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Do you think shot game or long game is more important for a golf game??

I'm not sure what a "shot" game is in relation to golf, but if you mean "short" game, i don't think there's a golfer out there that would say anything except that a short game is more important than your long game. Everybody knows you make your birdies with your putter.

The long game is important in so far as it at least gets you in position to be able to use your short game. If your full swing is so bad that it takes you 3,4 or more strokes just to get within 100 yards, then I'd say you definitely need to do something about that, and quickly. If that's the case, even Tiger's short game won't help you make pars.

But if you keep the ball in play, even if it wanders a bit, and get near the green in regulation numbers, then the short game is everything. My lifetime best round on a par 72 course is 73. I didn't do that by hitting 75% of the greens or even by hitting 50% of the fairways off the tee. But I did keep the ball in play, and I got close to the greens when I didn't hit them, and I had a very good short game to save most of my pars (and some birdies) when I missed.

So you have to ask yourself where you need to apply the changes to most improve your chances. Only you can answer that question, and you have make an honest assessment.

i agree with rick.the long game is important but better 200 yards on fairway than 230 in the rough,in a round of 72 you might only hit 14 drives,so 58 shots are allotted to rest of game,one third long game practise and 2 thirds short game is recommended,if your second shot is slightly over the green or short or left and right and you get down in 2 then you have a solid game plan with recovery scores of 4.putting is one thing that people ignore.you may never crunch a tiger woods drive due to physical limitations but you can aspire to putt like the pros.

I'm less dissatisfied with my short game than I am with my driving so for now my answer is long game.

When they switch places, I'll switch answers. Until then, play on! Am I still away?

If you want to play at a high level ... you got to have both
If your just playing for the **** of it ... work on your long game noone will notice/care how bad your short game is

A strong short game makes up for medicore long game better than the inverse. Chicks dig the long ball, but your scorecard digs your game inside 60yds.

The short game beat Tiger Woods in match play today.

Gotta get me a belly putter hehe.

Amen, you can't focus properly on your short game if you are chipping or long-putting for double-bogey. Your mind just isn't in it anymore after doing that for a while.

You need to focus on the long game to where you can at least get to where you are GIR or are at least where you have a reasonable up & down opportunity. And by that I mean, at most, a 40 yard chip or pitch. Not hoping to stick it from 100 yards. If you can't keep your tee shots in the fairway, then there's no hope for a 100 yard partial swing.

Also, the short game is supposed to be played with a 'mini' full swing. If you have mechanical flaws in the full swing, then the partial swing will be messed up as well. Result, bad pitch/chip.

100 yards and in.

The courses I play are not Tour caliber at all so I can usually hit a decent drive and then I'm left with a short iron or wedge to the green. So I would have to say in my situation it would have to be short game. Thats okay though because my short game is alot better than my long.

A pro and a low handicapper will gain nothing by just adding 5 or 10 yards to their drives, and they should rather add 1 inch to their putting accuracy.

But when you're a rookie, a bad put means just an extra stroke whilst a poor drive implies a painful visit to the forest or a hazard, which usually adds more strokes.

I agree with this...the answer to the question depends on your skill level and the magnitute of your misses...a beginner who takes 4-8 shots (including penalities) to come anywhere near the green on a standard par 4 will say the long game...I remember being frustrated as a beginner when I was constantly being told to work on my short game in that I felt like the long game was taken for granted...however, once the ball can be kept in play for the most part and second and third shots end up on or around the green, the short game should be the focus...

I have sparked some controversy over this question in another forum for my belief in this.

YOUR APPROACH SHOT is the most important aspect to SCORE.

Short game is the most important aspect to your CONSISTENCY.

But I believe a better approach game automatically boosts your short game. I'll give you an example.

I hit a perfect drive smack dab down the middle and it left me only 110 to the green. I yanked my sand wedge that flew into the greenside bunker and burried into an impossible ball below my feet, fried egg, burried under the lip lie. Tell me how a good short game will get me up and down from there? It WONT. I don't care if you've got every shot in the bag, my position was flat out impossible to make any sort of realistic chance at par.

But if I had just simply put the ball on the green in the first place by not yanking the approach, then I wouldn't have had a problem.

Knowing WHERE TO MISS with your approach shots makes your short game look golden. Just putting the ball in the right spot around the green can make your chip 1000x easier.

So for me.. IRONS IRONS IRONS IRONS.

The beauty of golf is the answer could be either. It just depends on what your strengths are. Some people can hit long irons like you would not believe. Say a person is 170 yards away from the green. They stick the green all the time, then 2 putt for par.

Then you have the guy like me. I'm 170 yards away from the green, miss the green, but I'm able to get up and down for par quite often.

So for me and my game the short game is more important. But if someone said the long game is more important I wouldn't argue with them.