It is amazing how many golfers put the ball too far forward in their stance for chip shots. Although having the ball forward in your stance may feel comfortable, it can also cause problems with ball striking: either you hit the ball on the up or hit the turf before the ball — both scenarios are disastrous.
Throw some balls.
This drill is designed to train your to visualize your shots before playing them. It uses the simple action of throwing a ball to improve your understanding of height and roll. A better grasp of these key concepts will be of great benefit to your chipping.
Don’t scoop the chip shot.
Most golfers try to scoop the ball up when they chip, resulting in either hitting behind the ball or topping it.
The setup is very important in order to hit a chip shot crisply. Your weight should be slightly forward, so you are leaning a little toward the target. Ball position should be center or slightly back in the stance. The handle of the club must stay forward of the club head through contact. Hit the ball with a descending blow, taking a small divot after the shot.
The most common error in chipping is when the club head passes the hands before impact. Uncocking of the wrists before impact creates a scooping impact that will never lead to consistency.
If there has ever been a thought that has wrecked golf scores, it’s the idea of finessing the ball to the target. Even short shots must be hit decisively. Rather than finessing the shot, thinking of hitting the ball solidly with a shorter swing.
Grip pressure on chip shots.
Grip pressure depends on how the ball is sitting in the grass. If the ball is sitting up, grip pressure should be soft, and you should use a smooth and sweeping motion. If the ball is sitting down in the grass, you should hold the handle more firmly. A firmer grip will produce a little more downward pressure, which will loft the ball from the turf.
A good phrase to remember when playing short shots is this: “Down is up and up is down.” To hit the ball in the air, you have to hit it on the downbeat and brush the grass. If you try to lift the ball up with the club head, the ball will stay on the ground. You can’t lift the ball. Any lifting lifts the club off the grass, creating a “topped” shot.
To hit solid, consistent chip shots, the club head has to stay low to the ground, particularly on the follow-through.
To chip consistently, you must strike the ball on the downswing. Most recreational golfers try to scoop the ball, resulting in poor contact.
Golf instructors can teach mechanics, but not feel. Acquiring feels takes time and patience.
If you want to break 80, work on the short shots twice as much as your long shots. If you have 90 minutes to practice, spend 30 minutes putting, 30 minutes with wedges, and 30 minutes at the range.
70% of all shots are played from 100 yards in and so you must practice your short game with that in mind.
The one point that I would like to impress upon golfers playing the chip shot is the fact that it is nothing more than a long putt. If the player will bring himself to realize this really important fact it will simplify the play greatly and create a mental condition that will reduce the tension that seems to be a handicap of the amateur golfer.
The most common fault that I have observed is that the player stands too far away from the ball, and the feet are usually too far apart. This fault makes the result of the stroke very uncertain as control of the wrist is lost. The proper method is for the player to stand as close to the ball as he can with comfort and freedom — without feeling cramped. Both arms should be tucked close to the side; the forearms and wrists only are used in swinging the club. The swing should simulate that of the putt. With the idea of a putt in mind, and by following the principles of the putt, the irritating and annoying habit of stubbing the ground is not likely to occur.
This last point — that the ball be hit a descending blow — is perhaps the most important element in any of the approach shots, for only this motion will give it the backspin that means control, which is an absolute necessity at short distances from the green.
Most star players tell their readers how they easily can apply spin to the ball, but forget that for handicap golfers this is a highly advanced technique.
Many high-handicap players swing with little or no weight transfer. Therefore they have to take the club back too far in the effort to produce the same clubhead speed they could produce with a proper weight transfer and shorter swing. If you have a problem over-swinging, first check your weight transfer. Then trying swinging the club back shorter and accelerating it more firmly through the ball.
Harry Vardon used to carry 1 left-handed club in his bag just for such rescue shots, but modern golfers will want to carry an extra wedge, which they are more likely to need on today’s courses.
I like for a child to use one ball, chip it at the hole and then go put it in. This is how the child learns to score.
For a child to chip a dozen or more balls at the same hole, one after the other, is a poor method. It gives too much room for mistakes. It does not teach the reality of playing golf, which is that you have to pay for your mistakes.
Well, if you want to see a radical improvement in your game and cut off 5 strokes in a week or two, you must make a radical change in the way you practice.
For 2 weeks devote 90% of your practice time to chipping and putting, and only 10% to the full swing.
I can see the average player nodding his head and saying yeah, yeah. I know that’s what I ought to do.
But I don’t see him doing it.
Instead I see him on the range, swinging from the heels, hitting 40 drives in a row for the thrill of those 4 or 5 that might be well struck.
The first and foremost fundamental to learn about chipping is this: keep your hands ahead of or even with the clubhead on the follow-through. All the way through.
Once you establish a good chipping technique, the battle is 90% over. Whether you’re chipping uphill or downhill, whether the shot is long or shot or whether the lies is perfect or a little scruffy, to be a good chipper you need sound fundamentals.
The No.1 mistake: Flipping your wrists.
This is worth a section of its own, because it deals with the single worst chipping error you can make — and unfortunately, the most common. That mistake is trying to help the ball into the air by uncocking your wrist too early on the downswing. All kinds of bad things can happen, from chili-dipping and skulling to decelerating and hitting the ball too high or low.
Depending on the length of the shot, it’s OK to allow your wrists to cock a little on the way back. But on the downswing, your hands must lead the way, delaying the release of the clubhead until the last possible moment. If you relax and initiate the forward movement with your shoulders, you’ll allow your wrists to uncock naturally, with no conscious effort on your part.
