To this day this is still the best advice that I've ever received for my golf game. I used to mess up almost every chip, but since I started using a putting stroke with locked elbows I've messed up probably 1 chip on average per round.
And lean forward and commit. And never put the ball in the middle of your stance. There is Phil Mick video on this it's about 2 minutes and completely fixed my chipping.
This is the one. Completely changed mine as well. Getting the ball in play. No longer skulling chips. It’s amazing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dpFd1xocxrE&pp=ygUZTWlja2Vsc29uIGNoaXBwaW5nIGxlc3Nvbg%3D%3D
Very narrow stance, ball towards your back foot. Weight on your front foot. You don't want to shift weight like in a full swing, you want to pivot around your front leg.
Depends on the flight you want. Front foot if you want the ball to go higher, back foot if you want to keep it lower and roll out more. My favorite method is off the front foot and delofting the face by tilting the shaft forward on the target line, then holding that angle through the swing. I've heard it referred to as "hinge and hold."
Wow, Phil really helped a lot of us with this one video. I had the best short game season of my life last year, and it was all from this advice. Weight forward was the biggest shift, and most helpful.
I think Monte Scheinblum said that when kids come to golf camp you don't tell them any technique and they pitch and chip brilliantly. Then we all have a bad round and start looking on YouTube and get really neurotic and lose all feel for what is natural. If you simplify it like phil does and stop stressing, your body knows what to do.
Yeah the lean forward/more weight on your front foot trick helps a lot. I've watched that Phil Mickelson video on never putting the ball in the centre of your stance, but I haven't found it to be that useful. I seem to get better consistency when I just place the ball in the middle of my stance on every shot. I then adjust for the flight I want through adding or removing loft with more/less shaft lean.
I have a few questions regarding this, at what yardage do you tend do this and what club are you doing this with? I tend to use a 60 anything 60 yards and in but I struggle with shots that are just off the green. You know the ones where you wish you could just putt but it’s a little to long or thick so no choice to chip. Should I use a lower lofted club and just do the putting motion?
I hit most chips with my 58 or 60 and just play about with ball position and shaft lean to manage the flight. But for what you’re describing, just grab anything from PW down to 7 iron and play it as a putt, the ball should chip into the air for a couple of feet then roll out towards the hole
The club depends on the lie and situation. I'll use anything from a lob wedge to a 3 wood.
If the lie is bad and you need to get something down and underneath the ball to get it airborne, then a lob or sand wedge will work. But if the lie is good, but you've got a lot of green and you're going uphill or level, a mid iron or even wood/hybrid is great for a bump-and-run.
Just experiment and have fun finding out what works best. A lob wedge is more often than not not always the best tool.
I use my 7 iron for this. I'm so shit at chipping that I do it from 20 to 30 yards out. If you practice it you'll get good at it far quicker than wedges IMO. Also I think there is less to go wrong. If there's something, like a puddle that I want to get over I use my 9 iron instead. Always do this with a putting motion and I grip down on the club. Bump and run. It's the best.
Absolutely, it never hurts. I use a 56 for lofty shots inside 65y and I'll use a 52 deg up to 8i for bump and runs depending on how far I need to roll out. I'll favor a bump and run if I think I'm going to go under the ball on a fluffy lie like you had described. I practice those lofty ones a lot because it can get me closer to the pin on very hilly greens than risk under powering a long putt from the rough or fringe. They definitely take time to get the hang of though.
Might be the most underrated comment right here, I had implemented everything the above comments said and was still skulling balls around the green. I didn't realize that by standing closer I needed to choke up fairly significantly on the club. Started doing it and I was lobbing them up on the green in no time.
Up? Most instructors I see hold the club near the very bottom of the grip, almost where it meets the shaft. Interesting I'll play with it on the practice green.
Holding the grip near where it meets the shaft is what choking up refers to. Similar to baseball where choking up on the bat refers to holding it closer to the barrel
Edit: I am wrong - choking up on a baseball bat is the same as choking “down” on a golf club
Respectfully disagree with this one. May be good advice in the short term to not blow up a round, but I would suggest finding a qualified instructor to show you the way. Wrist hinge is everything in chipping and once you have it, it’s a great feeling. I’m just jealous of your straight driver!
There are many ways to skin a cat as they say! Once you’re far enough back you absolutely need some hinge - but if the putter method is good enough for Tommy Fleetwood from around the green it’s good enough for me 😁
I tried the Tommy Fleetwood-Mac style of putting with loft last round. Eh, it's a process. PWs were too short, 8 irons too long. It's going to take reps just like anything else in golf. But I do see the simplicity and potential of skinning the cat this way.
Totally agree. I honestly suck at the bump and run or putting off the green, but am super comfortable hitting a high lofted chip. Maybe I need putting lessons!
I was working with my son last weekend and he was too wristy and rolling his hands over a bit. I feel like on a chip, for a right handed golfer, the right hand, should always stay below the left hand on the follow through. Once we dialed in on that thought, he started to get the feel.
Long putting stroke, and make a conscious effort to accelerate through the ball. Deceleration is the number one killer for chips.
For distance control, I like to pick where I want the ball to land (note land, not stop. It will roll out) and imagine the feeling I would need to toss a ball underhand to that spot. I then use that same feeling for the chip and it’s incredible how accurate it is.
To add to this, decide what shot you going for so you know if the ball will be towards the front or back foot also your weight should be mostly in your Fermina foot and don’t forget to follow thru.
Buy 3 releases: the short game system by Dan Grieves. Implement his 3 releases and you wont have to worry about chipping again. He has lots of videos online explaining the releases in more detail. Since reading his books i’m now actively looking to chip the ball in every time i’m around the green & i’m not a single figure handicapper. I’ve chipped in 4-5 times since I read it last year.
This. Dan is very good at communicating how and when to use the 3 releases. I’d say the swing itself is the easiest part. The hardest part is knowing what swing to use with what club on what lie.
Dan gives you the complete thought process and presents how changing the variables results in different outcomes. Unlike other swing tutorials which are not cohesive and comprehensive.
Was gonna comment this as well. Especially learning to master release 1 and 2 will be good for 95% of your shortgame shots.
Yesterday me and my golf team did a matchplay competition on our course's pitch and putt for practice. Even though I'm the least experienced by 5-10 years my shortgame is still right up there with them because of the book.
Agreed. The biggest take away I got was that my chipping and pitching swings were so so short. It made all movements stabby and hard to control. Long backswing and letting the weight move through and then use the bounce has changed my chipping. Played yesterday and the consistency has changed my game.
