I have written often about the need to know where you are today with your golf game before you can devise a plan for where you want to go. You must not only know what aspects of your game are strengths and what parts are weaknesses, but also how much is each area a strength or a weakness.
The best way to ascertain this is with skills testing. I use the Dave Pelz Short Game Skills Tests with my players and have found it to be a great way to identify strengths and weaknesses in players short games, and then design practice programs to improve the weakest areas.
In this post I wanted to share with you the Skills Test for 3 feet putts. As the illustration below shows, you simply set the balls up in a circle and record the number of balls you putt into the hole. Based on your score you can assign yourself a handicap for this particular skill. If you handicap for this skill is higher than you would like it to be, you then need to work with your coach to discover why you struggle with this shot and put a plan into place to help you improve.
After working on your prescribed practice drills for a while, you can then come back to the skills test to assess your improvement. I will follow this process regularly with players to not only let them see that they are improving, but also to make certain that the set goals are being reached and if not, make changes where necessary.
Short Putts (3 feet) Courtesy of Dave Pelz
