Up and Down: A Simple System for Scrambling From Anywhere Around the Green
Missing greens is normal, even for good players. What separates scores is what happens in the next ten yards.
Even strong ball-strikers miss plenty of greens — that part of golf doesn't change much as you improve. What changes is what happens next. A golfer who turns half their missed greens into up-and-downs is playing a different game to one who turns them all into bogeys, even if their full swing looks identical.
Pick the shot, not the club
The most common short-game mistake isn't technique — it's shot selection made under mild panic. Faced with a tight lie next to a bunker, many golfers reach for a lofted wedge because "that's the short-game club", when a low, running chip with far less that can go wrong would get the job done more reliably. The best short-game players think in outcomes first: where does this ball need to land, and what's the simplest shot that gets it rolling toward the hole from there?
As a starting principle: when there's green to work with, let the ball run rather than fly. A bump-and-run with a mid-iron has far less margin for error than a high, soft lob, and on firm ground it's usually the higher-percentage play even for shots that "look like" they want loft.
Bunkers are a technique problem, not a luck problem
Most amateur bunker trouble comes from one habit: trying to lift the ball out, which leads to thin strikes across the green or fat strikes that leave the ball in the sand. The reliable method is almost the opposite of instinct — hit the sand first, a couple of inches behind the ball, and let the bounce of the club do the work of sliding under it. It feels aggressive the first few times. It's also far more repeatable than trying to scoop.
Build the system, then trust it
A simple decision framework removes the guesswork exactly when you need clarity most — standing over a ball just off the green with options swirling. Lie, distance to the pin, and how much green you have to work with should decide the shot, not whichever club happens to feel comfortable that day.
The Chipping & Pitching Card and Bunker Basics Card turn that decision framework into something you can actually reference, and the Green Reading Card rounds out the picture once the ball's back on the putting surface.
Put this into practice with the free cards: Chipping & Pitching Card · Bunker Basics Card