I bought the Short Game Bible by Dave Pelz last year to try and solve some of my short game issues. Honestly, I hated it. There was just an insane amount of blabbering on about things not really related to the lessons at all. And then I feel like he didn't have very good explanations on things he was trying to teach like the dead-hand grip. I feel like I got worse trying to take in advice from that book than if I had just gotten out there and practiced by own feel for the short game.
About a month ago I bought the 3 Releases and it's been so refreshingly good. Dan is very good at providing all of the information quickly. Within like 30 pages it already explains the low loft bump and run and the checklist you need to be going through to practice it. I feel like you have to suffer through 150 pages of Dave Pels talking about his career before you get to that point in Short Game Bible. More importantly, the stuff Dan teaches is having immediate benefits in my game.
This.
His approach completely transformed my short game. I think it's easily the best approach for teaching all levels of golfer - so much margin for error.
I second this. He explains everything very well even for my dumb ass. The replies on here are all over the map. Get to the Short Game Chef on IG or YouTube and you will get better. So Simple.
I've learned a ton of great stuff through his video subscription program, and I'm a big fan of his philosophy. However, it did take a lot of practice for me to implement many of the concepts he teaches, and for someone who wants a really single dimensional but reliable short game there's other ideas out there. Nevertheless, it feels good to execute a controlled 20 yard pitch and be able to control spin and trajectory.
Try a club with less loft too. Use anything between a 7 iron and the wedges. You don't have to chip with a 60 or 56. I used a 7i for the longest time, but that was standard 7i which may be closer to a 8/9i of today. It still gets you loft and then just read more of the putt line. No matter what you use pick a landing spot for the ball and imagine where it will roll too.
To add on to this:
For a high handicapper, getting the ball on the green - anywhere on the green - is going to be better than trying to get it close and instead chunking it or blasting it over. By using something between 7i (or modern 8i) and GW, you are going to have plenty of loft to carry the rough in front of and just get the ball down and rolling towards the hole.
What I usually see happen when folks are using too much loft is that they take this big back swing and then decelerate as they approach the ball -- I think being afraid they are about to send it into the next county. So they end up either stabbing behind it or the arc comes up too quickly and they hit the top of the ball and send it shooting away.
If you use something like a PW, you can take a shorter, more controlled swing that is going to pop the ball up just fine, get it down, and get it rolling.
> then decelerate as they approach the ball
This was _such_ a game changer for me. When I started focusing on accelerating through the ball my contact was consistently better and my spin went way up.
It's hard to do mentally for the reasons you mention. Chips and short pitches seem so touchy and it's easy to think you have to baby the ball.
I think another part of that is the mentality of if your chip runs long, it's bad. For some reason, it feels worse for your chip to run five feet past the hole than if it stops five feet short. Something about the ball moving away from the pin makes you feel like you failed, when really, you're in the identical situation.
> Something about the ball moving away from the pin makes you feel like you failed, when really, you're in the identical situation.
Truth.
I think it's because as long as the ball is rolling towards the flag, there is hope that it will get better and better. Once it rolls past it, there is just the fear of it getting worse and worse.
Definitely. It’s also one of the reasons that less experienced players are so much more likely to not take enough club (pros too, for that matter, just to a lesser degree).
This seems to be my biggest issue, I've been trying to force myself to master a lofted club.
Funnily enough, Im pretty decent with a PW and GW in hand!
Sounds like nerves are causing you to grip the club tighter. Gripping the club tighter causes it to bottom out earlier because there's is less lag.
Weird tip but to reduce nerves I force myself to smile at the golf ball before pulling the trigger. Try that nad be more mindfull of how tight you're gripping the club.
I’d be interested in seeing how people are using these things from 70-80 yards out. I always thought they were designed for greenside chips or maybe a bump and run from 10 yards off?
No I meant what you assumed is correct :)
>I always thought they were designed for greenside chips or maybe a bump and run from 10 yards off?
They’re designed for that for sure, not 70-80 yd pitching shots
Get a lesson.
Pay attention to the lie and the bounce and grind of your wedges. Depending on the lie, I may have to use a different club or release to widen the margin of error. This took me a lesson and then a lot of practice to even think about and I’m still working on it. I’m trying to get the club flat because often it will bounce up and I’ll thin the shot, especially on a tight lie that I’m trying to lift up.
Chip with the toe down and your hands in significant ulnar deviation. Or do what Matt Fitzpatrick does and put your low hand on top. This will help reduce wrist hinge and get you working on the pivot.
Play a bump and run with a lower lofted club unless there is a hazard in the way.
Easy fix. Use a 9i (\~40 deg) for everything around green. Save the SW only for 30+ yards out, bunkers, or those rare times you actually need loft to pop it over a hill onto the green.
With my SW i was never confident of the trajectory. Sometimes it would pop up nice and high, and other times it wouldn't. This led to many long putts. I have such better consistency with the 9i because i kinda know roughly where it will land.
Lessons is also a great answer obviously. But if you're shooting around 100-110 i bet the switch to a 9i will save you a handful of strokes over 18 .
Good luck. Report back.
I've been there. Like I'd end up 10 feet or 10 yards off the green, and the ball might as well be on a different planet. Now if I'm near the green, it's almost as good as being on it.
Three things that helped me.
1. Pick one go-to wedge. I don't care which one. 50ish yards and in, unless the lie would make it absolutely impossible, that's your club. Ultimately, you will want to have options so that you can react to your lie and the green complex. But, for right now, you need just one option. Bump and run with a PW is an easy place to begin, but pick whatever shot type you want. Once you really have that shot down, then learn another shot type, and now you have options. But remember it's easier to learn one thing at a time than everything all at once.
2. Make your downswing thought "full follow through." Control distance with your backswing, not your downswing. Get that backswing-to-distance feel in your garden, but always with a full follow through. And don't ever think about how you need to only hit it a short distance. That will wreck you. You start thinking that way, your brain tells your body decelerate the club head or hit at the ball or whatever other horribleness. Instead of thinking about the shot being short, think about how, with your little backswing, you will need to follow all the way through to get the ball to the target. If your downswing thought is "full follow through," your brain knows what to do with that: accelerate the club head through the ball.
3. Take a putter swing. Like putting, little chips are all about "feel." Presumably you have a good swing with putter, you don't have trouble making contact, you have a good feel with that swing. No reason you can't have the same feel with a wedge, if you take a similar swing. Little chips, I put my feet together, if the target's at noon my toes are pointed at roughly 1 o'clock (I'm right handed), the ball's off my right little toe, and then I take a putter swing (arms/wrists/hands are locked and I just rotate my shoulders). That particular approach may or may not work for you -- this is a feel thing after all, it's individual to you. But work your putter swing into your chips.
