Golfers of all levels want to find ways to save strokes. Many spend time focusing on the short game to improve their scores. Chipping, a critical part of short game success, helps leave shorter putts for those who remember a few simple keys. What's more, these chipping tips might really help you lock in and hole out some chips as well.
The Right Club
According to improve-your-golf-game.net, choosing the right club for a chip shot can make all the difference regardless of how well you execute the swing. A pitching wedge, for example, will produce a shot that rolls one foot on the green for every foot it travels in the air. By comparison, a 7 iron will roll four feet for every foot it travels in the air. If you have limited green between your ball and the hole, you want less roll. Practice chipping with different clubs to test the various results.
Control the Hands
A full golf shot involves the release of the hands and wrists through the ball at impact. Dave Pelz points out, however, that such a move with the hands will lead to poorer shots when chipping. Set your hands in front of the club head -- the left of the club head for right handers -- at address and maintain that wrist angle through the shot. Strike down and through the ball to make the best contact with this orientation of the hands.
Back Swing and Follow Through
Dave Pelz also references the importance of matching the length of the back swing and follow through. Many amateurs take a much longer back swing than necessary on chip shots. Often times, a player's brain will sense the excess length and try to slow the club through the down swing to compensate. This typically leads to poor contact and distance control. Always make sure to accelerate through the ball. A shorter back swing will allow you to do that with confidence.
Chip to Make It
Renowned mental game guru Bob Rotella recommends that golfers of all levels try to make every chip shot. Hitting chips with the intention of getting it close sets the bar too low in Rotella's opinion. Chipping to make it, however, provides golfers with a more precise target than the imaginary three foot circle around the hole that many players use as their goal. Rotella also points out that looking to make the shot sends the brain messages that holing out is a reasonable expectation -- good for a golfer's confidence.
References
- improve-your-golf-game.net: Chipping Drills
- "Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible"; Dave Pelz; 1999
- "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect"; Bob Rotella; 1995
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