One of the common tendencies of recreational golfers is to get too quick in their swing pace on their shorter shots. I watch golfers almost jerk the club back and jab/stab it at the ball when they are trying to execute a short chip or pitch. I believe this is due largely to the fact that we’ve been fed the advice of “accelerate through the ball” relentlessly by the magazines and videos about putting and the short game.

The other contributor is nervousness. That makes our muscles tighten up and get “twitchy”, and causes us to speed up all our motions. It doesn’t happen just in golf.

I’m a big believer that the closer you get to the hole, the slower you should swing the club. I’ve written about the comparison of a playing a golf hole to painting a house. The driver is like the sprayer or power roller; it puts down paint powerfully, but not with the utmost of precision. The approach shot is the cutting in of windows and doors. You work a little slower to gain precision. And the short game – chipping, pitching and putting – are the trim brushes. You work slower still, and with utmost precision to make sure the finished work is perfect. A bad trim paint job can mess up the best of the other parts.

In my opinion, you almost cannot move the club too slowly in the short game. This part of scoring requires precision, and all things we try to do precisely require us to slow down a bit. You want to be precise in just how far back you take the club, so that you can accurately judge distance. You need to be precise in ball contact so that you can get the right amount of spin you need for the shot at hand. And you need to be precise in the swing path so that you can get the trajectory you envisioned for the shot you picture in your mind.

So, why not work just a bit slower to give all that precision a chance to happen?

Here’s a great drill session for you. Go to the practice green with several balls and practice hitting chips and short pitches in s-l-o-w -- m-o-t-i-o-n. This is harder than it sounds, but do it. Take the club back very slow, feel a deliberate pause at the end of the backswing/stroke, and then come through the ball very slow . . . almost agonizingly slow.

To do this, you’ll need to keep your right hand (for RH players) more passive on the club than you ever have. Hold and control the club with your left/lead hand, but hold it lighter than you think possible. Engage your upper body to control the swing – it’s easier to move the big muscles slowly than the small muscles. The downswing should feel like you are not doing anything but letting gravity bring the club back to the ball. As you get the feel of these slow motion swings, experiment with seeing just how s-l-o-w you can hit a shot. You’ll be surprised.

So, there’s a new tip for you to try. I’m certain it will improve your contact consistency, distance control and trajectory control.

Let us all know how it works.

Terry Koehler is "The Wedge Guy" and President of SCOR Golf- The Short Game Company.

Click here to learn more about Terry.