Get a Tour Short Game

A Typical Practice Session

A normal practice day is from 10am - 4pm with a mix of on- and off-course work. I split my practice evenly between long game, wedges, short game and putting. Three quarters of my off-course time is spent on shots from 100 yards and in. I start on the range, get the body warm, then work on technique and trying to shape shots. I then work on wedges, pitching, bunker play and chipping, going through different things. Then I’ll challenge myself with drills to put myself under pressure. A lot of thought goes into that.

At times I’ve moved away from the things I worked on with Dave Aldred [Donald’s former performance coach] and I’ve not been as structured in my practice as I would have liked. I’ve been through a period of change in the last year and a half where I’ve probably concentrated too much on stuff on the range and lost focus on that structured short-game practice. But in the last few months I’ve certainly been getting back to that, and it feels good to recreate those scenarios, write things down that are working for me and get back to that way of thinking.

I have a few drills that I do and a short-game test that Patt [Goss] has come up with it. It involves 100 shots across pitching, chipping and putting. You’re trying to get a score so you’re not just chipping, you have to hole the putt as well. I’m fortunate enough to practice at a course where a lot of other Tour players are based, so if someone’s around I’ll try and have a contest with them. I like to put myself under a bit of pressure and simulate the real-life scenario. In putting, I have a 4-8ft drill and a 10-15ft drill. There are a certain number of putts you’re supposed to make from those distances. I also do other fun drills that get me in the right frame of mind.