[tongzilla]

Better short game will definitely carry over to your long game. Everything is done a lot slower, making it easier for you to work on the Three Imperatives and Essentials. And if you can't do it properly at half speed, what chance have got at full speed?
Also, the 'click' of a three dimensional impact is much more evident when doing chips and pitches.
I saw Ben Doyle live making a chipping stroke with clubhead speed of about 3 MPH, and I heard that loudest and prettiest 'click' ever. That's quality!
I like practicing chips indoors because you can really listen to the quality of impact. You would be surprised at how your ears can cultivate your feel and improve your ball striking.

I very rarely use the Cut Shot because of the deliberate muscular manipulation needed to produce the Vertical Hinge Action.
Angled Hinging is a must for short game. It approaches Vertical Hinging characteristics as the Plane gets steeper (i.e. shorter clubs) and it's much easier to produce.

For a bread and butter 40 yard pitch shot, does anyone find that the standard TGM pitch (max compression, no leakage, mashing it down, stop at both arms straight with flat left wrist, the ones you see Ben Doyle hitting a lot in his tape) produces too much compression which means ball doesn't stop on the green.

Brian talked about what he calls the 'Tour Pitch'. It has less backspin than the TGM pitch, but it bites a whole lot more because the ball is struck with less compression, so when it lands there is less momentum to carry to ball forwards (and off the green).