If you only have 20 minutes a day, spend it on the short game. This isn't a hot take — it's the math. The average amateur takes nearly half their strokes inside 100 yards. Practicing wedges and putter at home is cheap, quiet, and has a bigger impact on your scorecard than anything you can do at the range.
The routine
Minutes 0-5: Chipping rhythm
Set up a target 10-15 feet away. Hit 15 chip shots with the same club. Don't change anything for the first 10 — just groove the same motion. On shots 11-15, change only your setup: ball position forward, then back, and notice how the flight changes. That's feel training.
Minutes 5-12: Pitching with two clubs
Take your sand wedge and pitching wedge. Hit 10 shots with each, same target, same swing length. The point is to feel how far the ball carries with each club. If you're on a compact mat like our $24.99 3-piece set, you'll also see your swing path on the velvet surface — free feedback.
Minutes 12-20: Putting gate drill
Find a straight putt on carpet or a putting mat. Place two tees just wider than your putter head, 3 feet from the hole. Make 20 putts through the gate without touching the tees. Then move back to 6 feet and repeat. The gate drill is boring. It also happens to be one of the most effective putting drills ever invented.
Why this works better than range sessions
Short game practice gives you feedback in seconds. You know immediately if a chip was fat or thin. That fast feedback loop is exactly what builds skill. Full swings give feedback too, but the gap between the swing and the result is longer, and bad habits hide in that gap.
Run this routine five days a week for a month and you will notice the difference on the course. The scoring shots — the ones from 30 yards in — get easier, and easy scoring shots are what lower your handicap.