Moving head and dipping body Left When Chipping

Hi All,

Well I had a round with a mate today and he told me that I was moving my head and dipping my body down to my left side. Now even though my chipping got me to between 4ft to 6 ft of the flag he said I should try and correct my movments and remain in a good stance.

I was wondering if this is good advice as I did try to correct myself when I was in chipping mode but found that my shots felt harder to complete and sometimes I had a few bad ones. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Cheers
Mark

This is something I struggle with, both personally and as a coach (basketball, not golf).

In golf, I'm largely inclined to leave feel shots just that - feel shots.

To me, the reason that we require orthodox methods is so that we can see instructors who can identify and recommend remedys for flaws.

Any instructor worth his salt would necessarily have a field day with Jim Furyk and the Furyious loop.

I'd offer that you stand at a crossroad. If your current form is performing well (ie it's repeatable, and you can execute the shot you need with it) AND there's no reason to see it failing you in the future, then carry on. If, however, sometimes things go wrong, and it only works, say 60% of the time, maybe you need to go to a more conventional method (where readily identifiable faults have ready fixes).

My favourite illustration of my point comes from Dr. Bob's book "Putting out of your mind":

The teaching pro saw Ben Crenshaw practicing [putting] **note - Ben Crenshaw is an outstanding putter**

After one of Crensaw's typically elegant strokes, the teaching pro asked, "What are you working on, Ben?"
"I'm trying to make sure my stroke feels long to short and really leisurely and my head moves a little bit."
In a single, two-second sentence, Crenshaw had contradicted all of the conventional wisdom the pro had learned about putting.


Now, putting is a feel shot, really. And, IMO, so is chipping and pitching. So if your current technique works, has worked, and shows no signs of not working (and if it fails, you can fix it - which, IMO is a key), then carry on. Otherwise, you may be further ahead to abandon it for a more traditional method (that can be repaired by an instructor when it fails).

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it; especially during a round.

Mark,

I'm of the same view as these two gents.

Unfortunately everyone has an opinion and I don't like advice given when not asked for and vice versa.

At times advice can create an unwanted concern and dampen confidence.

If you are concerned about the chipping go and see your coach (if you have one) and only listen to him.

If I'm not mistaken, he did ask for advice. Isn't that the purpose of this forum? And by the way, coaches often give poor advice too. But I do tend to agree, if it ain't broke, then don't fix it.

You're not mistaken about him asking for advice, ie, in this forum. I was referring to his mate he was playing with.

Clarified my point I hope.