TRAINING · SHORT GAME

Short Game Routine — 60 percent of practice time on the practice green.

Senior golfers who maintain their handicaps practice their short game 55 to 65 percent of the time. Senior golfers who lose strokes, however, spend only 15 to 25 percent of their practice time on it. One hour on the practice green is 5 to 10 times more valuable than one hour at the driving range—those who implement this fully compensate for lost distance.

EFor a year now, I've consistently started every practice session with 30 minutes of the practice green — before the range. Chips from the rough, pitches 30 to 60m, lag putts 9 to 15m. My scoring average dropped by 3.8 strokes. Half of that came from wedge approach shots, the other half from avoiding three-putts. No one sees it — but everyone feels it in their score.

The short game is by far the most efficient score lever—but it's also the most avoided practice area. Range practice is visible, sounds good, feels productive. Practice green practice is unspectacular, tedious, not photogenic. This very asymmetry is why most senior golfers practice too much on the range and too little on the putting green—and thus forfeit the biggest score lever.

Why 60 Percent Practice Green is the Right Ratio

Point 1 — Strokes Gained Proof

✓ 60 % OF THE SCORE IN Under 80 M.

Mark Broadie's Strokes-Gained Analysis (2014): Over 60 percent of the score difference between top and bottom performers originates within the 80-meter zone and on the green. Practice allocation should reflect this.

Point 2 – Senior Advantage in the Short Game

✓ MECHANIC STABLE WITH AGE.

Short-game mechanics (wedges, chips, putts) require less swing speed and athleticism than the full golf swing. Age hardly affects them. Practicing here builds advantages that last well into old age.

Point 3 — Range trains little game proximity

Maximum swing is not a game.

On the range, maximal shots are usually practiced—a pressure scenario that rarely occurs on the course. Wedge shots of 30, 50, 70 meters are everyday occurrences. Chipping from 8 meters with a slope behind the green: daily. Nevertheless, it's practiced almost never.

Point 4 — Practice green is focused training

NO WARMUP, DIRECT FOCUS.

You need 20-30 balls for a warmup on the range. There's no warmup on the practice green – every putt counts immediately. A 45-minute practice green session thus has more training-relevant repetitions than a 90-minute range session.

Point 5 — Mental Score Lever

✓ PRESSURE RESISTANCE.

Putting and chipping are the most mentally demanding movements in golf—and therefore most affected by pressure. Those who practice regularly on the practice green under pressure conditions (three-circle drill with point scoring) train mental toughness that counts on the course.

55–65 %

Short-game practice time percentage in senior golfers who maintain their handicap

International Journal of Golf Science 2023

For losers, the share is 15 to 25 percent. The inverse is the simplest score lever.

The Short Game Routine in Detail

Routine 1 — Three-Circle Drill (15 min)

3 balls x 3, 6, 9 m.

Three balls from 3, 6, and 9 meters to the hole. Record hole-in-ones and 2-putts. Weekly repetition. For most senior golfers, the 6-meter hole-in-one rate increases from 25 to 45 percent within 8 weeks.

Routine 2 — Long-Lag-Test (15 min)

✓ 10 PUTTS × 9, 12, 15 M.

From three distances, 10 putts each. Success criterion: ending position within one step of the hole. Lag putting is the biggest three-putt preventer — and makes the biggest difference between bogey shooters and pars.

Routine 3 - Wedge Distance Calibration (15 min)

✓ I HAVE 10 BALLS 30/50/70 M.

With PW, GW, and SW, take 10 shots each from 30, 50, and 70 meters. Record the median distance and dispersion. The values correct the systematic overestimation of one's own wedge distances and lead to better club decisions on the course.

Bonus — Chip from Halbrough

✓ ONE CONDITION, 15 BALLS.

A specific lie condition (half-buried, hardpan, bunker edge) and 15 balls. In senior golf, these difficult lies accumulate on the course. Those who practice them intentionally will see them stop being score killers.

Bonus — Three-Putt Avoidance Routine

✓ DEFENSIVE LAG-PUTTING.

Special Routine: Putt from 12 meters so that the follow-up putt is within 1 meter. Distance control before line control. Three-putts are the biggest score-killers in senior golf—and the easiest to avoid.

Driving for show, putting for dough. The cliché is true — and senior golfers ignore it more than any other group. Change that, and your handicap drops.

— Dave Pelz, Short-Game Coach (Phil Mickelson, Tom Kite, Lee Janzen)

Three principles make short game training effective — and three mistakes make it useless.

Consistency beats volume

A 45-minute session twice a week is more effective than a 3-hour session every two weeks. Short game touch is a matter of frequency, not volume. Consistency builds the motor patterns.

Conditions beat repetition

100 putts from 2 meters are worth less than 30 putts with varying slopes, lengths, and green speeds. Variability trains adaptability – exactly what matters on the course.

Pressure beats relaxation

Three-circle drill with points and consequences (e.g., an additional 5 putts if under 60 percent) trains pressure resistance. Senior golfers without pressure training often collapse in competition—even if they are good on the range.

On this page

ON THIS PAGE

01 Why 60 Percent Practice Green is the Right Ratio

02 The Short Game Routine in Detail

03 What Short-Game Practice Cannot Replace

Mathias Struwe

PUBLISHER · HCP 31 · 68 YRS.

55–65 %

Short game practice time percentage for maintaining handicap.

REFERENCE

Broadie, M. (2014): Every Shot Counts. International Journal of Golf Science (2023): Effect of Practice Distribution on Senior Golfer Performance. Pelz, D. (1999): Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible. PGA Tour Stats 2014–2024. MyTPI Senior Performance Research.

What Short-Game Practice Cannot Replace

60 percent practice time on the putting green is the biggest single training lever—but it doesn't replace course management or bag optimization. Someone with a perfect short game who plays with tees that are too long and misjudges their wedge distances will only reclaim a portion of the possible score advantage. Short game practice is the lever—but not a miracle cure. It works in combination with strategy and bag data.

THREE FIRST STEPS

How to achieve a 60 percent short-game shot percentage in 30 days

Track for a week

Record for one week: How many minutes on the range, how many minutes at the practice green? Most senior golfers are at an 80/20 range/practice green split — the exact opposite of the optimal distribution.

60/40 test for 30 days

For 30 days, shift the quota to 60 percent practice green and 40 percent range. Record the score progression. For 70 percent of senior golfers, the average score drops by 2 to 4 strokes.

Three-Circle Drill as an Anchor

Each training session begins with 15 minutes of the three-circle drill. This guarantees practice green time and builds a routine.