Three Biggest Issues New Golfers Have With Chipping

By Author: Aime Wolf
Total Articles: 1
Comment this article

Chipping a golf ball well provides so much payback in not only lower scores, but the confidence that you can get the ball close to the hole from anywhere around the green. Being able to get up-and-down in two from off the green consistently will lower your scores more than probably any other single aspect of the game, and with just a little work anyone can do it. But I have observed three common problems that mid and high handicap golfers normally have when they chip.

Here are three ways you can improve your chipping:

1. Don't go too long on the back swing. This is so common, and it is so easy to correct. So if you're going to hit your chip twenty feet and you take the club farther back than the three o'clock position, which is 90 degrees, what will happen if you accelerate the club through the ball from that club position? Of course the golf ball is going to take off like a missile. The only way you can control the chip is to decelerate as you hit the ball, and you no longer control distance but direction of the ball.

The solution is easy. Just go back a shorter distance in your back swing. And by short ...
... I mean much shorter than you would think. Practice by bringing the club face only two or three inches from the ball, then accelerate through smoothly through the ball, making sure your ball contact is solid.

2. Slow your tempo way down. You will be surprised how much simpler everything becomes if you slow your swing down. Ball contact will be easier, you will be able to keep the club face square to the ball, and you can control the speed of the club through the ball much better. Almost all high-handicap golfers rush things, as well as many low-handicappers who in pressure situations sometimes hurry things.

3. Leading with the hands. The way the club face is shaped should tell you that if you didn't have your hands ahead of the ball at contact you could end up flipping the ball in the air. That's not bad for the flop shot which certainly has its place. But it is not an easy shot to execute, and if given the option you should try trapping the ball and keeping the ball closer to the ground. It is imperative that two things happen to pull this off: the weight must be on the front foot at impact, and the hands must be in front of the ball at impact.

Executing the chip shot really isn't difficult with a little (or should we say a lot) of practice. Without practice you may know how to execute the shot but it takes time for the body to know how to execute it. That's why in order to be consistent you have to put in the work which will teach the muscles how to execute the shot the right way.
Maintaining a swing tempo is a way to keep the swing simpler. We think it is always important to simplify, even in the golfshortgames.com http://www.gollff.com . Sean O'Kelly is a writer and avid golfer living http://www.gollff.com in Chicago, devoted to assisting the golfer become better in his craft, to enjoy the game to its fullest.