More than likely… you have unrealistic short game goals.
And it’s costing you strokes and consistency.
Everyone I play with is HIGHLY unrealistic when it comes to their short game.
Setting high expectations on yourself is a recipe for failure.
It blinds your judgment in:
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gauging difficulty
-
shot selection
-
which club to hit
Today I’m going to teach you to alter your expectations. This will lead to a better and more consistent short game.
Let’s set your mind at ease…
Pros are not as good as you think
Source: PGA Tour Stats
For this year…
Pros miss the green 11% of the time inside 75 yards.
That includes every shot inside of 75 yards. So a little 10 yarder is also included.
Take a look at this…
Source: PGA Tour Stats
Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay are all missing 15% of the time inside 75 yards.
Sure that’s near the bottom… but it’s also near the bottom of the best players in the world.
Proximity On Short Game Shots
Source: Lou Stagner x.com
From 60 yards… 30% of their shots are 18.5 feet or farther away from the pin.
From the rough it jumps up to a whopping 30.7 feet
Amateur Proximity By Handicap From 40-60 Yards
Source: MyGolfSpy
This data was compiled by Arccos, one of the leading stat tracking sensors. It compiles well over 100 million shots a year.
Some of the best amateurs in the world are hitting the green less than 80% of the time and to about 32 feet.
This data is also just from the fairway.
Now that we’ve lowered some of your expectations…
Let’s transfer this to a better short game.
Gauging Difficulty On Short Game Shots
Since we know that most shots don’t end up close… We can properly gauge difficulty.
Most golfer’s goal should be hitting a shot to 20-40 feet on anything inside 50 yards. If you’re a better player maybe it’s 20-30 feet.
Understanding this allows you to see the shot much more clearly. It gives you options you never thought about.
And in many cases this means…
JUST GET IT ON THE GREEN.
What About Shot Selection?
Because you can now gauge difficulty… and a good shot might be inside of 30 feet.
Your shot selection might completely change.
Instead of a flop shot over a bunker… It could mean a little bump and run 10 feet to the left of the bunker.
Club Selection
Your club selection will probably change as well… Even if your shot selection does not.
Example:
You’re short sided to an elevated green…
You’re thinking of taking a pitching wedge and hitting a bump and run up the hill.
Now… you realize that anything inside 20 feet is a great shot. So you take an 8 iron to be sure it makes it up the slope. If it goes by 20 feet… you’re good with that…
All because your goals and expectations are realistic.
One important thing…
I’ve talked about this before but you need to focus on your landing target.
This is vital to evaluating the shot and to your short game success.
Make it your main focus and the last thing you focus on before you execute the shot.
To a better short game,
Shawn