CHIP SHOT
One of the most important assets that you can have for lowering your score is to improve your chipping. When you begin to feel the correct distance and select the right club for the shot in hand, your shot consistency will improve rapidly and you will save at least 5 shots a round. Despite these potential benefits, chipping is probably the least practiced and most neglected part of most players’ golf game. Here are some tips on the chip shot.
For the majority of your chip shots, you should not hit down hard on the ball or put spin on it. If you meet the ball with a square clubface, you will make a solid contact with the ball, resulting in obtaining a consistent distance from each club. Just let the face of the club do it’s job and the consistency you gain will result in much better results.
Avoid closing the face to make the ball run more, or opening the face to make it pop up as these are riskier options as they will impart more spin on the ball. As I mentioned we are aiming for consistency, so the less spin on the ball, the more consistency you will achieve.
With that in mind, your club selection is as important as the execution of the chip shot. Try to always putt from off of the green if at all possible. The old saying is – The worst putt is better than the worst chip. You can use anything from a wedge to a 5 iron, depending on the lie and circumstances. Don’t just use one single club for chipping as there are too many different types of chip shot you must learn to play to restrict yourself to only one. By varying your club selection you add more shots to your repertoire that will cover every possibility.
The Basic Chip Shot
Hands set ahead of the clubhead
The fundamental mechanic of the basic chip shot is addressing the ball with the majority of your weight on your left foot with your hands ahead of the clubhead. This will enable you to accelerate the clubhead into the ball on a descending blow.