Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
Golf is already tough enough, but when you add pressure to the mix, it can make even the simplest shots feel impossible. Often, the best golfers are those who can best handle those nerves.
The only way to get better under pressure is through experience. Putting yourself in those high-pressure situations time and time again is crucial if you want to become a truly high-level player.
There’s no substitute for feeling those nerves under the gun, but there are ways you can attempt to simulate those feelings when you practice. For more, we turn to GOLF Teacher to Watch Christy Longfield.
High-pressure chipping game
For Longfield’s practice game, she recommends either carving out 30 or 60 minutes of time on the chipping green. If you choose 30 minutes, grab three balls, and if you choose 60 minutes, grab six.
The goal of this game is simple: try to sink a chip with one of the balls before the time runs out. The catch is, once you chip from one location, you have to move to a new spot and a different lie.
“You’re going to pick up your balls and move to a new location,” Longfield says. “So you’re never going to have the same [chip]. You’re now going to have a different grass condition, different distance, different slopes. Similar to on-course practice.”
When you make a chip with one of the balls, you can take it out of the rotation. Once you make a chip, you will have fewer opportunities at the next station to chip the ball in. Once you get to your last ball, you will have just one shot at every new location to make it.
“The longer you go, the harder it gets,” Longfield says.