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Best Golf Drills for Short Game: Improve Chipping & Control

Discover the best golf drills for short game to improve chipping accuracy, distance control, and course strategy with practical landing spot methods.

Best Golf Drills for Short Game: Improve Chipping & Control

The best short-game drills have one thing in common

The useful idea behind most good chipping and putting drills is not a secret wrist action or a magical wedge loft. It is outcome control: choosing a precise first destination for the ball, then learning what motion produces it.

For chipping, that destination is the landing spot. For putting, it is effectively the pace and starting line that allow the ball to arrive at the hole with sensible speed. The club and stroke matter, but they are means.

That distinction is important for mid-handicap golfers. We often judge a chip by whether it finished close, then change three mechanical thoughts after one bad result. A better approach is to separate the shot into controllable parts.

First, did the ball land where intended? Second, did it release roughly as expected? Third, was the original landing spot a good choice for that lie, slope and green firmness? Only after those questions should mechanics enter the conversation.

Learn Golf’s Towel Landing Spot Drill is a straightforward version of this system. Place a towel at the intended first landing area and make the chip about carrying to that marker, rather than trying to fly the ball all the way to the flag. [18]

That sounds basic, but it changes the task completely. The flag may be 20 feet away, while the landing spot could be only a few yards in front of the ball. A nearer target is easier to see, easier to repeat and easier to diagnose.

Why the landing spot matters more than the flag

A chip has two distance components: carry and roll. The ball cannot roll correctly unless it first reaches a sensible part of the green. When golfers aim only at the flag, they tend to blur those components together.

The landing-spot method gives each component a job. Your strike and swing length create carry. The lie, loft presented at impact, turf firmness, slope and green speed influence how much the ball releases after it lands.

That is why no fixed “one club equals this many yards” rule is reliable everywhere. A launch-monitor number belongs to the swing, ball and conditions that produced it. Short-game release is even more condition-dependent than a full-swing carry number.

Golf Blab identifies ignoring the landing spot and aiming directly at the flag as a common short-game error. It also calls out the lack of a defined pre-shot routine, which matters because a repeatable plan should start before the club moves. [8]

A practical routine is simple. Stand behind the ball, identify the safest landing area, choose a finishing zone rather than a perfect hole-out line, make one rehearsal swing for the required carry, then hit with that same intent.

The point is not to become robotic. It is to stop changing the question halfway through the shot. If the plan was “land it on that patch and let it release,” you can learn from the result.

If it lands short of the spot, you missed the carry task. If it lands on the spot but runs too far, the strike may be fine while the release estimate was wrong. Those require different corrections.

The towel drill, properly used

Start with a simple chip from a decent lie, using a landing towel or similarly clear marker. The goal is not to hit the towel perfectly every time. The goal is to establish whether your normal motion can repeatedly deliver the ball into an area.

Learn Golf includes the Towel Landing Spot Drill among its recommended chipping practices because it directs attention to accuracy and distance control rather than a vague instruction to “get it close.” [18]

Use a reasonably generous target first. Target-ring guidance cited by Top Golfe suggests three-foot rings for precision work and six-foot rings for longer chips or newer players. [12] A six-foot landing area is not cheating if it produces useful feedback.

Then create stations at 10, 15 and 20 yards. Those distances are commonly recommended for simulating the range of chips golfers face around greens. [9][10] The important number is not your score at one station, but whether you can repeat a carry window.

Hit a small batch from each station, then change something relevant: the landing location, the amount of green available, or the lie. Do not merely hit more balls from the same perfect patch until one finishes close.

Pave-N-Turf’s backyard-practice guidance and Golf Mentor’s distance guidance both support using defined targets rather than undirected chipping. [9][10] That is the advantage of a towel, ring or marked spot over simply scattering balls toward a practice flag.

Progression: from one landing spot to course decisions

Golf Launch Lab’s One-Club Ladder Drill develops the same concept without encouraging players to solve every chip by changing clubs. [1] The player uses one club and varies carry distance and finishing distance through setup and swing control.

That is a useful starting constraint. If every poor chip leads to a different wedge, golfers can hide a distance-control problem inside an equipment decision. There is no research in this brief on loft or shaft differences in drill effectiveness, so I would not pretend otherwise.

The club still needs to suit the shot, obviously. But a practice drill should tell you whether you can control a chosen carry distance with a consistent motion. Changing club every ball makes that harder to measure.

Once basic landing control improves, Learn Golf’s Up-and-Down Game adds consequence. Instead of judging one shot in isolation, chip to a target and then putt out, recording whether you saved par from that position. [18]

This is where better players can make practice less comfortable. The Golf Viking identifies up-and-down games and more exact landing-spot work as advanced options because they add pressure simulation and demand a complete scoring response. [7]

The scoring is not the whole point. Its value is that it exposes weak decisions. A chip that finishes six feet away may be acceptable from a difficult lie, but it may be poor from a simple fringe shot with plenty of green.

Reduce hand action, do not manufacture a scoop

Golf Monthly recommends the Thumbs Off Drill and Lead Arm Only Drill among chipping exercises aimed at reducing excessive hand action and improving control. [2] Both are useful when a player’s hands are trying to rescue the ball at impact.

The common fault is scooping. Golf Decode warns against trying to lift the ball rather than trusting the club’s loft, and also identifies deceleration through impact as a damaging habit. [13] Those two faults frequently travel together.

A player sees the ball sitting tight, fears digging, then slows down and flicks upward. The result can be thin contact, a heavy strike, or a shot that launches unpredictably. Adding more hand action rarely makes that pattern more reliable.

