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The short game should never be underestimated in the game of golf. Many excellent drivers find that they are often outplayed overall by golfers who have inferior drives but superior short games. In essence the short game can make or break a golfer. In many cases the short game is where golf games are either won or lost. Having a powerful drive is certainly important but it goes to waste if you can’t finish the hole quickly and efficiently.
Many golfers are unaware that one part of their game can be detrimental to other parts of their golf game. Most inexperienced golfers make the mistake of focusing the majority of their energy working on their drives while neglecting their short game. More experienced golfers know that drives are important but that golf is won or lost on the green so they divide their training time accordingly. The problem that less experienced golfers face is that they spend too much time at driving ranges working on their drive. While a powerful drive is certainly important because it puts you in a better position for your short game, too much time spent working on your drive can be detrimental to your short game.
The obvious downside to spending too much time working on your drive is that your short game gets neglected. Most people have only so much time to devote to training for golf. When the majority of that time is spent at the driving range, there is very limited time left over for working on elements of your short game such as pitching, chipping and putting. The understandable result of this is that your driving game improves while your short game does not see the same improvement and may even begin to suffer.
Many golfers are perplexed by why their short game would decline because they only spend a small amount of time working on improving it. They may be aware that they are focusing the majority of attention on working on their drive but would reason that their short game should improve at least minimally because they spend a small amount of time working on it. Many are very surprised when they see a decline in their short game because they do not realize that devoting too much time to working on your drives can actually be detrimental to your short game. The swing that is required to produce a powerful drive is much different from the swing that is required to finesse shots in your short game. By overtraining your driving game, you are conditioning your muscles to react in a particular way. While this muscle conditioning and memory may be useful when driving it can impair your short game. The muscle memory that results from hours spent at the driving range is much different from the muscle movements required for chipping, pitching and putting.
If you are serious about wanting to improve your golf game you should evaluate your strengths and weakness to determine what you need to work on and divide your training time so that none of the aspects of your game are neglected. Training in both driving and the short game proportionally will help you to improve overall and will help to avoid the pitfall of a declining short game that results from overtraining the drive.
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