I recently watched a blog by Danny Maude with a new way to improve short chips (without using a conventional chipping swing). How often do you hit a green and then roll about 2 to 10 feet off the green? Then you hit the chip fat or thin. Something takes over your body so that you just can’t make a basic chip. The problem is all in the use of a combination of your legs, arms and wrists. If you have this problem, stay tuned for your hallelujah moment.
This tip is ideal to help with SHORT chips that run out up to about 20 feet. YOU DON’T NEED TO USE A CONVENTIONAL GOLF SWING TO MAKE THESE CHIPS. The LOWER you grip down on your club the easier it is to control the swing. When you grip lower down your club (even below the grip on your club so that your club is almost vertical to the ground), you have better control of the swing direction. You only lose power. Short chips DON’T NEED POWER. What you want is short chips with CLEAN HITS and PERFECT DIRECTIONAL CONTROL.
There are 3 types of short chips covered in this blog: Chip & Run, Chip & Check-up and Chipping in Heavy Grass. Higher lofted clubs will give you a higher chip so you can chose from any iron loft up to a 60 degree wedge. Experiment with all lofted clubs to find your comfort level but remember to make adjustments to higher lofted clubs for shorter chips with shorter run-outs.
Setup: Narrow stance, feet parallel and angled 25 to 45 degrees forward, move your hands down to the bottom of the grip or even below your grip and down the shaft to hold your club almost in a vertical position. You will be hitting off the toe of your club as it points toward the ground. Your shoulders should be horizontal to the ground and you need to keep your eye on the ball until after impact.
1/ Chip & Run-out: Use this method to clear the fringe or narrow rough and run out to a distant pin location. Don’t setup with a shaft lean. Ball position is lined up between your toes. Rock your shoulders to swing your straight arms and use gravity to swing the weight of your club. Use a minor wrist release after impact as you swing up your target line.
2/ Chip & Check-up: Use this to clear the fringe or narrow rough and check-up quickly at a close pin. You need height for this shot so use a lofted wedge or sand wedge. No shaft lean. Open your stance a few inches more and use more body and hip rotation while you swing with your straight arms.
3/ Chip in Heavy Grass: Open your club face and setup up with the ball further back in your stance (off your trailing toe) and with your club leaning slightly forward. Use an abbreviated follow-through. This swing requires the most energy of the 3 types of chips.
Recommended: Choose a primary club (like a pitching wedge) for most of your chips to ensure that you get comfortable with the expected height and roll-out for a variety of situations.
This is NOT a conventional golf swing for chipping but it is easy to use if you normally blade or hit fat chips when you are within 20 feet from the pin. Practice these chips with GOLFSTR+ to lock your leading wrist (exactly the same way you would load it to practice putting). Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com
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