Short-game tips: too much time on the range can shortchange the short game.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Indiana Golf

You've developed a powerful swing, and thanks to those hours at the driving range you're dazzling the rest of the foursome from the tees and fairways. But on those many occasions requiring something less than a full swing, you're losing ground.

You may, in fact, be spending too much time on the driving range, says Mike Caskey, head golf pro at Heartland Crossing Golf Links in Camby. "It is not coincidence that I see better players always working on their short game," he says, "and average players at the range with driver in hand. Like shooting free throws or executing a bunt, the short game in golf is not practiced as much as necessary."

Scott Alexander of the Zollner Course at Tri-State University also sees amateurs focusing too much on the drive and too little on shorter shots. Frequently, he says, "the driving range is packed, with people waiting for spaces to hit balls at times, while the putting green is a ghost town."

Indeed, the short game is a whole different game, observes PGA member Wes Marshall of the Sagamore Club in Noblesville, and it takes a distinctly different set-up. "I have found that the No. 1 fault in a golfer's short game is the amount of backswing and effort one tries to put into the shot," he says. "If you setup to a short-game shot the same as a full-swing shot, then you're more likely to make a full swing on a shot where you may only need to hit the ball 15 yards."

Following are some of Indiana golf pros' most useful tips on the short game.

Too Far Forward?--The two biggest elements of the short game are the pitch, or lofted shot, and chip, or low running shot, says pro Jeff Mathew at Coyote Crossing Golf Course in Lafayette. "In order to make these shots as simple as possible, all you have to do is remember the correct position of the ball in your stance before you make the stroke."

The pitch shot, he says, should be played in the middle of your stance, while the chip shot should be played off your back foot. "You can select any club you want to use in these shots," he observes. "The biggest mistake golfers make is that the ball is played too far forward in the stance."

That said, it is possible to fine-tune the chip shot by adjusting the ball position, says Caskey at Heartland Crossing. "If you want more loft and less roll, move the ball up in your stance. For less loft and more roll move it back in your stance."

Weight Toward the Front--During the entire chip shot, shift your weight slightly to the left side (if...