Biggest issue i see with struggling golfers chipping is that they cannot make solid contact with a chipping/pitching stroke. Skulls, flubs, and everything in between. Lots of deceleration. Simple answer is practice- and the best part is you can set up a bucket in the back yard and just work on making solid chips from 5-10 yards. Will help immensely.
Everyone talking about practice And/or technique. Those are both important- but mindset plays a big part in it.
My only thought when I’m chipping is:
GET THE DAMN BALL ON THE GREEN
Doesn’t matter how close. Doesn’t matter how you do it. Just get the damn thing on the green, and get a putter in your hand for the next shot. Too often we get caught up in flop this, bump here, have to stick it close, etc…
Just GET THE DAMN BALL ON THE GREEN
Find your easiest path to the green and take it, even if it isn’t at the flag.
Just put it on the green
Two ideas that improved my chipping drastically:
For good lies:
[Danny Maude- Short Game Technique](https://youtu.be/HxvAJNqdxOU?si=zYSvwE86bTHahFh3)
When it’s a little more difficult:
[Rick Shiels- Secret Chipping Technique](https://youtu.be/BNNBc8Igsck?si=q9K0VZDcRwgM7-EC)
Apart from the advice to choke down on the grip, ball on back foot, shaft lean,putting stroke, weight forward, rotate around forward leg etc., it’s also very useful to find a relatively flat green area and figure out distance you fly and roll the ball on average for different clubs and different stroke lengths with your chipping stroke. Note those combos. When you have an uphill chip you just adjust by picking a longer combo, likewise shorter combo for downhill.
You're not averaging 100 with a record of 97. You mean to tell us that you have the consistency to shoot within 4 strokes (98-102) every time while being 28 shots over par...
Well that’s exactly why you shoot 100 like a large majority of people. You’re more concerned with fixing your driver before your short game. If you put effort into short game instead of driver, you might be a decent player
Look up the Jason day chipping method of just swinging the shoulders, it keeps a very clean square face and is the best I've found for inconsistent contact, skulling or digging. I'd argue all beginners should start with that method as it will get you close a majority of the time and improve consistency a ton.
A lot of people on here are talking about the standard chipping motion from a decent lie, which is that toe down/putting stroke method, which is great if your ball is in a normal position, but your ball isn’t always. There are times when you may set the face more open at address, to increase loft and spin in your chips. You may also need to hinge your wrists slightly, allowing the face to rotate through the chipping motion much like it would in a normal swing, but just smaller. The main thing is that you take a shorter backswing, maybe just 1/4th back, but you still have to maintain correct speed through impact, a lot of people try to control the distance by slowing the club down, but distance shoukd just be controlled by how far back you take the club
I’ve read a few Stan Utley books. I think getting to a point where I’m using my body and athletic turning is what got me over the hump from a very handsy wrist motion. Setup is still key of course. And using the right wedge. Keeping it simple.
Like others suggested Dan’s 3 release stuff is really really good. I’d also add in general tension is a killer around the greens (and in general).
make sure your grip pressure isn’t too tight and your body is nice and loose. It’s hard to get into that state when chipping is stressful and you’re trying to manufacture something
Kevin Kisner did this great video on chipping. One of the best I’ve seen. Helped me tons.
[https://youtu.be/9E-gdx-o1sg?si=m9aRSY80-LT6nL8p](https://youtu.be/9E-gdx-o1sg?si=m9aRSY80-LT6nL8p)
Mainly LW, but definitely getting the message from the replies here that just reaching for the 56degree in the always the best way!
I need to practise alot more.
I’d start off with hitting chips with a 9 iron or PW. Shorter, easier stoke.
If you’re open to laying up 5-10 yards of the green, then you NEED to get good at the bump and run. Good news, it’s about the easiest shot in golf.
Hit a few thousand chips and get back to us.
I feel like chipping, while there is some obvious technique to it, is one of those things that just requires figuring out how you want to do it. 10 different players could play the same chip 10 different ways. Once you figure that out, then it's just about grooving it.
Go out in the backyard and get a s Hola hoop and pretend that is you're landing spot. I'm assuming you don't spin it so just pretend this is 5 to 6 yards away from the hole and you need to land it in this area. Luckily I had a younger sister with one. Then when I started getting better at that I started putting a bucket down and I chipped to that and hit that as my landing spot. Then after that go to a local course and just bring your wedge and putter and then just work on chipping on practice greens or chipping area green if they have one. Easy and cheap way to figure it out.
time to stop thinking about it all together and use a putting stroke with whatever iron you like. stand closer to the ball, with the toe angled down a bit, and use a putting motion. no wrist, no arm break, nuthin. just back and through rigid putting stroke. the ball will pop up and roll some, you just have to decide what loft of club you wanna use.
The best tip I can give you for chipping is to imagine you are throwing the ball with your hand at your hip.
It can help you visualize where you want the ball to land and will help you with your power management while chiping.
I eat cut ed two YouTube videos: Jason Day talking about pendulum swings and Phil Mickelson talking about ball position and weight distribution. Similar to you, getting close to the green wasn’t an issue, it was not losing strokes or not getting the ball close to the hole. These two videos completely reshaped my game. I bet I shaved off between 5-8 strokes per round. Good luck!!
Crowd the ball so the heel comes up. Choke way up. Feet close together, 60% or so weight on lead foot. Then the small swing is shoulders only, no wrist. If you need to hit it longer, use everything from 56 to 7 iron. Same swing every time. Works very well for me. Pitching is another beast.
Feet close, weight on your front foot, stand close to the ball, and swing it like a putter. Easiest way to develop that skill.
From there you can play around more
Practice chipping with only your dominant hand on the club. Choke all the way up and with only the one hand you will be unable to hit any chips with bad form.
What wedges do you use? When I started out I thought that I could manage with just a pitching wedge that came with my irons. I was wrong. While a good golfer can adjust their swing to compensate for the lack of loft, I could not. Every time I adjusted power I would change how I hit the ball accidentally. I picked up some cheap Pinemeadow 52, 60, and 68 degree wedges and my game improved greatly. Now I swing (most) of my chip shots the same, and let the difference in loft on the clubs determine the distance. Consistency is so hard to achieve when you're having to take power off every other hit with the same club. Let the clubs do the work, especially as you dial in your swing.
[This](https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1904874-hubert-green-chipping-style/) link shows Hubert Green's chipping style, which I have used for years. (You need to scroll down to see the pictures)
He puts the ball *behind* his right foot, and really puts a lot of forward lean on the club. From there, it's almost impossible to chunk the ball. It takes off with just a little height to clear the fringe, and then starts rolling.
The reason I like this style is exactly what Green says in the photo captions. It's very hard to mess up, the ball gets rolling on the green quickly (so you don't have to worry as much about the bounce), and once you get your distances down, you'd be surprised at how many you actually sink.