The best short-game artists vary their club selection aground the greens. They vary the speed, trajectory, and distance of ball flight with the club, not with the type of stroke they make.
The 3-wood chip: a foolproof technique.
I never try to swing through the ball with my arms and hands alone, because it’s too difficult to control the loft of the clubface and regulate clubhead speed. My thought is to simply unturn my hips and let them guide my shoulders, arms and hands through the downswing. A low, abbreviated finish is my goal — it proves the big muscles have directed the motion, not my arms and hands.
For most of us, the length of our first putt is a function of our short game.
For chip shots, position the ball back in your stance, off the back ankle. You want to hit the ball with a descending blow, trapping a minimal amount of grass between the clubhead and the ball, and creating a low, running trajectory.
For all distance wedge and pitch shot swings from normal lies, when you expected a normal trajectory, position the ball in the exact center of your stance. Your front foot should be turned toward the target by about 30-45 degrees.
In a bunker, you want to contact the sand behind the ball. First aim to the left, then position the ball inside the heel line of your left foot.
From a bare, hardpan lie on hard dirt, move the ball 3 inches back from normal position, open the clubface slightly, and aim a little left. Make your normal dead-hand finesse swing.
While the PW roll roughly equal the carry in the air, SW shots rolled less, about two-thirds as far.
The higher your shots come into greens, the less important spin is.
Relate this information to the advice everyone hears for short shots: “Get the ball on the ground and running as soon as you can.” This axiom is true for those amateurs who cannot control how far they fly their wedge shots. But the pros often get their best results by bringing shots in high, landing them close to the pin — rather than the edge of the green — and not worrying about how far they will roll.
You’ll quickly learn the truth about many delicate shots around the green: It’s easier to control the ball with a short club and a long swing than with a long club and a short swing. This truth stands strong for all the wedges.
Always make a few preview swings through the same grass conditions that surround your ball. Once you see the perfect swing, step up to the ball, execute your preshot ritual, and go. Don’t think or delay: Trust that when you repeat that swing, your result will be fine.
You should be standing close to the ball, your stance narrow, and the ball about 3 inches behind your stance center, on-line with your back ankle. 65% of your weight should be on your front foot, your hands well ahead of the ball. Your follow-through should be 20% longer than your backswing.
Just be sure to get the ball safely over the fringe, because reading how a ball will react through the fringe is less reliable than reading how it will react on the smooth, evenly watered, well-manicured green. And you’d always rather be putting than chipping your next shot. Always.
The results consistently showed that the lower the ball flight, the straighter the bounce when the ball landed on the surface. This means that a lower-lofted club will make the ball bounce and initially roll straighter on your expected line than a higher-lofted club.
Initially, these results surprised me because I had assumed backspin was the main factor controlling a ball on the green and was good. However, watching Perfy, I learned a lesson: The greater the backspin Perfy put on his chip shots, the greater the dispersion pattern of balls on the green.
The more backspin on your shot, the more its reaction depends on the condition of the landing area. Put less spin on the ball and it will have a more consistent reaction and be less dependent on what’s happening in the landing area.
Good chipping calls for less backspin.
From good lies, chip the ball low with minimum backspin: Take a lower-lofted club (as long as you can make solid contact) and carry the ball onto the green without rolling it too far past the hole. However, as the lie gets worse, move the ball farther back in your stance and use a more lofted club to assure clean, solid contact. Because without good contact, your shots won’t land near your projected landing area and you won’t produce good shot patterns.
The key is to hit enough chips to learn which of your shots work best and which are the easiest for you to execute well.
For almost everyone, the best and surest way to lower your score is to work on the short game, because rapid improvement is possible there, quickly. Making substantial improvements in the long game takes months and years of hard work.
Chip from downhill lie:
- Step the trail foot back. This helps keep hips more level.
- Swing down the slope.
Rory’s wedge tip: try to make sure that my body and my arms are sort of coming together so everything “synced up.”
I’d begin by going to a practice green and start on the fringe. I recommend that good players practice chips every day until they sink two. This does 2 things. First, it forces them to think about holing chips rather than just getting them on the green in the direction of the hole. And it boosts their confidence. It’s amazing how sinking a couple of chips every day can persuade a player that he has a great short game.
On longer chips, if that means the best club to play the shot is a 5i, then I’ll use the 5i. You shouldn’t feel like some clubs are chipping clubs and others aren’t.
Chip from heavy rough just off the green:
Mistakes:
- Ball too far back in the stance.
- Too much arm swing or body movement.
- Moving forward of the ball at impact.
Setup:
- Open the face slightly, then grip the club.
- Set the shaft perpendicular to the ground.
- Stand to the handle with weight centered.
Pre-swing thoughts:
- Keep body and arms passive and mainly use wrists.
- Imagine making a swing that looks like a checkmark.
Swing:
- Hinge the club abruptly using the wrists.
- Release the club down to the ball, holding the face open through impact.
Chipping with the club up on its toe gives you options.
Players set the club on its toe for chipping for various reasons. If the ball is sitting down a little, it brings less of the club into contact with the ground. Or sometimes, if you are chipping onto a downslope on a very, very fast green, the ball will come out a little bit “dead” if you set the club on its toe — it doesn’t come out with the full spring of the club. Some guys just like doing it because they get their hands up high and just use a putting stroke, removing any other mechanics from the stroke.
Maintain smooth acceleration through the ball and keep your head down. Picking your head up to catch a glimpse of your shot may raise the low point of your swing and cause you to hit the top of the ball.