FORE! (If you yell this a lot, try a lesson!) Can you hit this thing right every time?

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Chipping

 

CHIPPING ONTO THE GREEN (Todd Lawton)
Let's take a look at chipping onto the green. With a setup that is about 10 feet from the green with a 25-foot roll to the hole, we will discuss club choice, ball and hand position and the motion of the swing.

The first thing we will determine is the best club to use. Contrary to grabbing a wedge like many golfers tend to use, we use an 8 iron.

You should use an 8 iron because we want to eliminate the loft of the club. The goal is to get the ball to land somewhere on the edge of the green and then complete its roll. We do not want to carry the ball all the way to the hole because rolling the ball is an easier shot and it is easier to repeat.

Now, we will look at ball and hand position, the positioning of the weight and most importantly the motion of the swing.

The stroke is similar to the putt in that you will use more of your shoulders in the rotation than the wrist; we actually want to eliminate the wrist as much as possible.

The ball position is in the back of the stance. Depending on the angle that you create setting up to the hole, the position may vary a little. However, it should be in the back third of your stance and maybe even off your back foot.

Your weight should be towards the left side because you want to lean into the shot a little. The hand position is out in front of the ball. The picture that you want to create is that if we extended the shaft of the club through the arm, it should be on the front side of your body.

The back swing of the stroke is directly proportional to the length of the follow through. As with the putt, you want a little shorter back swing than follow through so you can get the acceleration that you need.

The stance is open to the target at about a 30 degree angle, the club face is pointing at the target and the shoulders should be square with the line that you are trying to hit.

The main thing to work on is to get the pendulum motion down, which is similar to the smooth motion of a metronome. This will allow you to concentrate on the acceleration of the club and the softness of the ball hitting the club head.

The difficulty with this shot is you may tend to force it and use the wrist to lift the ball, and then hope to get it to stop once it hits the green. Instead, you should slide the club head under the ball in a smooth motion.