The 7-Day Short Game Practice Plan: One Focus Per Day, Scored

Most golfers who go looking for a short game practice plan are doing the same thing every time they practise: a bucket of balls, some random chips, a few putts, and no real idea whether any of it is working. That’s not a plan — it’s just time spent near a green.

This is a 7-day short game practice plan with one specific focus per day, a drill to match it, and a scoring target so you know if you’re actually improving. You don’t need 7 straight days off — spread it across two weeks if that’s more realistic. What matters is the structure, not the calendar.

Why a Structured Plan Beats Random Practice

Around 60% of golf shots happen inside 100 yards, yet most golfers spend the bulk of their practice time on the range hitting drivers. Of the time actually spent on short game, most of it is unstructured — hit a chip, watch where it goes, hit another. There’s no target, no score, and no way to compare today’s session to last week’s.

A structured plan fixes that by isolating one skill per session. You get more repetitions of the thing you’re actually working on, and because every drill is scored, you get a number to track instead of a feeling.

The 7-Day Plan

Day 1: Chipping — Distance Control

Set up three targets at 10, 20, and 30 feet from the fringe. Hit 10 chips to each target with the same club. Score 1 point for finishing inside a 3-foot circle, 0 for outside. Target: 18/30.

This isolates the skill most amateurs never deliberately train — controlling how far the ball rolls out, not just getting it airborne and onto the green.

Day 2: Chipping — The Ten Yarder

Chip 10 balls from just off the green to a hole 10 yards away. Count how many finish inside 3 feet. This drill rewards precision over a single, repeatable distance rather than variety, which is exactly what most rounds actually demand — the same 10-yard chip, over and over, from slightly different lies.

Use whichever club you’d naturally reach for. Track your score and aim to beat it next time you run this drill.

Day 3: Putting — Speed Over Line

Run the Lag King approach: hit 10 putts from 40+ feet. Measure how many finish within 3 feet of the hole. Focus entirely on speed — ignore the line. Most three-putts come from bad distance control, not bad direction, and this drill isolates exactly that.

Target: 6 out of 10 finishing inside 3 feet. If you’re consistently below that, this is your highest-leverage area to keep practising.

Distance control is the most underworked putting skill at every handicap level. Here’s the full drill breakdown.

How to Improve Putting Distance Control →

Day 4: Bunker Play

Set up in a practice bunker with 10 balls at a normal greenside lie. Aim for a 6-foot circle around the hole. Score 1 point for finishing inside it, 0 for outside. Scratch golfers save par from bunkers 39-45% of the time; most mid-handicappers are closer to 26%. If you don’t have regular bunker access, substitute a second chipping session from a tight lie instead — the technique overlap is real.

Target: 4/10 inside the circle, adjusting up as you improve.

Day 5: Pressure — The 3-2-1 Test

Make 3 putts from 3 feet, then 2 from 6 feet, then 1 from 10 feet — all in sequence without a miss. Miss any putt and restart from the beginning. This is the day that tells you whether Days 1-4 actually transfer under a bit of self-imposed stakes.

Most golfers find this harder than it sounds — not because the putts are difficult, but because the consequence of restarting changes how carefully you commit to each one. That’s the point.

Want more pressure drills like this one, fully scored and tracked?

Pressure Putting Drills →

Day 6: Up-and-Down Combination

This is where chipping and putting come together. Play 9 “holes” from just off the green — chip, then putt out. Count how many you get up and down in 2 shots or fewer. A scratch golfer converts around 50% of these; a 20-handicapper closer to 10%.

Vary the chip distance and lie for each of the 9 attempts so you’re not repeating the same shot. This session tests whether the individual skills from earlier in the week hold up in a game-like sequence.

Day 7: Retest and Compare

Repeat the Day 1 chipping drill and the Day 3 putting drill exactly as you ran them at the start of the week. Compare your scores directly. This is the only day in the plan that isn’t new practice — it’s the measurement that tells you whether the previous six days actually did anything.

If your numbers haven’t moved, the issue usually isn’t the plan — it’s reps. Repeat the full week before changing anything.

Not sure what to focus on next? The Practice Assistant builds your next session around your weakest areas automatically.

Practice Assistant →

Making the Plan Stick Beyond One Week

The structure matters more than the specific 7 days. Once you’ve run through it once, repeat the cycle — but raise the scoring targets each time. A drill you scored 18/30 on in week one should be a 22/30 target by week three. Without rising targets, you’ll plateau at “good enough” instead of continuing to close the gap.

The other piece most golfers skip is comparison. Doing the drills is only half the plan — tracking whether your scores are actually climbing over multiple weeks is what turns a practice plan into measurable improvement instead of just busy work.