5 Interval Drills to Sharpen Your Short Game

Ask any teaching professional where strokes are truly won and lost, and they will point you straight to the short game. Statistically, shots from 100 yards and in account for approximately 60% of a typical golfer's score, yet the average amateur spends less than 20% of practice time working on these critical shots. The problem is not just a lack of time spent on the short game -- it is a lack of structure. Mindlessly hitting chip after chip from the same lie breeds complacency, not competence. Interval-based practice changes that equation entirely.

By assigning specific time blocks to focused drills, you create urgency, simulate on-course pressure, and ensure that every minute of practice counts. Below are five interval drills designed to sharpen every facet of your short game. Each drill includes recommended timing you can set up directly in the Intervals.Golf app.

Drill 1: The Chipping Ladder (8 Minutes)

Place targets at 10, 20, and 30 yards from your position. Set an interval timer for 2 minutes and 40 seconds per distance. During each interval, hit shots exclusively to that target, focusing on landing the ball within a three-foot radius. The key is maintaining a consistent tempo regardless of distance -- your backswing length changes, but your rhythm stays the same. After each 2:40 block, the timer signals you to rotate to the next distance. This drill trains distance control and forces you to adjust quickly, just as you would moving between holes on the course.

Drill 2: Pitch Shot Precision (10 Minutes)

Pitching requires a different motion than chipping -- more wrist hinge, a fuller swing, and greater commitment through impact. Set up two intervals of 5 minutes each. During the first interval, hit pitch shots from 40 to 50 yards with a focus on trajectory control. Try to land every ball on the same spot and let the roll vary naturally. During the second interval, move to 60 to 75 yards and switch your focus to carry distance. Between each shot, step behind the ball and pick a specific landing spot before addressing it. This mirrors your on-course routine and prevents the mindless repetition that plagues most short game practice.

Drill 3: Bunker Blast Intervals (8 Minutes)

Bunker play terrifies many amateurs, largely because they rarely practice it. This drill uses four 2-minute intervals to systematically build confidence. In the first interval, focus solely on getting the ball out of the bunker -- no target, just clean exits. In the second interval, aim for a general area on the green. In the third, pick a specific pin and try to land within 10 feet. In the final interval, bury several balls in the sand and practice plugged lie escapes. The progressive difficulty mirrors how confidence builds: you master the basics first, then layer on precision.

• Interval 1 (2 min): Clean exits only -- get the ball out every time
• Interval 2 (2 min): Aim for the general green surface
• Interval 3 (2 min): Target a specific pin, land within 10 feet
• Interval 4 (2 min): Plugged and buried lies -- worst-case scenarios

Drill 4: The Flop Shot Challenge (7 Minutes)

The flop shot is one of the most dramatic shots in golf, and one of the riskiest. This drill uses a 3-minute warm-up interval followed by a 4-minute challenge interval. During the warm-up, open your highest-lofted wedge and hit soft, high flop shots to any target. Focus on sliding the clubface under the ball with an open stance and full commitment. Once the challenge interval starts, place a towel or obstacle two yards in front of you and attempt to land flop shots just over it onto a tight target. The obstacle forces you to commit to the shot -- deceleration is not an option. Track how many shots clear the obstacle and land within your target zone.

Drill 5: Up-and-Down Scramble (12 Minutes)

This is the drill that ties everything together. Set a repeating interval of 3 minutes with a 30-second rest between rounds. For each 3-minute block, drop a ball in a different location around the practice green -- rough, fairway, downhill, uphill, bunker. Hit your chip or pitch, then putt out. Your goal is to get up and down in two shots. Keep a running tally of your successes. The 30-second rest period is crucial: it gives you time to walk to a new position and reset mentally, just as you would between shots on the course.

Putting It All Together

These five drills total 45 minutes and cover every aspect of the short game. You do not need to run through all of them in every session. Pick two or three drills per visit and rotate through the full set over the course of a week. The interval structure ensures you stay focused throughout and prevents the common trap of spending too long on one area while neglecting others. Set up your timers in the Intervals.Golf app before you head to the practice area so you can focus entirely on execution once you arrive.