Course Program

Thread Needle: Narrow Landing Zone

Thread the needle, for a 20-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Hyderabad Golf Association 2018

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 20.36 drills80% match to course practice profile

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

9 to 45

Average HCP

20.3

Duration (single session)

2 hr 36 min

or

1 drill/day: 6 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Precision25%
Distance Control21%
Aim16%
Dispersion13%
Alignment13%
Scoring8%
Trajectory3%

Overview

Program Structure

Thread Needle: Narrow Landing Zone. Pinpoint chips and precision from tough lie. Focus on Precision, Distance Control, Aim. For a 20-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Precision

Shot

Chip

What you will improve

  • Precision
  • Distance Control
  • Aim
  • Dispersion

Program details

Sessions
6 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
2 hr 36 min
or
1 drill per day
6 days · 26 min/day

Drill Framework

Program breakdown

Each drill is designed to prepare you for the course. Follow the program or repeat the drills to improve key areas of your game.

01

Chip | Parallel Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip shot inside the quadrant(s). The player with the most points wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Parallel Piles | Quadrants
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines. Each line has 5 piles. The lines are 5 to 10 yards apart. Each pile in a line is 4 yards apart.

2

Put the piles 5 to 30 yards from the hole on any type of grass.

3

On the green, make 4 quadrants with string or tees. Each quadrant is about 6 feet wide.

4

Hit 36 chip shots. Hit 9 shots to each of the 4 quadrants.

5

Choose a pile and chip 9 balls, aiming for one quadrant.

6

After 9 shots, switch to the next quadrant. Do this for all 4 quadrants.

7

A chip that stops inside the right quadrant counts as a success.

8

After 36 shots, count how many balls stopped in the target quadrants and enter your score in the app out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825201612963
02

Chip | Perpendicular Piles | 3 Landing Zones

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip shot inside the landing zone(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Perpendicular Piles | 3 Landing Zones
1

Put 10 piles of balls in two straight lines that cross. Each pile has 3 or 4 balls. Keep each pile between 5 and 30 yards from the hole.

2

Mark 3 landing zones on the green in a row. Make them 6 feet apart using sticks or string.

3

Hit 36 chip shots total. Aim for each landing zone 12 times.

4

Pick any pile to start. Hit 12 chips to the first zone, then 12 to the second zone, then 12 to the third zone.

5

Count how many balls land and stop inside the target zone for each shot.

6

Add up the number of successful shots and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713963
03

Chip | Scattered Piles | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal piles of 5 balls and stop chip shots close to multiple targets. Count the number of successes.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Scattered Piles | Multiple Targets
1

Put 36 balls into 6 piles of 6 balls on the grass, between 5 and 30 yards from the hole.

2

Place 3 flags or targets on the green, 6 feet apart in a line.

3

Split the 36 balls into 3 groups of 12 shots.

4

Hit the first 12 balls to the first flag and try to stop each ball within 10 feet of it.

5

Hit the next 12 balls to the second flag, trying to stop them within 10 feet.

6

Hit the last 12 balls to the third flag, again aiming to stop within 10 feet.

7

Switch which pile you use each time to practice different distances and grass.

8

Count every ball that stops within 10 feet of its flag as a successful shot.

9

Add up successful shots out of 36 and enter score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302824201612964
04

Chip | Perpendicular Piles | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip shot in the stop zone(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Perpendicular Piles | 9 Stop Zones
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines. Each line has 5 piles. Lines are 8 yards apart. Piles in each line are 3 yards apart.

2

Place the piles on grass between 5 and 30 yards from the hole. Keep the same setup.

3

On the green, mark 9 stop zones using buckets, string, or tees. Zones cover different short chip targets.

4

Take 36 chip shots in total. Chip 4 balls to each of the 9 zones.

5

For each shot, chip from any pile. Try to stop the ball in the assigned zone. Chip 4 balls to one zone before moving to the next.

6

Count each ball that stops in the correct zone as a success.

7

After 36 shots, count how many were successful. Enter your score out of 36 in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713964
05

Chip | Parallel Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip shot in the stop zone(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. Up to 80 balls are needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Parallel Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones
1

Make 9 stop zones on the green. Mark them with tees, string, or buckets. Line up or put them in a grid.

2

Put 36 balls in 4 rows. Each row has 9 balls, spaced 1 foot apart. Put the rows about 5 yards apart on the grass, between 5 and 20 yards from the green.

3

Plan to hit 4 balls at each of the 9 stop zones. That is 36 shots.

4

Start at any row of balls. Hit balls, trying to stop each one in the first stop zone.

5

After 4 tries at the first zone, go to the next zone and do the same. Keep going until you try all 9 zones.

6

Count a shot as a success if the ball stops completely inside the target zone.

7

When all shots are done, count the number of successful shots and enter the score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129272318141074
06

Chip | Parallel Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 2 parallel lines 20 balls per line and stop chip shots inside 9 Stop Zones. Count the number of successful stops.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Parallel Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones
1

Set up 36 balls in 2 lines of 18 balls each, 5 to 10 yards apart, on grass 5 to 20 yards from the hole.

2

Mark 9 stop zones in a 3 x 3 grid on the green, spaced apart so the zones are clear.

3

Chip 4 balls to each stop zone, alternating between the two lines. For each zone, hit 2 balls from one line, then 2 from the other.

4

Keep doing this until you have hit 4 balls for each zone, for a total of 36 shots.

5

Count a shot as a success only if the ball stops in the right zone.

6

Add up the number of successes out of 36 attempts and enter the score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129262318141074

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

Start the drills at your own pace or work with a coach to inside drills.golf.