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Chipping inconsistencies, yips you name it

Carolina Golfer said:
Yes, I have been successful at the putting stroke. I forget to use it, especially on the shorties near the green.
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I will use whatever club will get me onto the putting surface and rolling asap. If you are always grabbing a wedge its far too easy to fall back into bad habits. A lot of times I'm holding an 8 iron.

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My 2 absolute musts when chipping are 1) never stop rotating, and 2) always hit the ground after the ball. Without rotating through, you'll have to rely on your hands/wrists/arms to make good contact and that introduces way too much room for error. And using the bounce of the wedge to skim the ground after contact really helps produce a solid strike; you can adjust the ball position and wedge face for the shot you want, but contacting that ground is key, especially for tight lies (not digging, but skimming the club off the ground post impact). There are a ton of good vids on YouTube for chipping off tight lies or just chipping in general.
 
Here is some wise advice from Gary Player but imho I wouldn't be flexing/extending/rotating the wrists (too difficult to time for me). But I can easily punch a chip with a push motion of my right arm/hand (and I can direct that push at any angle I want depending on how the ball sits in the turf).

 
Think that you're sliding the sole of the club across the grass, which is exactly what you do when you take a practice stroke (assuming you don't chunk your practice strokes!).
 
Carolina Golfer said:
After feeling pretty good about my chipping, all of a sudden I have lost it. Thin lies terrorize me. Standard, 20 yard chips turn into thins, fats, slightly too long or too short, shanks etc. What are your ways of getting back on track for green side chips?
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I am fighting that right now myself. I usually feel pretty good about my chipping but the last few rounds I have lost it. Combine that with terrible putting and my scores have been blowing up.
 
i have always had a chipping problem, horrendous imo, but this year was the year to buckle down and figure it out and that honestly meant more practice than playing.
 
I know it isn't "right", but I chip with a decent amount of hip turn, even for little shorties. It helps me stay fluid, or as fluid as I get.
 
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the chip putt is working for just off the green, now I just have to figure out the shots that are in-between a pitch and chip putt.
 
Snowman said:
Tight lies kill me too, and we have a lot of them at my home course - bare dirt spots or very thin, tight grass. I'm still looking for the solution to that. My wedges are Callaway 'S' grind, I've been considering trying the PM grind or whatever would allow me to get that leading edge under the ball on the tight/hardpan stuff.
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Have you tried chipping off those thin lies with a 7i - 9i?

I say this because getting any ball height from a wedge, off a thin lie takes a lot of practice.

With a short iron the stroke is like a mini punch shot. The ball is in the air a very short time, and rolls the rest of the way much like a putt does. Obviously you need a clear path of roll to the hole to help this type of shot work.
 
Can you post a video of a few chips off tight lies? Would be good to see Down the Line and Face On. If we observe your technique we can see if that’s the root cause, or it’s something mental, aka yips.
 
Before this year my chipping was a train wreck waiting to happen. I rather chutt then chip anyday of the week. Got pretty good at it too. But dedicated myself to improve that part of my game over the winter. Would take 20 golf balls and try to get 10 on a towel I placed where I felt comfortable. As I gained confidence I would increase that number
 
I've been practicing in my back garden (which is not a nice green carpet like lawn - more like a ploughed field) and found out that one might need to master several chipping techniques from different lies. For example , if your ball is sitting in a bit of a divot or there are significant tufts of grass blocking a shallow angle of attack , there is no way you can use a swinging or pendulum type of chip action. You also cannot use a 'retain the Y' shape between your arms/club and pivot through technique or even the chip-putt technique (rocking your shoulders). All the angles of attack are too shallow to get much of the clubface onto the ball and you'd have to force the chip through the grass with little idea how the ball is going to react.

I found I had to use a 'hit' type chip as if my trail arm/elbow was pistoning back and through on the correct angle of attack 'down and over' most of the tufts of grass to get some semblance of clubface/ball contact (and assist my judgement on how the ball is going to react).

I think maybe we should practice becoming masters of all the chipping techniques which are best for certain types of lies. What I have found (for me personally) that the 'retain the Y- body pivot' and 'chip-putting' techniques seem to be better for distance control and accuracy , while the hit chips have solid contact but a greater dispersion. The pendulum swinging type chips seem to be rather effortless when I have a good lie but a bit more difficult to control the speed and judge distance (ie. a slight change in the swing path seems to have quite an effect on the distance).

Hopefully I will become a short game wizard ;)
 
Sticking with the chip putt with some success. But, that is limited to shorties. Trying to come up with a grip that limits the backswing. I think that is where us yippers have a problem. Will be trying a interlock grip (normally a baseball 10 finger grip) with the index finger along the side. It seems to do the trick in practice, we'll see.

Nice simple vid for a chip putt action.

 
So I have improved in this area but had to learn 2 things. 1- a true chip has very little wrist action and can't be played all the time and 2- I need to move a little.
breaking down a bit more.

