Introduction

• If you want to be a pro, then learn how to chip. We will all miss the odd green in a round of golf. Good chippers don’t worry too much about it as they know they will either hole their chip or hit it to tap in distance.
• This gives a golfer so much advantage over their colleagues who perhaps cannot chip so well, not to mention taking pressure off your approach play.
• The chip stroke can be played with anything from 3 wood to lob wedge.
• As a youngster myself I chipped only with my lob wedge, throwing the ball up in the air, maybe a bit of spin. Looks great too. This however is nowhere near as effective as what I then went on to learn as a professional. The use of less lofted clubs.
• From the illustration below, notice how the ball flies less and rolls more with an 8 iron, and flies more and rolls less with a sand wedge.
  

8 Iron	9 Iron
Pitching wedge	Sand wedge

As a chip shot does not require a full swing then the shot becomes more unpredictable
than a full swing. With this in mind study the pros on TV and notice:

• The number of practice strokes they make for a chip shot.
  Why?
• The practice stroke you see them making are actually a visualisation or experiment of the shot they are about to execute. They are visualising:
• Height
• Flight Length
• The First Bouncing Point
• The Roll Upon Landing.
• You look at the target during this process. Once the shot is executed, there is no need to raise the head and look. Simply repeat the practice strokes that are fresh in you mind.
• Notice the similarities of your putting stroke to your chipping stroke. Bear this in mind when assessing the length of stroke you use.

Club Selection
By positioning a golf ball further back towards the right foot this takes loft off each golf
club. This has the effect of making a golf club more powerful as the ball will fly lower
and roll further.

• This gives us the opportunity to reduce the length of the stroke thus giving less time to make mistakes.
• The more loft on a clubface, the longer the swing must be to generate the same amount of power. This makes the shot more difficult as there is more time for error.
• Select a club, which has just enough loft to carry whatever rough grass you have to go over, but will then land quickly on the green and roll for longer. (see illustration below).
  

Chipping Technique

Set Up Assume your normal grip. You may lower your hands a little if you wish (if you do you must stand closer to the ball) Position the hands opposite the left thigh. Position the ball opposite the right big toe. Feet 4-5 inches apart. Body weight 70/30 favouring your left side.

Rules and etiquette