Golf Tips For The Basic Chip Shot

Article by Keith Barker

The basic chip shot is a miniature version of the pitch shot, which is an abbreviation of the full golf swing. I am going to go over a couple of versions of tips for chipping and giving you my personal view on how to chip in golf.

When making a chip shot, I would begin by setting up with my feet close together so that it would heighten my sense of feel and enable me to feel comfortable, relaxed and well-balanced over the ball at address. I play most chip shots with a slightly open stance because this enables me to accelerate the club comfortably through impact without my left hip or knee getting in the way. I set my weight firmly on my left side and I play my ball virtually off my back foot. This address position forces me to hit down on the ball, guaranteeing a crisper and cleaner strike, while ensuring that my hands lead and accelerate the clubhead through impact, probably the most important golf tip to consistent chipping.

These days, many of the top players have adopted a wristless form of chipping, where the stroke is controlled by the rocking motion of their shoulders. The larger muscles of the upper body are considered more reliable than the smaller ones in the hands and wrists, leading to more consistency under pressure. I’ve always been a wristy chipper. I like to get my hands involved right from the start and feel as though they control the shot from the length of my backswing to leading the clubhead firmly and confidently through impact. The feel and touch I’ve developed in my hands is a major contribution to my confidence in my chipping. As I begin to move my club away, my key downswing thoughts are simply to ensure that my weight remains firmly set on my left side as it was at address, and that my hands lead the clubface all the way through to the finish. I’m looking to keep my hands and wrists as solid as I possibly can through impact, as this will give me the best chance of achieving the slight downward strike required to nip the ball away cleanly. One of the best golf chipping tips that I can give you is keeping your hands and wrists passive through the hitting area. It is the foundation to a good chipping action. Once you start flicking at the ball with your wrists or trying to scoop it into the air with your hands, you have lost control of your ball.

One thing bad about being a wristy chipper is, if my timing was a bit out I was never really sure exactly how the ball would react once it left the clubface. Sometimes it would take a couple of bounces, check and stop and other times it would release and run way past the hole. Because of the inconsistenacy, I decided to swap my wristy style of chipping in favor of a more shoulder-oriented method. These days, when I’m about 15 yards of the green with a decent lie and a clear path to the hole, I’ll chip using my putting technique. What I mean is that I hold the club with my reverse overlap putting grip, adopt my normal putting stance and place my hands a fraction ahead of the ball, just as I would if I was addressing a putt on the green. I raise the club onto it’s toe slightly, which serves two purposes: it steepens the shaft angle so that it recreates the lie of my putter, and second, because hitting the ball off of the toe of the club will deaden the shot, I can be aggressive, safe in the knowledge that the ball won’t fly off the clubface too quickly. After setting up, it simply a matter of rocking my shoulders and keeping my head steady to promote a crisp, positive strike. I have become a much better chipper using this method. I hope these golf tips will help you with your golf game. See you on the blog side.

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