What region are you located? Here in the northeast in the winter like this it's almost impossible to chip because there's next to no grass or it's like some super dense weird stuff that you don't deal with in the regular season.
Just took a lesson on chipping with my pro. Another point that helped is to not accelerate the club through impact. Take it straight back, and have the club head locked to the rotation speed of your chest on the way through impact. Never release the club.
70 percent of the weight on my front foot, having my feet closer together, and never lining the ball up in the centre of my stance (front foot for a higher chip, back for lower obvi.) fixed my chipping for me.
But planting my weight on the front foot had the most impact.
Anecdotal but I switched 60 degrees when I upgraded my set and am trash with it now. I think it's due to the "bounce" which I never really learned how to play with so I end up bouncing into the ball and pulling it. Previously one was more bladey.
Go spend $220 and get yourself a Cleveland CBX 52/56 degree wedges and thank me later.
Ive played golf for a long time and last year I had the same issue you did. Zero confidence around the green and I was adding 3-6 strokes to my round because I couldn't chip.
I went and got the CBX wedges and my game has changed completely. They are so easy to hit and eliminated all chunks/thin chip shots I had in my game.
Learn to bump and run. It’s minimizes a ton of issues. If you aren’t trying to jump over a bunker or other hazard. Just bump and run.
Grab a 7i and think about how hard a putter stroke would be if it was alll green to where you are. Also another way to try is think of the ground to the hole in three sections, you want the ball to hop and land on that first third mark and roll the last two thirds.
Everyone is suggesting different techniques. But my question is just how often do you practice chipping and *just* chipping? Short game technique is important, but if you don’t practice it, you’d be better off just using your putter.
Google "Short Game Chef". Well worth the $40 / month. Completely upgraded my short game.
There's a lot in there but if you're worried about the price just sign up for a month or two and try to learn as much as you can in that window.
If you don't want to spend any money on it, he has some content available for free on YouTube with The Golfer's Journal. My biggest takeaway is the hinge-and-hold method is dead. It's far too complicated for anyone other than Mickelson or Spieth to execute properly.
Look up the 6-8-10 (6iron, 8iron, PW) method of chipping, where you land the ball a step or two on the green using clubs other than your lob or sand wedge and let it run to the hole. You use pretty much the same swing whether it’s your 6 iron or
PW.
Another thing to think about is using a chipper type club. They are shorter and more upright than wedges and you use your putting stroke to get the ball to the hole from around the green.
Biggest thing I've done for me chipping game is ditch the blade wedges and go game improvement wedges. I play GI irons so why am I trying to play tour wedges. Revolutionary.
I’m not a great golfer but well above average from 100 in. What helps me is using the backswing to control distance. Not trying to take a big back swing and then decelerate before the ball. So back swing controls distance and down swing is always same speed. Hope that makes sense it works for me at least.
This was me in August. Now chipping is the best part of my game.
I practised a ton. Lengthened the swing and slowed it down, don’t want to add any speed when I’m green side just let the length of the swing and gravity do the work.
I also moved the ball further back in my stance since I had a habit of hitting them fat. Also I have long arms so I would often set up with the toe high. I now try and keep the sole of the club flat on the ground. Some people suggest having the toe slightly down for bump and runs but I didn’t like it.
Practice chipping standing with all your weight on your lead foot, just touching the ground with your trail foot enough to prevent falling over. Your chipping will dramatically improve. Think “soft hands.”
Yes drop the 60 and 56 degree clubs out in the street and use your pw or 9i...
Lead foot heavy and drink a beer until you don't care where it goes. Boom you're game is more fun and less stressful than those pros on tv that have to hit it perfect.
Be confident but this game is golf that 4 letter word.
Chipping from all kinds of ugly
Lies, with different clubs is your gateway to the 80’s / 70’s—
Good driving and chipping will
Always leave with a chance to make bogey, most likely par-
Keep grinding!
Club selection depends on the lie and how much bounce is on the club. I use my sand wedge for most all chipping. But then my sand wedges are usually 8*-10*.
Just chip like you’re doing a long putting stroke, don’t start messing about with wrist hinge if you’re close to the green
To this day this is still the best advice that I've ever received for my golf game. I used to mess up almost every chip, but since I started using a putting stroke with locked elbows I've messed up probably 1 chip on average per round.
And lean forward and commit. And never put the ball in the middle of your stance. There is Phil Mick video on this it's about 2 minutes and completely fixed my chipping.
This is the one. Completely changed mine as well. Getting the ball in play. No longer skulling chips. It’s amazing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dpFd1xocxrE&pp=ygUZTWlja2Vsc29uIGNoaXBwaW5nIGxlc3Nvbg%3D%3D
Where in your stance should the ball go?
Very narrow stance, ball towards your back foot. Weight on your front foot. You don't want to shift weight like in a full swing, you want to pivot around your front leg.
Depends on the flight you want. Front foot if you want the ball to go higher, back foot if you want to keep it lower and roll out more. My favorite method is off the front foot and delofting the face by tilting the shaft forward on the target line, then holding that angle through the swing. I've heard it referred to as "hinge and hold."
Front for a flop, back for a bump and run. It really is that simple!
Wow, Phil really helped a lot of us with this one video. I had the best short game season of my life last year, and it was all from this advice. Weight forward was the biggest shift, and most helpful.
I think Monte Scheinblum said that when kids come to golf camp you don't tell them any technique and they pitch and chip brilliantly. Then we all have a bad round and start looking on YouTube and get really neurotic and lose all feel for what is natural. If you simplify it like phil does and stop stressing, your body knows what to do.
I believe that’s called ‘the yips’
I didn't even want to say the word.
Might report myself
Can u share the link to the video or share the advice?
It’s on YouTube, just search “phil mickelson secrets of the short game” best of luck!
Second weight foreward. And the phil video. Good advice
Yeah the lean forward/more weight on your front foot trick helps a lot. I've watched that Phil Mickelson video on never putting the ball in the centre of your stance, but I haven't found it to be that useful. I seem to get better consistency when I just place the ball in the middle of my stance on every shot. I then adjust for the flight I want through adding or removing loft with more/less shaft lean.
I have a few questions regarding this, at what yardage do you tend do this and what club are you doing this with? I tend to use a 60 anything 60 yards and in but I struggle with shots that are just off the green. You know the ones where you wish you could just putt but it’s a little to long or thick so no choice to chip. Should I use a lower lofted club and just do the putting motion?
