Chipping

Many golfers have the problem of being able to get the ball 400 yards, from the tee to beside the green, in relatively few shots, only to waste vital strokes by mis-hitting their chip shots.

A major factor in hitting consistent chip shots is for the hands to lead the clubface through impact.

The vast majority of thinned or fluffed chip shots occur when the clubhead overtakes the hands and is, therefore travelling on the upswing, rather that delivering a descending blow at impact.

The first thing to do at set up is to move the majority of your weight (approx.70-30) onto the left foot. The ball is played towards the back of the stance, and the hands go ahead of the ball.

The chip shot can now be played with the correct downward strike. You should NOT be trying to slide the clubface under the ball, or scoop the ball into the air.

The key now is to make sure that you keep the hands ahead of the ball and not allow your wrists to dominate the shot. Players who get “wristy” at impact run the risk of thinning it clean through the green or chunking it a few inches.

One swing-thought that can prevent this is as follows:

At address imagine there is a straight line up from the ball.

Set your hands ahead of it and then simply concentrate on getting the grip and shaft past the line before the clubhead when you strike the ball.