Short Game
Golf Chipping Drills: 6 That Actually Lower Scores
Six Scored Drills to Sharpen Contact, Distance Control, and Up-and-Downs
July 14, 2026 · 8 min read · Stephen Pickering
Six Scored Drills to Sharpen Contact, Distance Control, and Up-and-Downs
July 14, 2026 · 8 min read · Stephen Pickering
Key takeaway: Random chipping to one flag doesn’t transfer because there’s no target and no score. These six drills each have a setup, a target, and a way to keep score — the Ten Yarder and Landing Spot Ladder build clean contact and landing control, Ladder Up and Par 2 build distance and up-and-down conversion, and 21 Points and the 15-Minute Blitz add pressure. Pick one foundation drill and one pressure drill per session, keep the scores, and watch your up-and-down percentage climb.
Most golfers chip the same way they practise everything else — rake a pile of balls to one flag, hit until it feels okay, and go home. Then they wonder why the up-and-down never comes when it counts. The problem isn’t effort. It’s that there’s no target and no score, so nothing sharpens.
These six golf chipping drills fix that. Each one has a specific setup, a clear target, and a way to keep score, so you finish every session knowing whether you got better or just got tired. Work through them in order — foundation first, pressure last — and your greenside game stops being a guess.
Want these drills scored automatically with benchmarks for your handicap?
See Chipping Drills →Six drills is more than enough — the mistake is doing all of them badly instead of two of them properly. Pick a foundation drill and a pressure drill each session. Keep the scores. The moment you can see the numbers trending, practice stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like a game you want to win. That’s the whole idea behind Scoring Zone — every chipping drill has a benchmark for your handicap, so you’re always practising against a number, not a vibe.
Not sure which drill to start with? The Practice Assistant builds a session around your weakest area.
See How It Works →And track it beyond the practice green. Your up-and-down percentage on the course is the real scorecard for your chipping — if it’s climbing, the drills are working. If it’s flat, you’re grooving the wrong thing. Either way, the number tells you the truth.
See how your up-and-down percentage trends round by round.
Round Stats →Three short sessions a week beats one long one. Twenty focused minutes of scored chipping drills — where you’re counting results, not just raking balls — will move your up-and-down percentage faster than an hour of aimless chipping once a fortnight.
Start with the Ten Yarder: chip ten balls to a hole ten yards away and count how many finish inside three feet. It builds the two things beginners need most — clean contact and a feel for how far the ball rolls out.
Yes. A towel or a coin makes a landing target on any patch of lawn or carpet, and the landing-spot drills transfer directly. You won’t get roll-out feedback indoors, but you can groove clean contact and a repeatable landing point anywhere.
Score every session and track it. Once you know your baseline — how many chips out of ten you get inside three feet — you can see whether you’re actually improving instead of guessing. Measured practice is the fastest route to a lower short-game handicap.
Stephen Pickering
3-handicap golfer with 25 years on the course. Built Scoring Zone to bring structure and pressure to short game practice. Writes about what actually works from the practice green, not the press box.
Join golfers turning greenside practice into lower scores with drills that keep score for you. It takes one session to feel the difference.
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