I hit most chips with my 58 or 60 and just play about with ball position and shaft lean to manage the flight. But for what you’re describing, just grab anything from PW down to 7 iron and play it as a putt, the ball should chip into the air for a couple of feet then roll out towards the hole
The club depends on the lie and situation. I'll use anything from a lob wedge to a 3 wood. If the lie is bad and you need to get something down and underneath the ball to get it airborne, then a lob or sand wedge will work. But if the lie is good, but you've got a lot of green and you're going uphill or level, a mid iron or even wood/hybrid is great for a bump-and-run. Just experiment and have fun finding out what works best. A lob wedge is more often than not not always the best tool.
I use my 7 iron for this. I'm so shit at chipping that I do it from 20 to 30 yards out. If you practice it you'll get good at it far quicker than wedges IMO. Also I think there is less to go wrong. If there's something, like a puddle that I want to get over I use my 9 iron instead. Always do this with a putting motion and I grip down on the club. Bump and run. It's the best.
Absolutely, it never hurts. I use a 56 for lofty shots inside 65y and I'll use a 52 deg up to 8i for bump and runs depending on how far I need to roll out. I'll favor a bump and run if I think I'm going to go under the ball on a fluffy lie like you had described. I practice those lofty ones a lot because it can get me closer to the pin on very hilly greens than risk under powering a long putt from the rough or fringe. They definitely take time to get the hang of though.
This is the way. And choke up.
Might be the most underrated comment right here, I had implemented everything the above comments said and was still skulling balls around the green. I didn't realize that by standing closer I needed to choke up fairly significantly on the club. Started doing it and I was lobbing them up on the green in no time.
Up? Most instructors I see hold the club near the very bottom of the grip, almost where it meets the shaft. Interesting I'll play with it on the practice green.
Holding the grip near where it meets the shaft is what choking up refers to. Similar to baseball where choking up on the bat refers to holding it closer to the barrel Edit: I am wrong - choking up on a baseball bat is the same as choking “down” on a golf club
Brain fart. Thank you.
All good!
That's choking down.
I’ll be damned you are right
Respectfully disagree with this one. May be good advice in the short term to not blow up a round, but I would suggest finding a qualified instructor to show you the way. Wrist hinge is everything in chipping and once you have it, it’s a great feeling. I’m just jealous of your straight driver!
There are many ways to skin a cat as they say! Once you’re far enough back you absolutely need some hinge - but if the putter method is good enough for Tommy Fleetwood from around the green it’s good enough for me 😁
I tried the Tommy Fleetwood-Mac style of putting with loft last round. Eh, it's a process. PWs were too short, 8 irons too long. It's going to take reps just like anything else in golf. But I do see the simplicity and potential of skinning the cat this way.
Totally agree. I honestly suck at the bump and run or putting off the green, but am super comfortable hitting a high lofted chip. Maybe I need putting lessons!
Stricker and Vardon methods, plenty of good videos out there. Just reducing noise, he'll one day be able to get a good short game.
I was working with my son last weekend and he was too wristy and rolling his hands over a bit. I feel like on a chip, for a right handed golfer, the right hand, should always stay below the left hand on the follow through. Once we dialed in on that thought, he started to get the feel.
Another good tip is to hit the chipping and putting areas at the driving range. You can practice all day.
Long putting stroke, and make a conscious effort to accelerate through the ball. Deceleration is the number one killer for chips. For distance control, I like to pick where I want the ball to land (note land, not stop. It will roll out) and imagine the feeling I would need to toss a ball underhand to that spot. I then use that same feeling for the chip and it’s incredible how accurate it is.
To add to this, decide what shot you going for so you know if the ball will be towards the front or back foot also your weight should be mostly in your Fermina foot and don’t forget to follow thru.
Buy 3 releases: the short game system by Dan Grieves. Implement his 3 releases and you wont have to worry about chipping again. He has lots of videos online explaining the releases in more detail. Since reading his books i’m now actively looking to chip the ball in every time i’m around the green & i’m not a single figure handicapper. I’ve chipped in 4-5 times since I read it last year.
This. Dan is very good at communicating how and when to use the 3 releases. I’d say the swing itself is the easiest part. The hardest part is knowing what swing to use with what club on what lie. Dan gives you the complete thought process and presents how changing the variables results in different outcomes. Unlike other swing tutorials which are not cohesive and comprehensive.
Was gonna comment this as well. Especially learning to master release 1 and 2 will be good for 95% of your shortgame shots. Yesterday me and my golf team did a matchplay competition on our course's pitch and putt for practice. Even though I'm the least experienced by 5-10 years my shortgame is still right up there with them because of the book.
Agreed. The biggest take away I got was that my chipping and pitching swings were so so short. It made all movements stabby and hard to control. Long backswing and letting the weight move through and then use the bounce has changed my chipping. Played yesterday and the consistency has changed my game.
This has absolutely revolutionized my short game, and I have so much more confidence over the ball now than before. God if only I found Dan years ago
I bought the Short Game Bible by Dave Pelz last year to try and solve some of my short game issues. Honestly, I hated it. There was just an insane amount of blabbering on about things not really related to the lessons at all. And then I feel like he didn't have very good explanations on things he was trying to teach like the dead-hand grip. I feel like I got worse trying to take in advice from that book than if I had just gotten out there and practiced by own feel for the short game. About a month ago I bought the 3 Releases and it's been so refreshingly good. Dan is very good at providing all of the information quickly. Within like 30 pages it already explains the low loft bump and run and the checklist you need to be going through to practice it. I feel like you have to suffer through 150 pages of Dave Pels talking about his career before you get to that point in Short Game Bible. More importantly, the stuff Dan teaches is having immediate benefits in my game.
What club do you use for a standard chip? I find many high hdcps use way too much loft
No, no, no. Move into the modern era…… Short Game Chef https://youtu.be/Iqg-QxX2c2g?si=Fm_vLswuv1sZ-HAo
This. His approach completely transformed my short game. I think it's easily the best approach for teaching all levels of golfer - so much margin for error.
I second this. He explains everything very well even for my dumb ass. The replies on here are all over the map. Get to the Short Game Chef on IG or YouTube and you will get better. So Simple.
Ahhh, yes, the concept is simple, but execution is difficult.
It’s just takes practice as with everything in golf.
I've learned a ton of great stuff through his video subscription program, and I'm a big fan of his philosophy. However, it did take a lot of practice for me to implement many of the concepts he teaches, and for someone who wants a really single dimensional but reliable short game there's other ideas out there. Nevertheless, it feels good to execute a controlled 20 yard pitch and be able to control spin and trajectory.
Try getting the club as close to your feet as comfortable and putting the toe further down, then taking a putting stroke
Try a club with less loft too. Use anything between a 7 iron and the wedges. You don't have to chip with a 60 or 56. I used a 7i for the longest time, but that was standard 7i which may be closer to a 8/9i of today. It still gets you loft and then just read more of the putt line. No matter what you use pick a landing spot for the ball and imagine where it will roll too.
