Short Game vs. Approach Shots: What I Learned Asking Reddit

I've been stuck on this question for a while: if I only have so much time to practice, should I spend it on my approach game or around the green?

My thinking was pretty simple. If I could hit better approach shots, I'd leave myself fewer ugly chips, fewer long putts, and generally make the rest of the hole easier. It felt more useful than constantly practicing how to recover from bad iron shots.

But I also wondered if that was just me finding an excuse not to work on short game.

So I asked r/weekendgolfers what they thought.

There wasn't one perfect answer, but a few things from the replies stuck with me.

Approach play probably matters more than I thought

One of the better replies broke down where golfers tend to lose strokes: off the tee, on approach, then pitching, chipping and putting.

That lines up pretty well with what strokes gained research has shown over the years. A lot of scoring separation happens before the ball ever gets close to the hole.

• Approach40%
• Off the tee25%
• Putting20%
• Around green15%

Illustrative share of the scoring gap between higher- and lower-handicap golfers, following strokes-gained research patterns (esp. Mark Broadie). Not a claim about every player — short-game disasters still matter.

That doesn't mean everyone should go hit 7-irons for two hours and ignore everything else. If you're chunking chips or missing three-footers, you obviously have strokes sitting right there.

But if your short game is at least functional, improving your approach shots can make the whole game easier.

That's more or less what I was trying to figure out in the first place.

You're still going to miss greens

This was probably the best pushback on my original idea.

Even really good golfers miss greens.

Tour players miss several every round. Scratch golfers miss even more. For somebody like me, there are obviously going to be plenty of holes where I'm standing next to the green with a wedge in my hand.

So short game isn't really something you graduate from once your irons get good enough.

You need it because you're going to miss.

• Tour66%
• Scratch50%
• Mid-handicap28%

Approximate public ranges: PGA Tour averages often sit mid-60s; scratch players miss more; mid-handicappers miss most. Short game stays relevant because misses are normal.

One Reddit reply suggested looking at golfers around your handicap and comparing things like GIR and up-and-down percentage. I like that idea because it gives short-game practice an actual target.

If golfers at my level miss X greens per round, can my short game handle those misses reasonably well?

If the answer is yes, maybe I don't need to spend half my practice session chipping.

The putting argument was interesting too

Someone also pointed out the simple shot-count argument.

You might hit driver 13 or 14 times in a round.

You could easily hit 35-plus putts.

• Driver14 shots
• Putts36 shots

Typical full-round volumes from the argument in this post — volume ≠ practice priority, but it is easy to ignore the high-count shots.

That doesn't automatically mean putting deserves three times as much practice. Not every shot has the same opportunity for improvement.

But it did make me think about how easy it is to spend a range session smashing balls and then leave without hitting a single five-footer.

I definitely do that.

So what am I actually going to practice?

I don't think the answer is short game or approach play anymore.

For me, it's probably short game until it's dependable, then more of my time goes toward approach shots.

I want to be able to chip the ball on the green consistently, get out of bunkers without turning one bad shot into three, and make the short putts I should make.

After that, I'm probably better off spending the bigger chunk of my practice time trying to hit better shots into greens.

The bigger realization, though, is that I've been guessing.

I know roughly what parts of my game feel bad, but I haven't really tracked enough to know where the strokes are actually going.

So that's my next step: GIR, proximity when I miss, up-and-down percentage, and probably a better look at where my misses are coming from.

If you track any of that stuff, I'd be curious what your numbers look like — especially if you're another higher-handicap golfer trying to figure out what to practice.