Instruction

Simple steps to better chips

Published

11 years ago

Apr 23, 2013

The words “chip” and “pitch” are often used interchangeably to describe shots hit around the green, but they’re actually two different types of shots with distinct purposes.

If you can understand the difference between a chip and a pitch, and more importantly when to use one over another, it can be a quick route to lower scores. Because it’s not always the golfer who hits the best shots who turns in the best score — it’s the one who recovers best from his or her misses.

A chip is a short, low running shot, while a pitch is a short, high shot with little to no run. So when should you chip and when should your pitch?

My rules around the green are as follow: Putt whenever you can, chip when you can’t putt and pitch only when necessary. Why? The degree of difficulty and the predictably of each. Putting is the safest option, a chip shot is the next most conservative play and a pitch is by far the most difficult and least predictable of shots. Pitch shots are beautiful when they come off, but chipping is almost always a much safer option when allowable.

Because most golfer can benefit from learning one shot and learning it well, let’s focus on the chip shot.

First, I suggest learning one basic stroke one using different clubs to execute it. Many one-club chippers need a variety of size strokes to play the various shots, and this is never as consistent as using a variety of clubs. Personally, I use anything from a lob wedge to a 6 iron to play most green side chips.

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The Setup

There are a few considerations in set up and swing to play this shot. First the ball position: Any low shot, be it a full or short swing, has to be played a little farther back in the stance to reduce dynamic loft. Also, a back ball position will help you hit down on the shot and insure ball-first contact instead of turf-first contact. So move the golf ball back a little when chipping.

Secondly, take a narrow stance, choke up on the club and stand much closer to the ball. This will put the shaft in a much more vertical position.

Of all the set up problems I see, standing too far from the golf ball is the most prevalent. Remember, a chip shot is a very small swing played with a minimum amount of body motion. Being close to the ball with a narrower stance helps promote that.

Also, put more weight on your front or lead foot (left foot for righties) and be sure the tilt of your upper body is slightly to the left. In other words, do not tilt your spine away from the ball as you would in a full swing.

Lastly you may consider moving you hands slightly in front of the club head, which will de-loft the club. Notice I said slightly, because placing your hands too far in front of the ball can cause you to dig the leading edge into the ground and hit fat shots — even if you make a good stroke.

The Motion

The stroke itself is more of a one-lever motion with very little wrist break. There is a slight wrist hinging on the back stroke of the trailing wrist, but no un-hinging on the way though. This will ensure that the hands stay in front of the club head, or at the very least do not pass the club head.

For many “scoopers” or “flippers,” this shot is a great way to learn a better impact position. Every shot on the ground must be stuck with the shaft leaning a little toward the target, and chipping is nothing more than a miniature version of impact on a full swing. When the right wrist hinges a bit on the backswing, keep it hinged; do not allow it to throw the club head past the hands in the classic “flipped look” coming through. This is the cardinal sin of chipping, and the biggest cause of hitting the ground first or “chilly-dipping.”

Practicing chipping with your left hand only is a great way to feel this little stroke. Keep your weight forward all the way throughout the stroke. A common fault here is to sway or shift weight to the right side in the takeaway. This moves your gravity center off the ball and it is difficult to recover from there, so stay in front.

Finally, it may take a little time to get used to, but the sooner you learn to use a variety of clubs the better your short game will be. Many players immediately reach for their wedges when they miss the green, but that is sometimes a mistake. Bring several clubs and consider all your options. If there is lots of green to work with, a hole location in the back of a long green, or even 30 to 40 yards to the green on a flat fairway lie, try practicing with a 7- or 8-iron. You will be amazed at the results.

As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.

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Instruction

Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?

Published

1 day ago

Apr 24, 2024

Shawn Clement

Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

Published

4 weeks ago

Mar 29, 2024

Terry Koehler

My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

2 months ago

Mar 4, 2024

Shawn Clement

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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