Course Program

Pick your landing spot and trust your swing—flop shot challenge

Aim for soft landing, for a 23-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Rusted Rail Golf Course

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 22.84 drills55% match to course practice profile

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

10 to 45

Average HCP

22.8

Duration (single session)

1 hr 44 min

or

1 drill/day: 4 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Aim34%
Dispersion20%
Alignment13%
Precision13%
Accuracy9%
Distance Control6%
Scoring5%

Overview

Program Structure

Pick your landing spot and trust your swing—flop shot challenge. Pick landing spot and fly over bunker. Focus on Aim, Dispersion, Alignment. For a 23-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Aim

Shot

Flop

What you will improve

  • Aim
  • Dispersion
  • Alignment
  • Precision

Program details

Sessions
4 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
1 hr 44 min
or
1 drill per day
4 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 | 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
02

Flop | Parallel Piles | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a flop shot closest to the multiple target(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 Flop | Parallel Piles | Multiple Targets
1

Make 2 lines of 5 ball piles each (10 piles total). Keep lines 6 yards apart and piles 4 yards apart.

2

Put all piles on short grass 5-20 yards from the hole, not on the green.

3

Place 3 target markers in a line on the green. Space them 6 feet apart. Call them Target A, Target B, and Target C.

4

Hit 36 flop shots in total, in 3 sets of 12 shots.

5

First 12 shots go to Target A. Next 12 to Target B. Last 12 to Target C.

6

Pick any pile for each shot. Hit the ball at the current target.

7

Count each shot that stops closest to or inside the target area. This is a "success."

8

Add up all successful shots for each target.

9

Record the score out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141174
03

Flop | Parallel Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

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

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

Arrange 36 balls into 9 piles of 4 balls each. Put 5 piles in one line and 4 piles in a second line, spaced 2 meters apart. Leave 5 to 10 meters between lines.

2

Mark 4 equal quadrants inside a circle with a 3 meter radius around the hole using string or tees.

3

Divide 36 balls into 4 groups of 9 shots. Aim for 9 shots into each quadrant.

4

Hit flop shots from any pile. Aim to land 9 balls in the first quadrant, then move to the next quadrant for the next 9 shots, until all 4 quadrants are targeted.

5

Count each shot that lands in the right quadrant as a success.

6

After 36 shots, enter your total successful shots in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score292724201612853
04

Flop | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal lines of 5 balls and stop flop shots inside 9 Stop Zones. Count the number of successful stops.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Flop | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones
1

Place 40 balls in 8 rows with 5 balls each, spread between 5 and 40 yards from the hole.

2

Mark 9 target zones on the green with buckets, string, or tees.

3

Hit 36 flop shots, grouped as 9 sets of 4 shots.

4

For each set, aim to land the ball in one specific target zone.

5

Go through all 9 zones, hitting 4 shots into each (total 36 shots).

6

Keep the setup the same for every shot.

7

Count how many balls land in the intended target zone.

8

After 36 shots, enter the number of successful shots out of 36 in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825221713963

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

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