Chipping And Things To Look Out For

Wristy Action

Particularly on short chip shots, there has been a trend toward tour players adopting a putting type of grip. This is done for the simple reason that it helps to guard against excessive wrist action. Any breakdown of the hand action through impact renders a stroke volatile and makes it all but impossible to judge landing distance and roll. One way to combat this is either to employ your usual putting grip or simply to weaken your left hand grip, turning the hand counter clockwise on the club and running it high in the palm of the hand.

Another thought is to focus on making a relatively short follow through, with the hands leading the club head as you arrive at the finish. That will encourage you to accelerate through the shot but deny your hands the opportunity to get too involved and "flip" at the ball.

Ball too far forward

If you can learn to set up the ball correctly, the basic chipping action can become a fairly automatic one. Problems arise when some element of the set up is out of sync and the ball position is often the culprit. In order to achieve that slightly descending angle of strike that pinches the ball smartly off the turf, it is vital that you stand a little open with your hands and weight forward and the ball back in your stance. If you are standing too square to the target line, and the ball is too far forward in your stance, you are more likely to "scoop" it into the air, resulting in topped, fat and generally poorly struck chip shots. 

Chipping and things to look out for

We hope this chipping tip helps out in this aspect of your golf short game.