The Golf Chip Shot Explained

By Author: Martin Flynn
Total Articles: 5
Comment this article

There is a widely held belief in Golf that you Drive for show and putt for dough. But what do you do on the occasion that your approach shot misses the putting surface or comes up short. From a scorecard perspective, it is critical that you get up and down in these circumstances. If you usually take two putts because you fail to get your ball near the hole, you are destroying your scoring potential.

The good thing is that the skill involved in a chip shot is pretty straight forward. In fact it can be summarized in a neat little phrase ball back, hands forward and weight forward

Step 1: Set up to the ball with an open stance
Your feet and body need to be aligned well left of the target. This allows an unrestricted follow through and a more downward strike on the ball.

Step 2: Ball Back, Weigh Forward
Place the ball back in the center of your narrow stance and put up to 75% of the weight on your front foot. This creates a descending angle of attack and a clean, crisp strike.

Step 3: Initiate Your Swing by Turning Your Shoulders
Realise that by positioning the ball ...
... back in your stance, your hands are automatically ahead of the ball. It is imperative that your hands stay ahead of the ball at impact to ensure a crisp contact with the ball.

Note the ‘V' shape formed between your arms and the club. The swing is performedby simply swinging this ‘v' back and forth. Feel almost as if it is your shoulders are controlling the swing and just rotating around the axis of your spine.

Step 4: Grip Pressure
An important swing thought is to maintain light grip pressure. This will create a natural wrist lag in which the wrist may slightly hinge under the weight of the club head. However do not intentionally hinge your wristsas to do so would lead to inconsistent contact with the ball and difficulty in distance control.

Step 5: Club Selection
The key consideration for club selection is your distance from the putting surface and the placement of the pen relative to the green contours. If you are only a few inches off the green then you should use a putter, as your worst putt equates to your best chip in these situations.

If you are several feet off the green and there is adequate distance between you and the hole use a 7 iron. The key here is to use which ever club has sufficient loft to land the ball on the putting surface as soon as possible and get it rolling as soon as you can. This leads to far greater feel for distance control.

If you are 10 or 12 feet off the green and the pin is just on you will need to use a lofted club with sufficient loft to ensure it carries all the way to the pin and stops quickly.

When it comes to green side chipping there is no substitute for practice, practice, and more practice. The more you practice this simple technique with different clubs the more your imagination, shot making ability and feel for distance will improve.

You will be shocked at the strokes you shave off your round by practicing this vital part of the game.
Martin is developer of The Golf Social Network Hobeze.com, the website which provides golfers with; PGA Video Lessons, Golf Tips, Golf Advice, Live PGA Newsfeeds, a profile page to upload all their golf video, photos, equipment reviews and an interface to connect golfers worldwide.

Join today for free.