Short Chips

I was awful at those really annoying short chips till I got a lesson with my course's pro. For those of you who are bad at the short chips I have some advice for you. For short chips use a PW or a SW. Hit the ball as hard as you would hit a putt and use a putt swing too. Same goes for the longer of the short chips only use a higher club like a 9 or a 7. Hope this helps.

I think the most important thing about chipping is to keep the hands leading - too many people try and flick at the ball.

Many people are unsure about which club to use, you may have to flight the ball some way to eliminate imperfections around the greens.

From page 155 of the Handbook of Golf by Alex Hay:

With a N0 4 iron, you will get 10% flight and 90% run.

With a number 6 iron, a 25:75 ratio.

With a number 8 iron, a 40:60 ratio.

With a number 9 iron, a 50:50 ratio.

With a pitching wedge, a 60:40 ratio.

With a sand iron, a 75:25 ratio.

Once you have learned this, you can calculate how to make the first bounce on the smotth grass of the putting green and make the most of the simplicity offered by the straightest-faced iron possible to achieve this.

The figures quoted are only approximations and take no account of the different club manufacturers (a Ping 8 iron may have less degrees than a Titleist 8 iron) but i think it's a sensible way of looking at things. Also, the dampness of the grass and softness of the green will affect the roll of the ball. Having said that, I don't think there is no substitute for lots of practice.

Paul

The best tip I have ever gotten for chipping is this: take your stance over the ball. With NO club in your hand, pretend you are throwing a golf ball towards the hole underhand. This is how hard you need to swing your PW to get the ball near the hole. Amazingly enough, you arm motion is almost identical. To test my theory, try throwing a ball as described above. Once you get it close, try swinging the club with the same amount of force - it will frighten you how accurate this really is!!!

Like pgmetcalf said, there is no substitute for practice. Remember, over half of your strokes in 18 holes are usually from inside 100 yards.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall