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chipping, interesting observation, what does it mean?

Jugger18

Jugger18

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The weakest part of my game this year has been my chipping. Over the last week I have been using the practice area over lunch every day. I have really been working on getting clean contact with the ball as I have been struggling with bouncing the club into the ball leading to a lot of thin shots. It has been going well and I would say 8-10 chips I am getting the crisp feeling of good contact. The weird thing is where I appear to be striking the ball. Each day at the end of my 30-45 min session my face looks like this. What does this mean?
7874155950_e0ddf95dcc_z.jpg
[/URL] IMAG0125.jpg by jugger18, on Flickr[/IMG]

Sorry for the bad cell phone pic.
 
not to be a smart @$$ but you're obviously hitting close to the toe of the club. How do you chip? do you forward Press? or use a putters stroke?
 
My guess would be either you are too far away from the ball or you are standing too upright causing the heel to stay offthe ground.
 
I tend to do that same thing. But, w/o video or someone watching, it is difficult to say what is causing it.
3 possibles (assuming you are lining the ball up on the center of the clubface):
-moving your weight to your heels on the downswing, which then moves your body away from the ball
-using an outside/in stroke.
-ball too forward in your stance.
 
Buckjob said:
not to be a smart @$$ but you're obviously hitting close to the toe of the club. How do you chip? do you forward Press? or use a putters stroke?
Click to expand...

I stand with a fairly narrow stance, ball back in stance, choke down, slight forward press and have really been concentrating on hitting more down into the ball, less sweep (was struggling with hitting behind the ball and skipping the club into it).
 
Jugger18 said:
I stand with a fairly narrow stance, ball back in stance, choke down, slight forward press and have really been concentrating on hitting more down into the ball, less sweep (was struggling with hitting behind the ball and skipping the club into it).
Click to expand...

thats pretty much how i do my chipping i would try moving closer or farther away from the ball until you start seeing the ball marks in the center of your club. it will def make your chipping more consistent.
 
I'm an 18 hp so my chipping needs a lot of work as well, but what I can tell you is that is where to hit your chip on a very tight lie. We have 4-5 inch rough on the second cut around the greens and I find standing up straight and using a putting stroke allows only the toe of the club to make contact, a very safe way to get out of that long stuff even if you short side yourself. Just my 2 cents.
 
For a tight lie, I like to use a Hybrid or a #9 or P with a putting stroke.
 
Are you sure thats where the ball is striking the face? Or is it a mini 'divot' you're picking up - I often get a tiny bit of turf or dirt attached to the club in exactly that place after some practice swings before the real chip...

When I choke down and put the ball back its easy to catch the toe to the ground (for me its because i'm standing too close to the ball, so I adjust accordingly)...
 
Not to second guess anyone else but you may want to post this in the "Ask the pro section" Golftec offer advice and solutions to problems.
 
One thing I started doing is using a dry erase marker to mark the ball, then hit the ball. It leaves a "erasable" mark on your club head to tell you exactly where you are making contact with the ball. It is poor man's version of impact marking paper, but it works great. By doing this, I now know where i am making contacts (full shot, pitching, chip, putting), and focus making better contact towards the "sweet spot" of the club head.

Using this won't leave you scratching your head like "what is this mean"...

Go give it a try.
 
what club or clubs are you using? if you are using the 56 degree and above, it may be the bounce of the club. I have gone thru the same issues, so i finally decided to use 7-pw for chips--has done wonders for my "up and downs"
 
WTDoc said:
what club or clubs are you using? if you are using the 56 degree and above, it may be the bounce of the club. I have gone thru the same issues, so i finally decided to use 7-pw for chips--has done wonders for my "up and downs"
Click to expand...


This is with the 56. I am wondering if it is not just the toe digging (i do stand a bit closer than normal while chipping) It feels like am making center of the face contact on most shots.
 
Even if it is just the toe digging, you don't want that. You want the leading edge of the club to come through the turf evenly. If you are consistently toe down I would imagine you shoot a lot of shots off to the right. Try and get some video, there are some very good folks an here that will get you headed the right direction. Or as dhjkelly said, put it up on the "Ask a Pro" section.
 
I dont' think it is just toe digging. The compressed grass blades are indication that the grass were sandwiched between the ball and the club head. So, the contact was made there. I would try to focus more on making solid contact (don't worry about where the ball is going) with your club first, then work on directions.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I have (2) thoughts as to what may be the cause of your toe contact when chipping.

1- You could be setting up with a very open stance leading you to cut across the ball a bit from out-to-in. This can easily lead to contacting the ball out towards the toe.

2- Another thought I have and this assumes you are setting up with a narrow, and relatively square stance is that you are actually too close to the ball making the shaft angle extremely upright, almost vertical. This type of stance will cause the heel of the club to rise off the ground. While this method is actually the BEST WAY TO CHIP FROM HEAVIER GREENSIDE ROUGH, (it prevents the leading edge and hosel from getting caught up in the grass), a stance like that will obviously cause a toe-only contact.
 
So I went out today at lunch and worked on two things. Stood a bit closer farther away and also dropped my hands a little lower.
 
Looks like you're making progress, if you spend a lot of time practicing I would try a lot of different types of chips with different clubs. Use all the wedges and low irons depending on the type of chip you need to hit!
 
Definitely moving towards center. Although dropping the hands has caused a bit of lower back discomfort. But at the same time i was chipping 20-30 balls in succession...where in real life on the course it would be one and done.
 
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