, wrists, and hands.
This is an excellent drill for all length putts, everything from one foot to a hundred feet. If you can adopt this motion, you will greatly increase your chances of controlling your distance, which is the most important part of putting.
- Video Timestamp: 3:00 – 6:02
Chopsticks Drill – Step by Step
- Attach to alignment sticks with an elastic band about six to ten inches from one end.
- Place the long ends under each arm, forming a ‘V’ shape in front of you.
- Rest your putter on the joining point of the alignment sticks and take your grip.
- While keeping the alignment sticks under your arms and your putter resting in the ‘V’, take a few practice strokes to acclimate to the new movement.
- Once you’re ready, you can hit putts to any distance with this drill.
Pencil & Coin Drill
Flipping your wrists or relying on them to produce power and direction is a common and disastrous mistake among golfers. Your wrists should maintain a neutral position and provide stability to your stroke, nothing more.
The Hackmotion system is designed to help all aspects of your golf game, including your putting. When you have the sensors on, they will be able to monitor even the slightest of incorrect movements.
It can also suggest personalized drills to help you address your specific problems outside of just wrist movement.
Pencil & Coin Drill – Step by Step
- Secure a pencil using a hair elastic or your Hackmotion straps, along your wrist, starting at your thumb bone.
- At the base of the pencil, pinch a coin under the pencil so it’s secured to your thumb bone.
- Take practice strokes to get comfortable with your stroke while also keeping the coin from falling.
- It should fall if you twist or rotate your wrist too much.
- Be sure to hit balls with this drill and keep track using your Hackmotion.
Through the Gate Drill
Use this drill to gain confidence and skill with short putts. It will retrain your stroke and mental approach so that the hole seems much bigger when you get out on the golf course.
Many professionals use this drill before and during tournaments to stay sharp. Learning how to sink short putts takes the pressure off your pitching and chipping as well.
- Video Timestamp: 9:10 – 10:48
Through the Gate Drill – Step by Step
- With your putter on the ground, insert one tee just outside the toe of your putter and one just outside the heel.
- Three feet away, insert two more tees that are slightly wider than a golf ball. These represent the “gate”.
- Choose a straight putt for this drill, as the purpose is to train your stroke and ball contact.
- Try to make three in a row. When that becomes too easy, aim for five in a row, etc.
Final Thoughts
A complete short game is a surefire way to lower your scores fast. Armed with these drills, any golfer can cut their handicap in half in a matter of a few weeks.
The statistics show how important a great short game is, so while hitting driver may be more fun, it won’t help you as much as a solid short game will.
Using Hackmotion will help all aspects of your game, including a comprehensive short game package that covers all the shots you need. Once it learns your habits, it can suggest drills that will target your weak areas, just like having a professional coach at your side.
Take advantage of these drills and the advanced technology embedded in the Hackmotion system to improve your short game and lower your scores now.
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