chipping tips

[Canadan]

With this lie I eliminate the flop shot from my thoughts pretty quickly. I want to make sure I'm going to hit the ball first so I make sure the ball is well back in my stance and think about taking a steeper approach to the ball. I use my highest lofted club to account for the slope and being short sided.

The lie ruined everything man, hah. I feel like the process was pretty similar, and I definitely just tried to finesse it to the front portion of the rough to take some speed off, it just kept rolling.

Such a tough shot. I'd be mad about putting myself there, but the 5 iron from rough 195 out kind of limited my options!!!

 

[thepete]

Lots of threads on chipping but this is the one I liked best for name, so here we go..

I had a really hairy lie yesterday with a chip.. I was behind the green about 7 feet off, in deeper rough area but my ball was actually in a dry spot where there was grass but I couldn't get much club underneath it. The fringe was dry as was the green, all sloping down to the hole which was cut about 6 paces onto the green. Long = water.

How would you guys play it?

I usually alternate from a lower pitch that bites (generally when hitting uphill) or a flop that rolls out a bit. In this case, I really didn't have enough club under the ball to not fear it skulling through into the water playing a flop. I played it safe and gave it a soft pitch, which skidded on the rough then fringe and rolled through the green about 15 feet past the hole.

Loft up with my 60 and flop it/hit a higher chip. Yes, you can still do it even if you have barren ground to work with.

 

[Canadan]

Loft up with my 60 and flop it/hit a higher chip. Yes, you can still do it even if you have barren ground to work with.

It's not really something that's practiced, so I was trying to avoid the thinned shot.

Were it only fairway on the other side of the green that would have definitely been my approach, but I was trying to avoid a big number..

 

[thepete]

Then you probably made the right play.

 

[wadesworld]

I suspect one thing you might be doing is playing a pitching motion on a short chip. For a long chip or pitch, one typically plays the ball back in the stance, and uses a nice full extension in the arms while maintaining the lower-case "y" (hinged wrists). That works great when there's plenty of distance. However, when you're in a bit closer, it's hard to control the chip because the ball comes off the face so well. You try to slow the momentum down, but it's really not possible to slow it down enough. If you try it with a lower-lofted club such as a 7-iron, you end up knocking the ball 10 yards over the green because you just can't slow it down enough to prevent the ball from jumping off the face.

The solution is to use a putting-stroke chip for shorter chips. You stand closer to the ball with the club more upright and the ball a bit more forward in your stance. That forces the heel of the club off the ground and makes the contact be more on the toe, which deadens the chip. You still have to keep your hands ahead of the ball and your wrists cocked, but this allows you to hit a super-short chip with a lofted club, or a controlled long chip with a lower-lofted club.

I say all this because I was doing this exact same thing not to long ago. I couldn't figure out how I could possibly slow my swing down anymore and the vast majority of my chips were long if I hit it cleanly or duffed if I tried to slow it down too much. I was simply trying to use my pitching motion for all chips, which didn't work.

Addendum: If the lie is such that you can open the face, that gives you the ability to play the ball more forward in your stance and use a bigger swing, since the open club face will create a more glancing blow. However, on a tight lie, that's not generally an option, so the "putting chip" comes in handy.

 

[wadesworld]

Lots of threads on chipping but this is the one I liked best for name, so here we go..

I had a really hairy lie yesterday with a chip.. I was behind the green about 7 feet off, in deeper rough area but my ball was actually in a dry spot where there was grass but I couldn't get much club underneath it. The fringe was dry as was the green, all sloping down to the hole which was cut about 6 paces onto the green. Long = water.

How would you guys play it?

I usually alternate from a lower pitch that bites (generally when hitting uphill) or a flop that rolls out a bit. In this case, I really didn't have enough club under the ball to not fear it skulling through into the water playing a flop. I played it safe and gave it a soft pitch, which skidded on the rough then fringe and rolled through the green about 15 feet past the hole.

I know you're a better player than I, but I was hitting some super-short chips from a tight lie the other day using an exaggerated putting stroke with my 60-degree (what I described above). I guess whether this technique would work or not would depend on whether you had enough space in the rough to use this stroke or not.

See:

 

[Canadan]

That's a great vid Wade... Interestingly, his chip and my chip looked VERY similar, in both style and distance landed and rolled..

Sadly, I didn't have the same amount of room to work with that he had.

 

[DevRickus]

I have been struggling mightily chipping as of late and I know it has most to do with the wrist break. I literally focus on keeping my hands straight and following through and do it for my practice swings and then at address I swing and its a mess. Thinking about not taking any practice swings and just stepping up and hitting the chip. It used to be the strongest part of my game. Somewhere along the way I lost it. Trying to get it back. Thanks for the tip videos. I will definitely give those a try.


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