Lately I’ve been having so much fun practicing my short game, that I almost don’t feel like going to the driving range.

I’ll bring my bag out to the practice area and I have a sleeve where I keep 10 practice balls.  The sleeve allows me to quickly pick them up, and drop balls anywhere I want to hit from.  It’s been a lot of fun just trying different shots and seeing which club and shot is easiest for me to get it consistently close.  Sometimes I’m surprised by the results.

For example, I picked a shot from the fringe off the green, with about 15 yards to the pin.  There was plenty of green to work with so I tried everything from 9 iron to 60 degree lob wedge.  I would hit a full sleeve of balls with each club, sometimes 2 or three depending on what I was feeling.  Sometimes it was easier to loft it high and land it soft, and other times it was easier to bump and run it up to the pin.  I found that I could get, on that particular shot, roughly the same results with the 9i, PW, 52 degree and 56 degree sand wedge, while the 60 degree was just a bit less consistent.

Once I get going it, I’m constantly picking up the 10 balls and dropping them in a new location to try a new shot.  It’s really a lot of fun, but the biggest benefit is that you begin to develop feel.  The more shots you hit with different clubs from different lies, the more creative you start to become.

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