I do stand much closer to the ball like he does. From there you have no choice but to have a more vertical shaft, ie hands high. However I do not consciously set my hands in front of the ball or place any conscious weight on my front foot for a descending blow. I use more of a loose hands putting stroke just from standing closer with a more vertical shaft. My setup is totally neutral weighted on my feet, unless its a weird lie, ie uphill, downhill, sidehill, then I must adjust from there and this is extremely important for crisp contact. There's lots of ways to chip, each golfer must find what works for them. btw, I'm an excellent chipper which reflects well on my putts per round which is right around 29.