Practice doesn't always make perfect in golf, but for any level of player, from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced, practicing effectively will have a huge impact on your play -- particularly if you practice at a facility such as the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where you can approximate nearly any shot you will encounter on the course.

This is especially true in the area of the short game. Developing your off-green putting, chipping and pitching skills so that they will transfer to on-course situations should be the goal of short game practice sessions.

When practicing our short game, we often place our practice balls in one spot and pull each ball over one at a time (giving ourselves the best lie possible), and repetitively hit shot after shot at the same target. This is called block practice and is fine as a skill development drill, helping us to learn or practice a motion.

However, this type of repetitive drill often creates an unrealistic expectation for the player, as it has only a slight resemblance to the actual on-course shots they will face in competitive situations.

Alternatively, a player who distributes his or her golf balls at various locations around the target green -- allowing for different lies, stances, distances and angles of approach -- is creating a scattered practice routine. This routine will better help prepare them for the actual on-course situations they will face, and is effective in developing skills in both shot planning (club selection, choosing the landing area, etc.) and execution.

The results we get with the scattered practice routine will likely be much closer to true on-course results, and therefore will have a greater impact on the scores we shoot.

A fun way to add a scoring element to your short game practice sessions is to hit eleven shots to the same target from scattered positions. Then find the ball that is sixth in distance from the target. This is your approximate your average distance. Go ahead and putt this ball and see if you left yourself a make-able putt, which is known as "getting up-and-down."

Set distance goals for yourself to see if you can get that average ball consistently closer to the pin, and make each ball count, just as you would do in playing situations.

I can't stress enough the importance of not only practicing your short game, but also receiving expert instruction to ensure that you are practicing effectively. While many people might associate PGA Teaching Professionals with full swing instruction, they also have the expertise to teach you the short game shot planning skills and techniques that with practice can lower your scores drastically.

You can find a golf facility that employs a PGA Professional near you anytime by logging on to www.PlayGolfAmerica.com and using the zip code search.

Until next time, here's to better golf!

Rick Martino is Director of Instruction for The PGA of America. He teaches at the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and is ranked among the Top 50 instructors by Golf Digest Magazine. The author of the PGA Manual of Golf (Warner Books/$34.95), Martino can be reached at (800) 800-GOLF or by email at pgalearningcenter@pgahq.com.