This is where the mechanical stops and feel and judgement take over. It was often said of Monty during his years of dominance that his short game was only average because he so seldom needed it. For lesser mortals, we do need it and, when coupled with the black art of putting, it accounts for up to 70% of shots in the normal round. That shold be borne in mind when going to practice and the focus applied accordingly. The best golfers in the world all have one thing in common: they all have an amazing imagination around the greens. The key thing is don't be scared to try different shots. Whether you're 10 foot or 50 foot from the pin don't necessarily play the obvious club you use to chip or pitch. Any one of the clubs in your bag could work.

Niclas Fasth on chipping:
A mental tip I find useful with chipping is to separate the preparation from the execution. If you do that successfully, you'll find that you can be much more relaxed over the ball and will be less likely to worry about where it goes. Let me explain.

For any chip shot, your first task is to picture the shot you need to play to get the ball as close to the hole as you can.

Visualise the stroke you are going to play, see the ball in the air, find a landing spot and make a judgement on how it will roll up to the hole. Your experience as a player will help you do all those things. Once you've selected the shot you want to play, you need to forget about the hole. Just execute the shot that is required.

Hopefully, you'll have practised this hundreds of times, so it is just a question of repeating the shot as you would as if the green wasn't there. The other advantage is that you can learn more quickly.

If the shot doesn't come off, you need to either improve your technique or your judgement of the right shot selection.

Anika Sorenstam's Flop Shots

To hit a flop shot, you have to maximise clubface loft at impact. For a start, use your must lofted wedge; mine IS a 60 degree. Choke down an inch for control, and play the ball up, just inside your left heel. Don't push your hands in front of the ball at address - you'll deloft the clubface.

The swing should be long and lazy. Hinge your wrists as soon as you start back, creating a 90 angle between the club and your left arm Keep your weight centred. Then swing down, and accelerate through the ball to a full finish.

One move that can kill the flop is an aggressive shift to your front foot on the downswing. This driving action angles the shaft forwards, which reduces loft. Try this drill: Hit flop shots keeping your left heel just off the ground from start to finish. You won't be able to drive forward, so you'll keep more loft on the club.