Short-Game Clinic

A good short game will save you a ton of strokes. That might be one of the biggest cliches in golf, but for good reason: It’s true for players at every level. The pros play with freedom and confidence because they know that whatever short-game shot they get, they can hit it. In this video, No. 1 teacher Butch Harmon shows you the shots you need from 30 to 70 yards.

Amateurs often waste shots in the simplest of spots: right off the green. Mastering a few basic greenside shots—the chip, the pitch and the flop shot—will turn those double bogeys into pars or bogeys and dramatically lower your scores. It’s all about picking the right shot and having a simple plan. Here, Butch Harmon shows how to ace these little greenside shots.

Working on the basic greenside shots is important, but we often don’t get a flat lie on the course. You have to know what adjustments to make on uneven lies so they play like level lies Butch Harmon calls it “creating an equal playing field.” In this video, Butch explains how to handle all the sloped lies you find around the green - and turn them into up-and-downs.

Amateurs hate the sand, yet pros often hope their shots find a bunker instead of thick greenside rough. The pros know that the greenside bunker shot is nothing to fear - if you understand the proper mechanics and develop some confidence. In this video, Butch Harmon discusses the basic bunker shot, as well as two tough variations - the buried lie and the severe upslope.

Putting is perhaps the most important part of the game. It’s hard to shoot decent scores if you can’t putt. Putting looks simple, but it has many parts: long putts, big breakers, short putts, pressure putts. Butch Harmon breaks it all down, and shares a few of his favorite drills, including one he learned from Phil Mickelson. He also tells why Tiger made so many pressure putts.