Are you struggling with chipping?
Chipping seems like one of the simplest things in the complex game of golf, but many people struggle with it.
Here are a few things to keep in mind next time you’re right on the fringe and looking to chip onto the green.
Chipping Tips
Open up your stance, you should be aiming left of the target. You open your stance because most of the time your club face isn’t square, you open it a little, so the open stance makes up for that. Also an open stance creates a baby fade on the golf ball, so aiming left helps you play the face. This technique can only be used under 25 yards though, because when you are hitting longer chip shots you square up the face so you want to be square to your target.
Another useful tip to remember when chipping is the read. Too often golfers look at the green, address the ball and try to knock it close. The way to hole more chips is look at it like a putt. Read the green and find a landing spot. When the ball lands it will obviously roll like a putt. When chipping the ball is on the ground rolling for longer than it is in the air so focusing on the roll is actually more important. Landing it a few feet from the hole is key so you can let the ball roll out and maybe land in the bottom of the cup. A nice thing when you’re a horrible putter.
Keep your wrists out of it. One way to ruin the simple wedge swing is get your wrists involved. The wedge swing is so short and sweet, when you flex your wrist one way or another, bad things happen. When you keep your wrists flat and your hands ahead of the ball, you will eliminate that embarrassing chunked chip shot that takes a beaver pelt sized divot and your ball sadly rolls a few inches. A good way to practice this is put something in your glove like a butter knife or pencil, put it by your thumb so it comes out past your wrist, making it so you can’t bend your wrist.
Chipping can help you shave so many strokes off your game, so get out there are practice it.
