I have a confession: I spent three years working on my short game the wrong way. I would go to the practice green, hit fifty chips to the same hole, feel good about it, and then go play a round and chunk the first chip I faced. The problem was not my technique. It was my practice.
The drill that changed everything is called the clock drill, and it is embarrassingly simple. Pick a hole on the practice green. Place a ball at the three o'clock position, six feet from the hole. Chip it. Then move to six o'clock. Then nine o'clock. Then twelve. That is one round. Do five rounds without missing more than two putts per round before you leave the practice green.
The reason it works is that it forces you to hit chips from different lies, different angles, and different distances to the hole — which is what the course actually demands. Hitting fifty chips to the same hole from the same spot trains you to hit that one chip well. The clock drill trains you to adapt.
After two weeks of the clock drill — fifteen minutes a day, five days a week — my up-and-down percentage went from 28 percent to 41 percent. I did not change my technique. I changed my practice. The drill is the whole thing.
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Canesh Arce
Canesh Arce is the Founder of The Par Report, covering the PGA Tour, major championships, and the business of professional golf.