One of the strongest aspects of Jordan Spieth’s performance this past season on the PGA Tour has been his short game.
Jordan Spieth has produced a number of iconic shots around the greens over the years.
Many will remember the bunker shot he holed to make the playoff at the John Deere Classic in 2013. Spieth would go on to win that week for his first PGA Tour title.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old produced a moment of magic on the banks of Lake Michigan at the 2021 Ryder Cup. Spieth hit one of the best shots the event has seen – and just about managed to keep himself on dry land.
Jordan Spieth’s coach shares one of the biggest myths when it comes to the short game
Having a great short game does not appear to be an absolute must to enjoy some sort of success, even at the highest level.
However, there is no doubt that the greatest players of all time have been outstanding around the greens.
The problem is that there are plenty of ways to hit shots around the putting surfaces. With that, the door opens up to make mistakes which hold amateurs back from really improving.
And Spieth’s coach Cameron McCormick has previously suggested the claim about the short game which harms players the most as they look to get up and down more often.
“One of the biggest lies in golf, and one of the most common misconceptions, and quite frankly, a pet peeve of mine is when I hear on broadcast coverage of professional events, or even when I’m playing with amateur golfers is steady legs in short game shots,” he said.
“Quite frankly, it’s a myth that I’d like to help you understand that you must bust today. And so, any short game shot needs to be a marriage of movement between what the club head is doing, what the upper body is doing to allow the club head to move as we’re anticipating it needs to be moving, and in addition to that, what the lower body is doing.
“Because without this marriage of movement, the dance if you will, that the lower body should be having or doing performing with your upper body and your club, you end up delivering very rigid motions to impact.
“You lose rhythm. And quite frankly, you lose the position in space that the club head should be moving through and to.
“The lesson there is when you’re making your practice swings, you should be implementing some sense that there’s some leg movement, some foot movement – the pressure largely moving on a low trajectory shot through that lead leg, that lead foot and allowing that trail foot to marry together with it.”
The drill Cameron McCormick suggests to encourage better leg movement
Fortunately, McCormick went on to suggest a drill players can use to help them improve how they use the right leg in short game shots.
He started by putting the head of his club under his foot at address.
“A really good exercise here is allowing that foot to let this lob wedge that I just put under it hit the ground. That would be true for low chip shots, it would be just as true for mid-trajectory pitch shots right there,” he added.
“You can see right heel off the ground. This would be me performing that same movement with a pitch with that shaft hitting the ground there, and it is just as true when we got to more lofted shots.”
Jordan Spieth’s short game looked to be a work in progress in 2025
Interestingly, the short game may be one area that Spieth is looking to work on this winter.
He is 30th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained around the greens in 2025. However, he is also 156th for scrambling from the rough this year.
He has successfully got up and down 83 times from 161 attempts.
Obviously, some of that will be down to Spieth’s putting. But clearly, he will want to be a lot more prolific when he gets out of position in 2026.
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