Golf Short Game Guide: Choose the Right Shot and Practice It

The short game gets easier when every missed green does not trigger the same response.

A clean fairway lie with 40 feet of green is not a lob-wedge problem. A buried rough lie is not a putting-stroke chip. A 55-yard carry is not an oversized chip. A greenside bunker is not a fairway-bunker iron shot.

This page is the map. It helps you choose the shot, then sends you to the focused technique guide for that exact problem.

Start Here: The Short-Game Decision Tree

1. Can the ball stay on the ground?

• Yes, and the surface is predictable: putt it.
• Mostly, but fringe or collar interferes: use a hybrid, fairway wood, or low-loft chip.
• No: continue to Step 2.

2. Can you land the ball safely on the green and let it roll?

• Yes: play a stock chip with the least loft that fits.
• No: continue to Step 3.

3. Is the required carry under roughly 15 yards?

• Yes: use a mini-pitch with enough loft and bounce for the lie.
• No: continue to Step 4.

4. Is the ball in sand?

• Greenside bunker: use an explosion-shot plan.
• Fairway bunker: prioritize ball-first contact and clearing the lip.
• Not in sand: use the pitch-distance matrix.

5. Is a high, soft shot truly required?

• Yes, and the lie supports it: consider the flop shot.
• No, or the lie is poor: play to the safest green section and accept a longer putt.

The point is not to own every shot. It is to stop choosing high-risk shots when a simpler option solves the problem.

The Five Core Short-Game Skills

Skill	Use it when	Start with
Putt from off the green	no meaningful obstacle and a predictable surface	lowest-risk ground route
Chip	short carry with room to roll	complete chipping guide
Mini-pitch	chip motion cannot create enough carry	8–15 yard pitch shots
Distance pitch	30–80 yard carry requires calibrated wedges	pitch-shot distance-control matrix
Greenside bunker	sand must carry the ball onto the green	greenside bunker basics

Build those five before spending serious practice time on specialty shots.

Chipping: Let the Lie and Landing Spot Choose the Club

The stock chip has one job: land on a predictable patch and roll toward the hole.

Use less loft when:

• the lie is clean,
• the landing area begins quickly,
• and there is plenty of green.

Use more loft when:

• rough must be cleared,
• the landing zone is short,
• or an obstacle removes the low route.

The chipping guide contains the setup, lie matrix, landing-spot examples, rollout calibration, and troubleshooting.

Use the lie-specific branches when necessary:

• tight lies
• greenside rough
• first cut
• into the grain
• stop chunking chips

Pitching: Build Carry Numbers Instead of Guessing

Pitching begins when the required carry is too long for a controlled stock chip.

Use three layers:

1. 8–15 yards: mini-pitch and bounce control.
2. 15–30 yards: landing-window control.
3. 30–80 yards: wedge matrix and measured carry numbers.

The complete route:

• 8–15 yard pitch shots
• 15–30 yard pitch shots
• 30–40 yard pitch shots
• 40–60 yard wedges
• 60–90 yard wedge distance control

The broad 30–80 yard matrix connects those distance pages into one repeatable system.

Bunker Play: Identify Which Sand Shot You Have

Do not treat every bunker as an explosion shot.

Standard greenside bunker

Open enough face to expose bounce, play the ball forward, enter the sand behind it, and keep speed through the strike. Use the full greenside bunker setup and sand adjustments.

Wet or compact sand

Use less open face, a narrower entry, and a controlled strike. See wet compact bunker technique.

Buried lie

Use a squarer face and steeper escape. Expect a low shot that releases. See buried bunker lies.

Long greenside bunker shot

Use less loft and less sand to create more carry and release. See 20–40 yard bunker shots.

Fairway bunker

This is a ball-first shot. First decide whether the lip and lie allow an aggressive club with the fairway-bunker strategy checks, then use the fairway-bunker contact setup.

Flop Shots: The Emergency Exit, Not the Default

A flop shot makes sense when:

• the obstacle removes the low route,
• the landing area is small,
• the lie gives the club room to slide under the ball,
• and the consequences of a normal pitch are worse.

It is a bad choice from bare ground, buried rough, or a lie you have not practiced.

Use how to hit a flop shot for setup and practice. On the course, the smarter decision is often to land on a wider section and take the putt.

The Lie-to-Shot Selector

Lie	First option	Avoid
Tight fairway	putter or low-loft chip	automatic lob wedge
Clean first cut	chip with calibrated rollout	excessive wrist action
Ball sitting up	grip down and control strike	sliding club fully under ball
Buried rough	more loft and committed speed	expecting predictable spin
Downhill lie	lower expectations and safer landing area	short-sided hero shot
Uphill lie	account for added launch	quitting on the swing
Wet/muddy turf	use bounce and keep chest moving	digging leading edge
Greenside sand	explosion plan matched to texture	ball-first contact

A 30-Minute Short-Game Practice Plan

Do not spend 30 minutes hitting the same chip from a perfect lie.

Minutes 0–8: Contact

• Three landing zones with one club.
• Score the number landing inside a three-foot circle.
• Change lie after every three balls.

Minutes 8–16: Club and trajectory

• Use 9-iron, pitching wedge, and sand wedge.
• Land each at the same spot.
• Record rollout differences.

Minutes 16–23: Pitch carries

• Pick three random distances.
• One ball per distance.
• Use the carry matrix and score distance error.

Minutes 23–30: Up-and-down test

• Play five different lies into the hole.
• Count total strokes.
• Repeat the same five positions next session and try to beat the score.

If a bunker is available, alternate one of the chipping blocks with the bunker line drill.

The Weekly Short-Game Scorecard

Track outcomes that tell you what to practice:

Category	Record
Chips finishing inside six feet	___ / attempts
Pitch carry misses short/long	___ / ___
Bunker shots out in one	___ / attempts
Short-sided misses created by approaches	___
Up-and-down conversions	___ / attempts
Three-putts after a missed green	___

After five rounds, choose the largest repeatable leak. If the issue is poor landing distance, practice carry. If it is bad lies, diversify lies. If it is short-sided misses, the fix may belong in course management, not technique.

The On-Course Routine

Before every short-game shot:

1. Read the lie.
2. Identify the safest landing zone.
3. Decide how much rollout is available.
4. Choose the simplest shot that reaches that zone.
5. Rehearse while looking at the landing spot.
6. Commit.

That routine keeps technique pages from turning into six swing thoughts over the ball.

The Bottom Line

Your short game needs a hierarchy:

1. keep the ball on the ground when possible,
2. chip when there is room to roll,
3. pitch when carry is required,
4. match bunker technique to the sand and lie,
5. save the flop shot for the situations that truly demand it.

Start with the chipping guide, build the 30–80 yard pitch matrix, and make the greenside bunker setup your third core skill.

Better scoring does not require every shot. It requires the right few shots, chosen in the right order.