- for years I tried to start getting handsy almost as my first move. now I let the left shoulder and arm move the club back with almost no intended wrist motion

- the harder thing for me is when I get nervous I freeze up and don't rotate which means I throw my hands at the ball. the moment that damn right hand takes control of the club the chip becomes a chunk(n)
 
I always focus on where my sternum is in relation to the ball on chips and pitches. That typically points to where my club will bottom out. So, I try to keep my sternum ahead of the ball, depending on shot I’m playing.
 
Carolina Golfer said:
After feeling pretty good about my chipping, all of a sudden I have lost it. Thin lies terrorize me. Standard, 20 yard chips turn into thins, fats, slightly too long or too short, shanks etc. What are your ways of getting back on track for green side chips?
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My biggest thing when I was struggling is practice the ships around the green just like my putts. I developed much better feel and learned it was about tempo.

Also, I used the quarter drill inside which if you can chip a quarter on short chips you are hitting more downward on the ball and not trying to help it up.
 
One drill I was taught was to chip the ball over a club just 24 inches away with a SW from tight lies. That was the HARDEST thing to do. But it's also similar to putting. The slowest motions with the slightest required acceleration are the most difficult shots IMO.
 
GolfLivesMatter said:
The slowest motions with the slightest required acceleration are the most difficult shots IMO.
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Good point. Even after 30 years of playing, it is so easy to decelerate. As you said, acceleration is required. But, the brain says, your swinging too fast for a short distance and then you chunk it. I guess that is why the putt chip works on the shorties. That motion is in control on short or longer swings. It is brain friendly, lol.
 
Snowman said:
Tight lies kill me too, and we have a lot of them at my home course - bare dirt spots or very thin, tight grass. I'm still looking for the solution to that. My wedges are Callaway 'S' grind, I've been considering trying the PM grind or whatever would allow me to get that leading edge under the ball on the tight/hardpan stuff.
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I think lies are a factor. Now, putting some thought into it, you can't have the same technique (or club?) for different lies. If it is a slightly fluffy lie, really any wedge will do with a standard chipping motion will work and try the 8 iron putting stroke on the tight lies.
 
Carolina Golfer said:
Good point. Even after 30 years of playing, it is so easy to decelerate. As you said, acceleration is required. But, the brain says, your swinging too fast for a short distance and then you chunk it. I guess that is why the putt chip works on the shorties. That motion is in control on short or longer swings. It is brain friendly, lol.
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I typically follow the mantra that a bad putt is better than a bad chip. I can judge roll better than flight, so if there's even a remotely better chance of getting on the green with some sort of reasonable final putt.....versus chasing a bladed wedge across the green, I'm putting. Plus, it seems like there's some sort of stigma attached to putting versus chipping, but I don't think there's anything strange about getting really good at all kinds of putts in various situations, even out of traps if possible. Actually I think Golf Mag had an article about using the putter more often to cut strokes.
 
Carolina Golfer said:
I think lies are a factor. Now, putting some thought into it, you can't have the same technique (or club?) for different lies. If it is a slightly fluffy lie, really any wedge will do with a standard chipping motion will work and try the 8 iron putting stroke on the tight lies.
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Two things have led to great improvements recently:

1) I've watched and re-watched a couple YouTube videos that are an absolute gold mine for chipping technique, and put those tips to work in practice and on the course. Go on YouTube and search "Phil Mickelson Secrets of the Short Game Full" - there are two videos, the first one has the really good stuff, the second one is more advanced stuff/trick shots. You have to fast forward to 34:20 in the first video to get past all the putting stuff and into the wedge work. Well worth a watch (actually a few watches!). He covers a lot of different lies, long and short chips, high and low flights, bunker shots, etc.

2) I bought a Callaway PM Grind wedge and added it to my bag. That club is like freaking magic off almost any lie! I have absolutely zero fear of missing greens anymore because I'm confident that I can at least get the next shot on the green, if not get up & down, with that wedge.



GolfLivesMatter said:
I typically follow the mantra that a bad putt is better than a bad chip. I can judge roll better than flight, so if there's even a remotely better chance of getting on the green with some sort of reasonable final putt.....versus chasing a bladed wedge across the green, I'm putting. Plus, it seems like there's some sort of stigma attached to putting versus chipping, but I don't think there's anything strange about getting really good at all kinds of putts in various situations, even out of traps if possible. Actually I think Golf Mag had an article about using the putter more often to cut strokes.
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If it's puttable, I'll usually putt rather than chip. If I'm a little further off the green where it's going to take too much off the putter, but I don't quite need a bump and run or a chip, I'll putt using a hybrid (which I guess is kind of a cross between a putt and a bump and run). It gives it just enough loft and really reduces the chance of blading the shot, but it takes some practice to get the feel because it comes off the face of a hybrid pretty hot! I fully agree with the mantra that a bad putt is better than a bad chip.
 
After another day of yips, went back to youtube and came up with a good one.



Try the one at 8 minutes where the left side straightens. So, far so good in practice.
 
Curious what people think about how many clubs one should chip with? Does it make sense to be flexible (use varying lifts based on lie, ground surface, etc.) or stick with one club and be consistent?
 
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