2014 is the year of the short game for amatuers

When a student calls me for a lesson, invariably they want to work on their full swing about 98% of the time.  For golfers who are shooting 90+, I would agree that their full swing mechanics need work.  However, they neglect nearly half of their game by not worrying about their short game.  It is going to be my job in 2014 to sell them on the fact that we need to spend some time working on the short game as well.  Most golfers when I ask them how their short game is, they say it's pretty good.  I don't think they have any idea what pretty good is.  They assume that since putting is such a simple task that they already know everything about how to put the ball in the hole.  They could not be further from the truth.  Not to mention, their buddies give them putts throughout a round.  Imagine they had to putt them out!  They would be even worse.  My goals as a teacher this year include trying to convince my students to allot some time to wedges and putting.  I will spend extra time with them if I have to, or give them extra time after the lesson to prove my point.  Together, we will get that handicap going in the right direction in 2014.