A player with a great wedge game can be likened to a brilliant artist with a paint brush or a magician with a wand in their hand. The very best short game masters in the history of the game have displayed a blend of vision, precision, and effortless technique.
Unfortunately for most players, the short-game is not synonymous with a feeling of grace of artistry, but instead a feeling of dread and anxiety as you approach the short grass around the green. If you have a similar experience over a short pitch or putt, it is highly likely you are approaching your short-game with an emphasis on ‘correct technique’, however, true precision and consistency in your short-game comes from a focus on ‘feel’.
A focus on technique is important for improvements on the practice green, but once you reach the course, a technical focus can cloud our mind with information, creating tension in our hands and body, which greatly reduces our ability to ‘feel’ the shot.
Feel is that elusive experience that characterises the harmony between our mind and body. If you want to build the effortless dexterity and accuracy in your short-game on the course, you have to train the feel for the shot as much as you do technique.
So, how do we train feel? Firstly, we have to train and practice a specific type of awareness.
Think about your typical practice process. Most players I see practice only using external feedback with training aids. For example, when you use alignment sticks to help you aim to the target, or a metronome to help with tempo, this helps to reinforce correct technical and are great ways to get external feedback. But, there are actually two types of feedback we can rely on when practicing our short-game; external and internal.
The most important aspect of training feel in your short-game is to perform drills that cultivate internal feedback, which reinforces the mind and body connection.
Training Internal Awareness with your eyes-closed:
The most simple yet powerful way to train internal awareness and feel is to practice short-game drills with your eyes closed. It might sound a little nerve wrecking at first, but you’ll notice your body making small instinctual adjustments after each shot, without over-thinking your technique.
Putting: Putt for five minutes toward a hole with your eyes closed after you have addressed the putt and estimate where you think the ball ended up – Short, Long, or To-the-Hole.
Individuals who use this drill often report great feel and ultimately improved distance control over time. This drill allows you to feel the movement of the putter using your shoulders and feel the weight of the putter as it travels through the ball, without any external cues such as, the ball or watching it role to the hole. Instead, your mind is able to better connect with the tempo and length of your stroke and match it with the speed and distance of the putt.
Pitching around the green: This can be done with or without hitting balls, just training rhythm in the swing.
Feel the rhythm with which you want to swing. Hum a song that is in tune with how you feel the swing. See your swing with your ‘mind’s-eye’ exactly as you want it to flow.
In time with your breathing: Swing in time with your breathing, inhale on the backswing and exhale on the follow-through, keeping your hands soft and light on the grip. This is a great way to sync your mind and body in practice. It’s not an action to carry to the course unless you are really tense and tight that day, but its excellent for training a zen like feeling when practicing your short-game.
See it, Feel it: Place a tee on the spot you want to land your ball. When you address the ball, your ‘mind’s eye’ should be focused on that landing spot NOT actually the ball. In other words, your eyes are looking down at the ball at address, but your mind is focused on and fixed on that tee on the green. In essence, you are visualising the distance and focusing on the landing zone. With each shot you hit from this space, you are using internal feedback to match your swing with the distance you are seeing in your mind. This is what it truly means to “see it and feel it.”
This a great drill for training the ‘feel’ of your optimal rhythm and will ultimately help with shaping effortless technique over time.
Enjoy experimenting with these short-game drills and train better feel in your short-game.
