Good technique is the secret to consistently successful chipping. Learning which club to use and where to place the ball on the green can only be explored after you have mastered the ability to hit the shot in the correct way.
Many articles about chipping simply tell you what club to select in order to place the ball close to the hole. But first we must be able to achieve a consistent strike in order to get consistent results. It is only then that we can develop true feel.
It is confusing for many golfers to understand the concept of chipping. In order to get the ball in the air, we must not try to lift the ball in the air. We have loft on the club to do this job for us. Our main concern is to get the hands and clubhead moving towards the target, and not towards the sky.
I often hear people say they have hit a chip shot too hard. Normally they haven’t hit the ball too hard, they have hit the ball with the wrong part of the club. Even though so many golfers try to get the club under the ball, very rarely do we get a lie that allows this. Trying to get the club under the ball is possibly one of the hardest shots in golf.
The main objective is to get your shaft position leaning forwards throughout the shot, as this will encourage the middle of the clubface to hit the ball. This removes the ‘top shot’ caused by hitting the ball with the leading edge of the club.
Do’s and don’ts...
The don’ts I have demonstrated here are the prime reason why golfers are unable to judge the distance they are going to hit the ball. It is pointless trying to pick out a spot on the green if you’ve no idea if the ball is going to fly across the green or finish 2 meters in front of you.The top shot stems from the basic principals of a bad setup and bad technique trying to lift the ball up. This can lead to massive deceleration on the next shot, which is fatal. With most chip shots the grass in front of me might only be 4 cm deep, yet the golfer reacts as though it is 4 metres high.
By following the do’s you will find that chipping is actually very simple, and judging the distance we need to hit the ball will develop naturally.
Here I have been using a 56 degree wedge. But even with this much loft most pros will see the shot played low, and next I will demonstrate some visualisation techniques to help you do the same.
Useful drills...
Proof that trying to keep the ball down actually sends it up can be demonstrated and practiced with some simple drills. Only when we develop full trust in the swing can we begin to chip well.
Trying to keep the ball down will develop good results. You can create more spin, and the ball will elevate higher than you originally thought. Your hands do not have to work as hard, as you are allowing the clubface to do its job.
In the picture above I am trying to keep the ball down and hit it into the hedge. The more I try to hit the hedge, the more the ball flies over it. This is a good way to visualise the shot, and proves that you don’t have to try and lift it. It has always been said that golf is a game of opposites, and in reality it is.
Once you have worked out what impact feels like, you can feel free to experiment with breaking the wrists in the backswing, so long as the clubhead doesn’t overtake the hands.
The bottom line
By trying to keep the ball down it gives me the correct positions for good contact, trajectory and control of the shot. Once this in place we can start to get up and down a lot more often - one of the quickest ways to lower your scores.
