Blog · Tips

Short Game Practice Drills

3 October 2026 · 5 min read

The best short game practice drills turn chipping, pitching and bunker play into small games with a score, so every ball has a target and a consequence. That's far more useful than hitting a bucket of chips at a flag without thinking.

A big share of the strokes in a round are played from within about 100 yards of the green, so time spent here pays off quickly. These seven drills work at any practice green with a chipping area and a bunker.

Before you start

• Bring two or three clubs: a sand wedge, a pitching wedge and a mid iron cover most shots.
• Use a handful of balls: five to ten is plenty. Fewer balls means more care with each one.
• Always pick a landing spot: a towel, a tee or a mark on the green.
• Finish with putts: a chip only counts if you can hole the next putt.
• Change targets often: hitting the same shot ten times doesn't copy the course.

1. The towel landing drill

Lay a small towel on the green a pace or two from the edge. Chip ten balls and count how many land on it. Move it further on and try with a pitching wedge, then a sand wedge. This trains carry distance, which is the key to controlling where the ball finishes.

2. The ladder

Put tees in the green at 10, 20 and 30 feet beyond the fringe. Chip one ball to each, in order, then back down. Score a point for every ball that finishes within a club length of its tee. It forces you to change distance every shot, just like on the course.

3. Up and down challenge

Drop a ball in a different spot around the green each time: the fringe, light rough, a downhill lie. Play it out with a chip or pitch and then putt. Getting down in two is an up and down. Play ten and count how many you get. Write the number down and try to beat it next time.

4. Par 18

Pick nine spots around the green and play each one as a par 2: one chip or pitch and one putt. A total of 18 is level par. It's a good game to play against a friend, and it puts real pressure on short putts.

5. One club, three shots

From the same spot, hit a chip with a 7 iron, a pitching wedge and a sand wedge to the same hole. Watch how much each one rolls. You'll learn which club suits which situation, and why our guide on how to chip in golf suggests landing the ball just on the green and letting it run.

6. The bunker line drill

Draw a straight line in the sand with your club, at right angles to the target. With no ball, set up with the line just inside your front heel and practise splashing sand out starting on or just behind the line. Once your club enters the sand in the same place every time, add a ball a couple of inches in front of the line.

7. Worst ball

Hit two balls from the same spot, then play your next shot from the worse of the two. Keep going until you hole out. It's tough, but it shows how consistent your short game really is, and it makes the course feel easy.

A simple 45-minute practice plan

If you only have 20 minutes, do the towel drill and the up and down challenge. For putting practice you can do indoors, try our putting drills at home.

Try it in Mashy

Mashy is a pitch & putt, so almost every hole tests your short game. In practice mode you can replay any hole of the selected course as often as you like, which makes it easy to set yourself an up and down challenge: try a hole ten times and count how often you make par or better. Practice mode doesn't earn coins, so it's purely for getting better.