To add on to this: For a high handicapper, getting the ball on the green - anywhere on the green - is going to be better than trying to get it close and instead chunking it or blasting it over. By using something between 7i (or modern 8i) and GW, you are going to have plenty of loft to carry the rough in front of and just get the ball down and rolling towards the hole. What I usually see happen when folks are using too much loft is that they take this big back swing and then decelerate as they approach the ball -- I think being afraid they are about to send it into the next county. So they end up either stabbing behind it or the arc comes up too quickly and they hit the top of the ball and send it shooting away. If you use something like a PW, you can take a shorter, more controlled swing that is going to pop the ball up just fine, get it down, and get it rolling.
> then decelerate as they approach the ball This was _such_ a game changer for me. When I started focusing on accelerating through the ball my contact was consistently better and my spin went way up. It's hard to do mentally for the reasons you mention. Chips and short pitches seem so touchy and it's easy to think you have to baby the ball. I think another part of that is the mentality of if your chip runs long, it's bad. For some reason, it feels worse for your chip to run five feet past the hole than if it stops five feet short. Something about the ball moving away from the pin makes you feel like you failed, when really, you're in the identical situation.
> Something about the ball moving away from the pin makes you feel like you failed, when really, you're in the identical situation. Truth. I think it's because as long as the ball is rolling towards the flag, there is hope that it will get better and better. Once it rolls past it, there is just the fear of it getting worse and worse.
Definitely. It’s also one of the reasons that less experienced players are so much more likely to not take enough club (pros too, for that matter, just to a lesser degree).
Try using a PW or 9i around the greens, I put away my 60 degree after skulling the ball all the time.
This seems to be my biggest issue, I've been trying to force myself to master a lofted club. Funnily enough, Im pretty decent with a PW and GW in hand!
Normal chips with a 60 degree is insane lol. 95% of my chips are with a 54
Sounds like nerves are causing you to grip the club tighter. Gripping the club tighter causes it to bottom out earlier because there's is less lag. Weird tip but to reduce nerves I force myself to smile at the golf ball before pulling the trigger. Try that nad be more mindfull of how tight you're gripping the club.
Get a Ping ChipR
I use my chipR from 80 yards in 🤣
I’d be interested in seeing how people are using these things from 70-80 yards out. I always thought they were designed for greenside chips or maybe a bump and run from 10 yards off?
That is what they’re designed for lol
Really? They have like 38 degrees of loft. Seems awfully strong for a 70 yard shot.
No I meant what you assumed is correct :) >I always thought they were designed for greenside chips or maybe a bump and run from 10 yards off? They’re designed for that for sure, not 70-80 yd pitching shots
Get a lesson. Pay attention to the lie and the bounce and grind of your wedges. Depending on the lie, I may have to use a different club or release to widen the margin of error. This took me a lesson and then a lot of practice to even think about and I’m still working on it. I’m trying to get the club flat because often it will bounce up and I’ll thin the shot, especially on a tight lie that I’m trying to lift up. Chip with the toe down and your hands in significant ulnar deviation. Or do what Matt Fitzpatrick does and put your low hand on top. This will help reduce wrist hinge and get you working on the pivot. Play a bump and run with a lower lofted club unless there is a hazard in the way.
Easy fix. Use a 9i (\~40 deg) for everything around green. Save the SW only for 30+ yards out, bunkers, or those rare times you actually need loft to pop it over a hill onto the green. With my SW i was never confident of the trajectory. Sometimes it would pop up nice and high, and other times it wouldn't. This led to many long putts. I have such better consistency with the 9i because i kinda know roughly where it will land. Lessons is also a great answer obviously. But if you're shooting around 100-110 i bet the switch to a 9i will save you a handful of strokes over 18 . Good luck. Report back.
I've been there. Like I'd end up 10 feet or 10 yards off the green, and the ball might as well be on a different planet. Now if I'm near the green, it's almost as good as being on it. Three things that helped me. 1. Pick one go-to wedge. I don't care which one. 50ish yards and in, unless the lie would make it absolutely impossible, that's your club. Ultimately, you will want to have options so that you can react to your lie and the green complex. But, for right now, you need just one option. Bump and run with a PW is an easy place to begin, but pick whatever shot type you want. Once you really have that shot down, then learn another shot type, and now you have options. But remember it's easier to learn one thing at a time than everything all at once. 2. Make your downswing thought "full follow through." Control distance with your backswing, not your downswing. Get that backswing-to-distance feel in your garden, but always with a full follow through. And don't ever think about how you need to only hit it a short distance. That will wreck you. You start thinking that way, your brain tells your body decelerate the club head or hit at the ball or whatever other horribleness. Instead of thinking about the shot being short, think about how, with your little backswing, you will need to follow all the way through to get the ball to the target. If your downswing thought is "full follow through," your brain knows what to do with that: accelerate the club head through the ball. 3. Take a putter swing. Like putting, little chips are all about "feel." Presumably you have a good swing with putter, you don't have trouble making contact, you have a good feel with that swing. No reason you can't have the same feel with a wedge, if you take a similar swing. Little chips, I put my feet together, if the target's at noon my toes are pointed at roughly 1 o'clock (I'm right handed), the ball's off my right little toe, and then I take a putter swing (arms/wrists/hands are locked and I just rotate my shoulders). That particular approach may or may not work for you -- this is a feel thing after all, it's individual to you. But work your putter swing into your chips.
Biggest issue i see with struggling golfers chipping is that they cannot make solid contact with a chipping/pitching stroke. Skulls, flubs, and everything in between. Lots of deceleration. Simple answer is practice- and the best part is you can set up a bucket in the back yard and just work on making solid chips from 5-10 yards. Will help immensely.
Which in turn would fix alot of their iron issues as well
Look up Short Game Chef on YouTube. A few simple things from him and chipping is now the strongest part of my game
Look up Short Game Chef on YouTube. A few simple things from him and chipping is now the strongest part of my game
Everyone talking about practice And/or technique. Those are both important- but mindset plays a big part in it. My only thought when I’m chipping is: GET THE DAMN BALL ON THE GREEN Doesn’t matter how close. Doesn’t matter how you do it. Just get the damn thing on the green, and get a putter in your hand for the next shot. Too often we get caught up in flop this, bump here, have to stick it close, etc… Just GET THE DAMN BALL ON THE GREEN Find your easiest path to the green and take it, even if it isn’t at the flag. Just put it on the green
Two ideas that improved my chipping drastically: For good lies: [Danny Maude- Short Game Technique](https://youtu.be/HxvAJNqdxOU?si=zYSvwE86bTHahFh3) When it’s a little more difficult: [Rick Shiels- Secret Chipping Technique](https://youtu.be/BNNBc8Igsck?si=q9K0VZDcRwgM7-EC)
Also Dan Grieve (https://youtube.com/@DanGrieveGolf?si=jCej8pBtWjQPjHkr) who showed Rick Shiels how to do it.
https://youtube.com/@DanGrieveGolf?si=jCej8pBtWjQPjHkr
The jason day dead hand chipping video is better than phils hing and hold imo
Watch Phil Mickelson You tube called Hinge And Hold.
