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The scoring zone is the area from inside 100 yards which involves pitching, chipping, bunkers, putting and other specialized short game shots.

It is incredibly important because being successful inside the scoring zone will help players shoot much better numbers. However, to be successful, golfers need to cultivate a number of successful techniques and there are no shortcuts.

Firstly, golfers need to practice their pitching technique to not only hit high, normal and low pitches but also work on their swing length to control distance. Distance control on pitching is vital to successful shots.

After pitching, the chipping and putting should be practiced thoroughly. Similarly to pitching, different types of chip shots should be learned such as the bump and run, low spinning wedge and high floating shot. The putting should also be varied in its practice with short, medium and long putts all worked on. To have a rounded and complete technique, the bunker shots such as blast, splash and plugged lies need to be learnt.

These techniques should be learnt via the video tutorials available here on Golf-Info-Guide or by taking lessons with a good teaching professional. After learning the techniques, there are no shortcuts to success and hours of practice will be required to generate the strike and feel needed to have a razor sharp short game.

The scoring zone should take precedent over other areas when practicing. Being successful in this area is guaranteed to lower scores.

Out of the short game techniques, putting is arguably the most important. However, giving putting a priority over other short game techniques could be a mistake. It’s better to practice all the techniques to develop a great all round technique.

Often the most practice an amateur golfer does with the short game is just before they are about to tee off in a competition. Golfers looking to develop a better technique should look to avoid constantly hitting full shots at the driving range and take a trip to a short game area instead.

An argument could be made that practicing the long game will improve the chances of not missing greens and therefore not needing lots of practice pitching, chipping and hitting bunker shots. However, no matter your ability level, no matter how good you become, you will always miss greens. Even if it’s only a few greens a round, players need to prepare for that moment.