Course Program

Hit the green with the perfect arc

Fade or draw short irons, for a 23-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course (Cleveland Metropark)

Driving RangeAll teesProgram HCP 23.34 drills54% match to course practice profile

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

10 to 45

Average HCP

23.3

Duration (single session)

2 hr 4 min

or

1 drill/day: 4 days · 31 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Trajectory33%
Scoring24%
Distance Control20%
Precision13%
Mechanics11%

Overview

Program Structure

Hit the green with the perfect arc. Perfect short iron arc and fade or draw short irons. Focus on Trajectory, Scoring, Distance Control. For a 23-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Trajectory

Club

Short irons (9,8)

What you will improve

  • Trajectory
  • Scoring
  • Distance Control
  • Precision

Program details

Sessions
4 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
2 hr 4 min
or
1 drill per day
4 days · 31 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

Short irons (9,8) | 3 Landing Zones

Driving Range

Hit 15 balls to each landing zone using short irons only. Hit one bucket of ~50 balls. Count total number of successful shots.

31 minFocus: Driving Range
Diagram for Short irons (9,8) | 3 Landing Zones
1

Pick a flag or target on the range for 8 or 9 iron shots.

2

Put three markers 6 yards apart around the flag to make three landing zones.

3

Use 36 balls for the test.

4

Split shots into three groups of

5

Hit 12 shots at Landing Zone

6

Hit 12 shots at Landing Zone

7

Hit 12 shots at Landing Zone

8

Use 8 or 9 iron as preferred but keep setup and distance the same.

9

Count balls that stop in the right landing zone as a success.

0

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

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302724201612963
02

Short irons (9,8) | Downswing

Driving Range

Work only on downswing using short irons only. Hit one bucket of ~50 balls.

31 minFocus: Driving Range
Diagram for Short irons (9,8) | Downswing
1

Pick a flag or target on the driving range suitable for short irons (9 or 8).

2

Take 36 shots using only the 9 or 8 iron.

3

Focus solely on your downswing, using at most two swing thoughts or tasks to control the ball flight.

4

Aim at the same single target for all 36 shots.

5

Count each ball that lands and stays near the target as a success.

6

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

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129272419151174
03

Short irons (9,8) | Ladder Challenge

Driving Range

Complete the Ladder Challenge using short irons only. Hit one bucket of ~50 balls.

31 minFocus: Driving Range
Diagram for Short irons (9,8) | Ladder Challenge
1

Pick one flag or target to aim at for all shots.

2

Make three zones in a row before the flag. Each zone is 5 yards wide and 5 yards apart. Zone 1 is closest to you, Zone 2 is in the middle, Zone 3 is closest to the flag.

3

Hit 36 shots with short irons (8 or 9 iron), split into 3 sets of

4

For the first 12 shots, try to land the ball in Zone 1 and stop within 5 yards of the flag.

5

For the next 12 shots, try to land the ball in Zone 2 and stop within 5 yards of the flag.

6

For the last 12 shots, try to land the ball in Zone 3 and stop within 5 yards of the flag.

7

Use the same setup for all shots. Switch between 8 and 9 iron if you want.

8

Count a shot as a success if it lands and stops in the right zone and within 5 yards of the flag.

9

After 36 shots, add up the number of successes and enter the score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141074
04

Short irons (9,8) | Opposite Shots Challenge

Driving Range

Complete the Opposite Shots Challenge using short irons only. Hit one bucket of ~50 balls.

31 minFocus: Driving Range
Diagram for Short irons (9,8) | Opposite Shots Challenge
1

Pick one target on the driving range for short irons (9 or 8 iron).

2

Break the test into 4 groups of 9 shots (36 total shots).

3

In each group, hit alternating pairs of opposite shot types: fade/draw, high/low, pull/fade, push/draw.

4

Hit 5 pairs, but drop 1 shot from the last pair so each group is 9 shots.

5

Use only 9 or 8 irons with the same ball setup for every shot.

6

Try to make each shot land near the target and curve the right way.

7

Count as a success if the shot matches the shape and lands near the target.

8

Do all 4 groups for a total of 36 shots.

9

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

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825211612853

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

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