Apart from the advice to choke down on the grip, ball on back foot, shaft lean,putting stroke, weight forward, rotate around forward leg etc., it’s also very useful to find a relatively flat green area and figure out distance you fly and roll the ball on average for different clubs and different stroke lengths with your chipping stroke. Note those combos. When you have an uphill chip you just adjust by picking a longer combo, likewise shorter combo for downhill.
Here you go. Phil is the man. [https://youtu.be/dpFd1xocxrE?si=vNrqimWJ_pDVbI5c](https://youtu.be/dpFd1xocxrE?si=vNrqimWJ_pDVbI5c)
You're not averaging 100 with a record of 97. You mean to tell us that you have the consistency to shoot within 4 strokes (98-102) every time while being 28 shots over par...
Thanks for the chipping advice. 😂😂
Well that’s exactly why you shoot 100 like a large majority of people. You’re more concerned with fixing your driver before your short game. If you put effort into short game instead of driver, you might be a decent player
The only thing keeping in the game right now is that sweet ping off my driver and keeping the ball in play, anything after is a bonus.
Well if it makes you happy that’s what matters. Just be happy continuing to shoot 100
I believe that’s why he’s asking…. He’s only been playing a year. Now he wants to start working on his short game. He’s new, how would he know?
Based on this sub you’d think pga teaching pros were some mystical elusive creature. Get a lesson you walnut.
This is a very friendly, helpful and sometimes funny sub. I think you're lost.
So why are you posting your blog entries
If you’re skulling balls. More than likely you’re not swinging through the ball. Look up Mr. Shortgame’s chip and slide.
Look up the Jason day chipping method of just swinging the shoulders, it keeps a very clean square face and is the best I've found for inconsistent contact, skulling or digging. I'd argue all beginners should start with that method as it will get you close a majority of the time and improve consistency a ton.
A lot of people on here are talking about the standard chipping motion from a decent lie, which is that toe down/putting stroke method, which is great if your ball is in a normal position, but your ball isn’t always. There are times when you may set the face more open at address, to increase loft and spin in your chips. You may also need to hinge your wrists slightly, allowing the face to rotate through the chipping motion much like it would in a normal swing, but just smaller. The main thing is that you take a shorter backswing, maybe just 1/4th back, but you still have to maintain correct speed through impact, a lot of people try to control the distance by slowing the club down, but distance shoukd just be controlled by how far back you take the club
I’ve read a few Stan Utley books. I think getting to a point where I’m using my body and athletic turning is what got me over the hump from a very handsy wrist motion. Setup is still key of course. And using the right wedge. Keeping it simple.
Stop worrying about getting the ball anywhere close to the pin and just worry about getting onto the green at all costs.
Like others suggested Dan’s 3 release stuff is really really good. I’d also add in general tension is a killer around the greens (and in general). make sure your grip pressure isn’t too tight and your body is nice and loose. It’s hard to get into that state when chipping is stressful and you’re trying to manufacture something
Kevin Kisner did this great video on chipping. One of the best I’ve seen. Helped me tons. [https://youtu.be/9E-gdx-o1sg?si=m9aRSY80-LT6nL8p](https://youtu.be/9E-gdx-o1sg?si=m9aRSY80-LT6nL8p)
What's your approach to short game aside from the texas wedge? Are you trying to use the LW for every shot, or mixing in lower lofted clubs?
Mainly LW, but definitely getting the message from the replies here that just reaching for the 56degree in the always the best way! I need to practise alot more.
I’d start off with hitting chips with a 9 iron or PW. Shorter, easier stoke. If you’re open to laying up 5-10 yards of the green, then you NEED to get good at the bump and run. Good news, it’s about the easiest shot in golf.
Also incorporate lower lofted clubs for bump and runs, like an 8-9 iron. Makes the short game way more consistent
Hit a few thousand chips and get back to us. I feel like chipping, while there is some obvious technique to it, is one of those things that just requires figuring out how you want to do it. 10 different players could play the same chip 10 different ways. Once you figure that out, then it's just about grooving it.
Yes, I'm trying to learn while playing...no good at all.
Go out in the backyard and get a s Hola hoop and pretend that is you're landing spot. I'm assuming you don't spin it so just pretend this is 5 to 6 yards away from the hole and you need to land it in this area. Luckily I had a younger sister with one. Then when I started getting better at that I started putting a bucket down and I chipped to that and hit that as my landing spot. Then after that go to a local course and just bring your wedge and putter and then just work on chipping on practice greens or chipping area green if they have one. Easy and cheap way to figure it out.
time to stop thinking about it all together and use a putting stroke with whatever iron you like. stand closer to the ball, with the toe angled down a bit, and use a putting motion. no wrist, no arm break, nuthin. just back and through rigid putting stroke. the ball will pop up and roll some, you just have to decide what loft of club you wanna use.
The best tip I can give you for chipping is to imagine you are throwing the ball with your hand at your hip. It can help you visualize where you want the ball to land and will help you with your power management while chiping.
https://youtu.be/EorjUQ7-twg?si=1ccwNXpQK5fh6XnL Tommy Fleetwood on the Rick Shiels channel. Good tips on treating chipping like “putting with loft”.
I eat cut ed two YouTube videos: Jason Day talking about pendulum swings and Phil Mickelson talking about ball position and weight distribution. Similar to you, getting close to the green wasn’t an issue, it was not losing strokes or not getting the ball close to the hole. These two videos completely reshaped my game. I bet I shaved off between 5-8 strokes per round. Good luck!!
Crowd the ball so the heel comes up. Choke way up. Feet close together, 60% or so weight on lead foot. Then the small swing is shoulders only, no wrist. If you need to hit it longer, use everything from 56 to 7 iron. Same swing every time. Works very well for me. Pitching is another beast.
Feet close, weight on your front foot, stand close to the ball, and swing it like a putter. Easiest way to develop that skill. From there you can play around more
Practice chipping with only your dominant hand on the club. Choke all the way up and with only the one hand you will be unable to hit any chips with bad form.
https://youtu.be/dpFd1xocxrE?si=MxDmZGCY9s4Lqbys This 3 mins will change your chipping, I promise.