The Thumbs Off Drill removes some of the urge to dominate the club with the trail hand. The Lead Arm Only Drill makes it harder to flip the club through impact, so it can reveal whether the body and lead side are supplying a stable motion. [2]

Neither drill is a universal cure for every thin chip. A tip that helps one golfer reduce a flip may be wrong for another golfer whose issue is ball position, alignment or simply a poor landing-spot choice. Use the drill as a test.

If the drill produces cleaner contact and more predictable carries, retain the feeling. If it creates tension or leads to worse contact, stop treating it as a commandment. Fitting beats buying, and diagnosis beats copying a swing cue.

Putting uses the same control system

Putting does not have a visible landing spot, but the underlying idea remains. You need a starting line and a pace, then you need a repeatable way to assess whether the ball began and travelled as intended.

GOLF.com’s Three-Foot Increment Drill is specifically recommended for putting distance control. [3] The structure makes golfers practice distinct lengths rather than hitting several putts from one place and calling any decent result “feel.”

Distance control is mostly about matching stroke length and tempo to a required finish speed. The hole is the final target, but a useful practice target is often the stop zone beyond or around it. That gives a miss information.

If a putt consistently comes up short, it may be a pace issue. If it starts offline immediately, pace was never the primary problem. My Golf Instructor’s Gate Drill focuses on that start-line component by giving the ball a narrow path to negotiate. [4]

Golf Monthly also recommends Coin, Alignment Stick and Towel putting drills. [2] The coin can provide a small visual target, alignment sticks can make intended line more obvious, and a towel can establish a pace or finish zone.

Again, these are not five unrelated tricks. They are ways to make an otherwise fuzzy putting session measurable. You are asking whether the ball starts on the line, reaches the intended distance, and does so under a repeatable routine.

Beginners can keep the targets larger and the assignments simpler. Double Ace Golf points newer players toward foundational work including circle putting drills, while advanced players benefit from more demanding gate drills and pressure-based challenges. [17]

Practice the conditions you actually play

A tidy practice green can teach solid basics, but it can also lie to you. Golf Decode warns against practising only perfect lies while neglecting rough, slopes and bunkers. [13] Course golf rarely provides flat, clean turf on demand.

After learning the towel drill from a fairway lie, move the towel to a slight upslope, then a downslope, then a patch of light rough. Keep the landing-spot concept, but accept that the club-ground interaction and release will change.

Weather adds another variable. The USGA notes that cold or frosty periods create dormant, less responsive turf and recommends synthetic practice tees in winter to protect the surface. [14] Those conditions can make normal bounce and rollout assumptions unreliable.

DTE Golf notes that hot, dry weather produces firmer turf, while wet conditions soften the ground and alter club-ground interaction. [15] Golf Play Guide likewise advises adapting short-game mechanics and drill choices to turf firmness. [16]

This is why I would not chase one perfect drill score across the entire year. Record conditions alongside the result: firm or soft, dry or damp, closely mown or grainy. The trend is more useful than a single good session.

Build a session with a purpose

The research-backed range is 30 to 60 minutes per session, two to five times per week depending on goals and available time. Focused, structured practice outperforms simply spending longer around the green without a defined task. [5][6][7]

A productive 40-minute session might begin with 10 minutes of towel-landings at 10 and 15 yards. Spend the next 10 minutes on the one-club ladder, then use 10 minutes for a few up-and-down attempts from varied lies.

Finish with 10 minutes of putting: three-foot increments for pace, followed by a gate or alignment-stick task for starting line. The actual drill selection matters less than writing down the target, condition and result before beginning.

Avoid the reflex to use a lob wedge for every shot. Golf Decode specifically lists unnecessary overuse of high-lofted clubs among common errors. [13] The drill should teach a decision, not reinforce the idea that height is always safety.

The best golf drills for chipping and putting are therefore not a ranked top five. The available sources do not establish a definitive order. They consistently point instead to the same system: control the first destination, measure the result, and practise under changing conditions. [18][1][2][3][4]

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best drills to improve my golf short game?

Top chipping drills emphasize controlling the landing spot and distance. Recommended drills include the Towel Landing Spot Drill, One-Club Ladder Drill, Up-and-Down Game, Thumbs Off Drill, and Lead Arm Only Drill. These drills help develop accuracy, consistency, and reduce tension in the swing.

How do landing spot drills help in short game practice?

Landing spot drills focus on choosing a precise first destination for the ball rather than aiming directly at the flag. This approach separates the carry and roll components of a chip, making it easier to diagnose and improve each part of the shot. For example, the Towel Landing Spot Drill trains golfers to land the ball on a specific area, improving repeatability and distance control.

What is the best way to practice chipping for better distance control?

Practice chipping at set distances like 10, 15, and 20 yards using target rings that vary from about three feet for precision to six feet for longer or less experienced shots. Structured drills that focus on carrying the ball to a specific landing spot and then judging the roll help develop better distance control. Repeating the same motion with a clear landing target improves consistency.

How often should I practice short game drills to see improvement?

Short game practice sessions should last 30 to 60 minutes and be done two to five times per week. Focusing on one measurable task per session rather than random shots leads to better results. Consistent, structured practice with clear goals is more effective than longer, unfocused sessions.

What common mistakes should I avoid when practicing short game drills?

Common errors include aiming directly at the flag instead of a landing spot, lacking a defined pre-shot routine, overusing high-lofted clubs unnecessarily, scooping the ball instead of trusting the club loft, and decelerating through impact. Also, practicing only from perfect lies and ignoring rough, slopes, or bunkers reduces effectiveness. Overcomplicating fundamentals instead of focusing on tempo and setup can hinder progress.

How we researched this

This article was assembled from 18 cited references.

Nothing here is based on hands-on testing. Where a figure or finding appears, it belongs to the source cited beside it, and the writing says so rather than implying otherwise. Every source is listed below so you can check it.

Sources

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