A lot of handicap players don't know how to hit the short shots. Their technique is wrong, and even if they know how to hit the shots, they don't know what clubs to hit in certain situations. We hear a lot of pros say amateurs don't pay enough attention to the short game. The handicap player wouldn't have to spend that much time on the short game if he had the proper technique. When you have the wrong technique, you have to spend more time on it because you are improvising.
Most people try to hit a wedge shot, or a chip, with the same technique they use on longer shots.
They don't open their bodies to the hole enough. They have a tendency to take more swing than is needed to make the shot, so they end up decelerating through the ball. That's poor technique. Let's say I'm going to hit a 50-yard wedge shot. Poor technique would be if I address the ball with my body facing the target line, and then I take the club back as if I'm going to hit a 120-yard shot.