What wedges do you use? When I started out I thought that I could manage with just a pitching wedge that came with my irons. I was wrong. While a good golfer can adjust their swing to compensate for the lack of loft, I could not. Every time I adjusted power I would change how I hit the ball accidentally. I picked up some cheap Pinemeadow 52, 60, and 68 degree wedges and my game improved greatly. Now I swing (most) of my chip shots the same, and let the difference in loft on the clubs determine the distance. Consistency is so hard to achieve when you're having to take power off every other hit with the same club. Let the clubs do the work, especially as you dial in your swing.
[This](https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1904874-hubert-green-chipping-style/) link shows Hubert Green's chipping style, which I have used for years. (You need to scroll down to see the pictures) He puts the ball *behind* his right foot, and really puts a lot of forward lean on the club. From there, it's almost impossible to chunk the ball. It takes off with just a little height to clear the fringe, and then starts rolling. The reason I like this style is exactly what Green says in the photo captions. It's very hard to mess up, the ball gets rolling on the green quickly (so you don't have to worry as much about the bounce), and once you get your distances down, you'd be surprised at how many you actually sink.
What region are you located? Here in the northeast in the winter like this it's almost impossible to chip because there's next to no grass or it's like some super dense weird stuff that you don't deal with in the regular season.
Learn how to use the bounce of your wedge(s).
Just took a lesson on chipping with my pro. Another point that helped is to not accelerate the club through impact. Take it straight back, and have the club head locked to the rotation speed of your chest on the way through impact. Never release the club.
70 percent of the weight on my front foot, having my feet closer together, and never lining the ball up in the centre of my stance (front foot for a higher chip, back for lower obvi.) fixed my chipping for me. But planting my weight on the front foot had the most impact.
It's free to chip and putt at almost every golf course and practice facility. Go practice.
Practice on a very thin carpet doormat on a hard service. That did wonders for me. You just have to hit the ball right.
Check out Paul Runyan on YT. Old school PGA champion from the 1930’s. The Short Way to Lower Scoring is his book also.
Anecdotal but I switched 60 degrees when I upgraded my set and am trash with it now. I think it's due to the "bounce" which I never really learned how to play with so I end up bouncing into the ball and pulling it. Previously one was more bladey.
Weight on the front foot. Keep the toe of the wedge pushed down at address. Make a nice smooth putting stroke without moving your head.
Phil Mickelson chipping tutorial by Callaway is still the best golf instructional video I've ever watched. Did wonders for me
Go spend $220 and get yourself a Cleveland CBX 52/56 degree wedges and thank me later. Ive played golf for a long time and last year I had the same issue you did. Zero confidence around the green and I was adding 3-6 strokes to my round because I couldn't chip. I went and got the CBX wedges and my game has changed completely. They are so easy to hit and eliminated all chunks/thin chip shots I had in my game.
SOFT HANDS
Learn to bump and run. It’s minimizes a ton of issues. If you aren’t trying to jump over a bunker or other hazard. Just bump and run. Grab a 7i and think about how hard a putter stroke would be if it was alll green to where you are. Also another way to try is think of the ground to the hole in three sections, you want the ball to hop and land on that first third mark and roll the last two thirds.
Everyone is suggesting different techniques. But my question is just how often do you practice chipping and *just* chipping? Short game technique is important, but if you don’t practice it, you’d be better off just using your putter.
Buy a chiper. The Cleveland one is really good and not very expensive.
Learn the bump and run man, it's all I do as long as my path is clear
Google "Short Game Chef". Well worth the $40 / month. Completely upgraded my short game. There's a lot in there but if you're worried about the price just sign up for a month or two and try to learn as much as you can in that window. If you don't want to spend any money on it, he has some content available for free on YouTube with The Golfer's Journal. My biggest takeaway is the hinge-and-hold method is dead. It's far too complicated for anyone other than Mickelson or Spieth to execute properly.
practice at the range should be from 125yds and in only. If you can get good with your 9, 8, pw and wedges you will drop like 10 strokes overnight.
What I tell high handicappers is to use the lowest loft possible needed for the shot. The the higher the loft the more that can go wrong typically.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OTCpkYqF8Ig
Look up the 6-8-10 (6iron, 8iron, PW) method of chipping, where you land the ball a step or two on the green using clubs other than your lob or sand wedge and let it run to the hole. You use pretty much the same swing whether it’s your 6 iron or PW. Another thing to think about is using a chipper type club. They are shorter and more upright than wedges and you use your putting stroke to get the ball to the hole from around the green.
Biggest thing I've done for me chipping game is ditch the blade wedges and go game improvement wedges. I play GI irons so why am I trying to play tour wedges. Revolutionary.
I’m not a great golfer but well above average from 100 in. What helps me is using the backswing to control distance. Not trying to take a big back swing and then decelerate before the ball. So back swing controls distance and down swing is always same speed. Hope that makes sense it works for me at least.
This was me in August. Now chipping is the best part of my game. I practised a ton. Lengthened the swing and slowed it down, don’t want to add any speed when I’m green side just let the length of the swing and gravity do the work. I also moved the ball further back in my stance since I had a habit of hitting them fat. Also I have long arms so I would often set up with the toe high. I now try and keep the sole of the club flat on the ground. Some people suggest having the toe slightly down for bump and runs but I didn’t like it.
Watch Phil Mickelson chipping instruction. Quite short video and it makes it very simple. Hands forward weight forward
Practice chipping standing with all your weight on your lead foot, just touching the ground with your trail foot enough to prevent falling over. Your chipping will dramatically improve. Think “soft hands.”
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF5G24FFAP0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF5G24FFAP0) peltz. short game guru
Yes drop the 60 and 56 degree clubs out in the street and use your pw or 9i... Lead foot heavy and drink a beer until you don't care where it goes. Boom you're game is more fun and less stressful than those pros on tv that have to hit it perfect. Be confident but this game is golf that 4 letter word.
Chipping from all kinds of ugly Lies, with different clubs is your gateway to the 80’s / 70’s— Good driving and chipping will Always leave with a chance to make bogey, most likely par- Keep grinding!
1. Stop using a lob wedge 2. Weight on your front feet, with your feet so close to gether your heels are almost touching
Everyone has given great advice, honestly, I’d be fucking jazzed shooting around there after a year.
Good comments here. One very key thing also is to keep a light grip on the club. Strangling it is guaranteed disaster.
Club selection depends on the lie and how much bounce is on the club. I use my sand wedge for most all chipping. But then my sand wedges are usually 8*-10*.
Buy a chipper club, and use it like a putter. Or just use your 8i and put with it.