Course Program

Save par with a clutch flop—pressure drill

Save par clutch, for a 24-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Nittedal

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 23.58 drills

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

8 to 45

Average HCP

23.5

Duration (single session)

3 hr 28 min

or

1 drill/day: 8 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Scoring32%
Alignment19%
Aim16%
Accuracy13%
Distance Control8%
Visualization6%
Precision4%
Dispersion3%

Overview

Program Structure

Save par with a clutch flop—pressure drill. Turn into par saves and up-and-down contest. Focus on Scoring, Alignment, Aim. For a 24-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Scoring

Shot

Flop

What you will improve

  • Scoring
  • Alignment
  • Aim
  • Accuracy

Program details

Sessions
8 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
3 hr 28 min
or
1 drill per day
8 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

Flop | Parallel Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a flop 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 Flop | Parallel Piles | Quadrants
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in 2 lines with 5 piles in each line. Keep lines 6 yards apart and piles 4 yards apart.

2

Place the piles on grass, 5 to 40 yards from the hole.

3

On the green, mark 4 equal sections inside a 9-foot circle using string or tees.

4

Hit 36 flop shots, with 9 shots to each section.

5

For each shot, pick a pile and try to stop the ball inside the target section.

6

Count balls that stop fully inside the section as a success.

7

Make sure to aim 9 shots at each section, either in order or randomly.

8

After all 36 shots, add your number of successful shots and enter score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825221713963
02

Flop | Perpendicular Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 10 equal perpendicular piles of 4 balls and stop flop shots inside quadrants. Count the number of successes.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Perpendicular Piles | Quadrants
1

Arrange 40 balls into 10 piles of 4 balls each. Set the piles in 2 lines that cross each other, with 5 piles in each line, about 2 meters apart.

2

Place the piles on grass 5 to 20 meters from the hole, not on the green.

3

On the green, use string or markers to divide a 10-foot (3 meters) circle around the hole into 4 equal parts.

4

Hit 36 flop shots, 9 shots for each quadrant, trying to stop the ball inside each part.

5

Take turns hitting from different piles, aiming for the set part each time.

6

If the ball stops in the right part, count it as a success.

7

After all 36 shots, count the total successes and enter the number out of 36 in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141074
03

Flop | Deep Rough and Other | Above/Below Feet

Short Game

Hit flop shot two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped deep rough and other extreme grass types; one bucket with balls above feet level, and one bucket with balls below feet level.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Deep Rough and Other | Above/Below Feet
1

Make two target zones on the green, Zone A (front) and Zone B (back), both about the same size, using cones or markers.

2

Place 18 balls in 3 piles of 6 balls each in deep rough above your feet, at different distances between 5 and 20 yards from the hole.

3

Place another 18 balls the same way in deep rough below your feet.

4

Hit 18 flop shots from above feet towards Zone A, in any order, until finished.

5

Hit 18 flop shots from below feet towards Zone B, in any order, until finished.

6

Count each ball that lands and stops in the target zone as a success.

7

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

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score292725211612853
04

Flop | Perpendicular Piles | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 10 equal perpendicular piles of 4 balls and stop flop shots inside 9 Stop Zones. Count the number of successful stops.

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

Place 40 balls into 10 piles of 4 balls each, with the piles in two lines of 5 piles. Lines are about 7 yards apart, and piles are about 2 yards apart within each line.

2

Mark 9 stop zones as a 3-by-3 grid using tees, string, or markers. Zones are about 3 feet apart.

3

Hit 36 balls in total, aiming to land 4 balls in each of the 9 stop zones.

4

Hit 4 balls at the first stop zone from any pile, then move to the next zone and hit 4 balls there. Repeat until all 9 zones are done.

5

Each time a ball stops in the correct zone, count a point.

6

After 36 shots, add up how many balls landed in the correct zones and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713963
05

Flop | Parallel Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 2 parallel lines 20 balls per line and stop flop shots inside Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Parallel Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x
1

Set up two lines of 18 balls each, 1 foot apart. The lines are 6 feet apart.

2

On the green, mark two circles around the hole. The inner circle is 6 feet from the hole. The outer circle is 15 feet from the hole.

3

From 5 to 20 yards away, hit flop shots. Hit 3 balls from the first line, then 3 from the second. Keep switching until all 36 balls are hit.

4

The goal is to make balls stop inside the circles. Balls in the inner circle are birdie-level. Balls in the outer circle but outside the inner are par-level.

5

At the end, count how many balls stopped in the circles and enter the total out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713963
06

Flop | Rough | Above/Below Feet

Short Game

Hit flop shot two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped rough grass; one bucket with balls above feet level, one bucket with balls below feet level.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Rough | Above/Below Feet
1

Place 18 balls on a slope above the feet, and 18 balls on a slope below the feet, on opposite sides near the green.

2

Set one target on the green at a short distance between 10 and 20 yards.

3

Hit 36 flop shots: 18 from above the feet, 18 from below the feet.

4

Every 3 shots, change aim to left, center, or right of the target. Hit 6 shots at each aim for both slopes.

5

Try to land each ball close to the target.

6

Count a shot as successful if the ball lands within 3 feet of the target.

7

Count total successful shots and enter the score in the app out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141074
07

Flop | Deep Rough and Other | Above/Below Feet

Short Game

Hit flop shot two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped deep rough and other extreme grass types; one bucket with balls above feet level, one bucket with balls below feet level.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Deep Rough and Other | Above/Below Feet
1

Put 18 balls in one bucket for shots above your feet, and 18 balls in another bucket for shots below your feet.

2

On the practice green, set up 3 target zones in a row, about 10 to 15 feet from the hole.

3

Split the 36 balls into 3 groups of 12 balls.

4

For the first 12 balls, hit from above feet and aim for Target Zone

5

For the next 12 balls, hit from below feet and aim for Target Zone

6

For the last 12 balls, switch between above and below feet every 2 balls and aim for Target Zone

7

Always keep the ball on the correct slope as needed, only change which target zone you aim at as above.

8

Count each ball that lands and stays in the correct target zone as a success.

9

When done, count how many successes out of 36 and enter the score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score282624201612853
08

Flop | Fairway | Above/Below Feet

Short Game

Hit flop shot two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped fairway; one bucket with balls above feet level, and one bucket with balls below feet level.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Fairway | Above/Below Feet
1

Place two piles of 18 balls on a sloped fairway: one pile above feet level, one pile below. Each pile should be 5-20 yards from the hole.

2

Mark three target zones on the green at different distances (Zone 1 at 5 feet, Zone 2 at 10 feet, Zone 3 at 15 feet).

3

Hit 18 shots from above and 18 shots from below feet, making 36 flop shots in total.

4

Split each 18-shot pile into 3 groups of 6 shots.

5

Aim each group of 6 shots at one zone. First 6 shots at Zone 1, next 6 at Zone 2, last 6 at Zone

6

Alternate shots between above feet and below feet piles as you go through zones.

7

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

8

When done, add up successes. Enter score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141074

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

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