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Use the bounce for chipping, too

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Golfers hear a lot about using the bounce when pitching the golf ball. It makes sense, because bounce plays an important role in pitching.

Bounce is the amount of “cushion” between the leading edge of the club and the ground, and it helps golfers avoid the inconsistencies that can result from having the leading edge “stick” into the ground on pitch shots. Different wedges have different amounts of bounce, but they’re all designed to work the same way. To use the bounce properly, golfers should aim to slide the flange or sole of their wedge under the ball, which allows the bounce to contact the ground and glide the club along the turf smoothly.

My question is this, however. With all the talk about bounce in pitching, how come golfers and golf instructions don’t consider it more with chipping?

When a chip shot is hit fat, the cause is often the same as it is in pitching — the leading edge got stuck in the ground and the bounce wasn’t engaged. If that’s been a problematic shot for you, it might not be your fault, because the way chipping has been taught to most golfers actually contributes to the problem.

The standard lesson in chipping has traditionally been:

  • Square the club face and open the stance.
  • Move the ball back in the stance
  • Move the hands in front.
  • Keep the weight left.
  • Use very little wrists while hitting down on the ball.

With this method, I see far too many golfers sticking the leading edge in the ground behind the golf ball. And I’d venture to guess that the majority of golfers I’ve taught over the years have been TOO STEEP when chipping.

Yes, it’s true that with the ball back in the stance, golfers are more likely to contact the ball first — but that’s dependent on the hands remaining well in front of the club head. Unfortunately, most golfers don’t do this, and as a result they hit a lot of fat chip shots.

That’s why if you’re struggling with your chipping, I’m going to suggest another method:

  • Open the club face a little.
  • Open the stance a little.
  • Keep the ball slightly back.
  • DO NOT de-loft the golf club.
  • Keep a little weight forward, perhaps a 60-40 distribution.
  • Use the same firm-wrist stroke you use with the de-lofted method.

Here’s the idea: If you are sticking the club in the turf — often called “stubbing your chips” — and you de-loft and drag the handle even more, you’re just going to get steeper and most likely catch the leading edge in the ground more often. If you are a player who can keep the hands in front and come into the golf ball shallow enough, the de-lofted method may very well be effective for you. Try both ways.

Finally, from a technical standpoint, the more you have the club de-lofted, the more spin you are actually creating do to an increase in friction from the ball being on the face longer. You DO NOT want to spin chip shots. By the very definition of the shot, it’s supposed to run. Ever hit a clean, crisp chip and it checks? Steep and de-lofted with higher spin is likely the case. When the top edge “smothers” the golf ball, yes, we get a low shot, but we also add spin — and the shot often comes off too hot.

In short, I see no real advantage to the de-lofted setup other than personal success and an attempt to stay the yips. And if you’re going to yip anyway, the loft and open face will help that too.

As always, if you would like to advantage to my online analysis program send swing to my Facebook page or [email protected].

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Dennis Clark is a PGA Master Professional. Clark has taught the game of golf for more than 30 years to golfers all across the country, and is recognized as one of the leading teachers in the country by all the major golf publications. He is also is a seven-time PGA award winner who has earned the following distinctions: -- Teacher of the Year, Philadelphia Section PGA -- Teacher of the Year, Golfers Journal -- Top Teacher in Pennsylvania, Golf Magazine -- Top Teacher in Mid Atlantic Region, Golf Digest -- Earned PGA Advanced Specialty certification in Teaching/Coaching Golf -- Achieved Master Professional Status (held by less than 2 percent of PGA members) -- PGA Merchandiser of the Year, Tri State Section PGA -- Golf Professional of the Year, Tri State Section PGA -- Presidents Plaque Award for Promotion and Growth of the Game of Golf -- Junior Golf Leader, Tri State section PGA -- Served on Tri State PGA Board of Directors. Clark is also former Director of Golf and Instruction at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Dennis now teaches at Bobby Clampett's Impact Zone Golf Indoor Performance Center in Naples, FL. .

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. J

    Nov 16, 2015 at 10:12 pm

    Dennis, what path do you prefer for chipping?? Some say inside out, others outside in. Confusing. What’s your take on path and face for that matter?

    Thank you.

    • Dennis Clark

      Nov 24, 2015 at 3:24 pm

      J sorry I just saw this…NEVER inside-out, slightly inside to inside is desired. Outside in is WAY better than inside out in terms of lesser-of-two-evils

  2. JPurtell

    Nov 12, 2015 at 2:30 am

    Awesome Advice.

  3. Dennis clark

    Nov 10, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    As instructional authors we simply offer suggestions. If they help great. If not don’t use them. You’ll know right away.

  4. alexdub

    Nov 10, 2015 at 10:30 am

    +1

    Of all the areas of the game, I think that chipping is the one area where you should just hit the ball. Bounce might come into play, but I think the more you focus on mechanics, the worse the chips get.

    (cue Tiger from early this year)

    • J

      Nov 10, 2015 at 12:42 pm

      Using the bounce effectively gives you such a late margin of error that you can get away with less than perfect contact and still have a good result. It’s virtually impossible to dig the leading edge if you use the bounce correctly, so it’s a worthwhile endeavor to learn how to do so. Much better to get up and down on the first try vs. blading and chunking chips, a common malady of the mid to high handicap golfer. Once you get the technique down (it doesn’t take long), you can become more target focused because of the built in margin of error, resulting in better shots in the long run.

      • J

        Nov 10, 2015 at 12:43 pm

        Using the bounce effectively gives you such a large margin of error that you can get away with less than perfect contact and still have a good result. It’s virtually impossible to dig the leading edge if you use the bounce correctly, so it’s a worthwhile endeavor to learn how to do so. Much better to get up and down on the first try vs. blading and chunking chips, a common malady of the mid to high handicap golfer. Once you get the technique down (it doesn’t take long), you can become more target focused because of the built in margin of error, resulting in better shots in the long run.

    • Dennis clark

      Nov 10, 2015 at 3:45 pm

      No question, however as teachers we see poor mechanics all day. There has to be some”how to” to get any feel at all.

  5. KK

    Nov 9, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    I have started to play higher bounce wedges and placing the ball more forward to help my chipping game. Need more practice and course time to really own them but I already love the feel.

  6. Dennis Clark

    Nov 9, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Other factors include lie, type of grass, slope club design and lie angle. NOTHING is for everybody.

  7. JoeJoe

    Nov 9, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    I would highly recommend looking at Pat Goss video on chipping. Same method but he describes it much better. This Article only touches up on the method. This is the method how Luke Donald chips. There are other minor details such as, opening the club face on the back and not hinging. Also your club needs to stay on the outside path of your hand path!… Either way a great chipping method.

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Instruction

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

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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.

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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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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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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