The right pre-shot routine in the short game maximizes the effectiveness of your shot. Here is a routine proposed by Paul Runyan, who is in the top five all-time of short game players. It’s taken from this book, The Short Way to Lower Scoring.
1. Check the lie. A successful shot depends on making solid contact with the ball. That is determined to a great extent by the lie. When the ball sits up on a lush cushion of grass, you can play with a level stroke. But lies with little grass under the ball, or a ball sitting down in lush grass, require you to pinch the ball — play it back of center and hit down more than level.
2. Visualize your shot. Consider where you want the ball to land and thus how much it will run out to the hole. The safest shots have minimum air time and maximum ground time. Under the right conditions, the ball does not have to land on the green before it starts its run-out. Runyan prefers maximum time on the ground, and so do I.
3. Choose the right club. From your chipping practice, you know how much the ball will run out relative to its flight when hit with every club from your 6-iron to your lob wedge. As for pitches, you know, again from your practice, how far your pitching clubs, 8-iron through lob wedge, will travel with the same stroke. When you have to pinch the ball, take out a more lofted club to make sure you get the club under the ball.
4. Rehearse the stroke. Make at least two rehearsal strokes. We can get away with less-than-perfect contact in our full shots, but in short shots, only perfection will do. Your practice swings both remind you of how you want to hit the ball, and set you up for the next step.
5. Duplicate your rehearsal stroke. When you hit the shot, you should have only this thought in your mind, to do the same thing that you just did. Trust your preparation and execute the shot with confidence.
To Runyan’s five points I would add:
3a. Line up the shot. Especially for chipping, where the ball will be running to the hole, regard the shot as an approach putt that might go in. Line up the shot to give it a chance, and if it doesn’t go in, you have only a short putt left. For longer pitches, there is no reason to leave the ball more than a few yards right or left of the hole.
4a. Believe in your stroke. If there is uncertainty of any flavor in your mind as you’re about to take the club away, stop and walk away. Choose another shot, one you can believe in, even though it might not leave the ball as close to the hole as you would like.