Fix Your Most Common Chipping Mistakes

The two most common mistakes I see golfers battle with when chipping are poor pace; the club head travels in a jerky fashion or at speeds that are often too fast for the requirements of the shot and they struggle to get the club to bottom out in the correct location relative to the ball. Pace and low point! Watch the video below and then let’s check in on some of the key points…

Here are a few points to take away:

Pace

• Feel an even, ‘tick, tock” type pace as you swing the club back and forth

• A good practice is to hit a few simple chip shots with a 7 iron. This will give you an excellent sense of what the pace should feel like

• Try to feel the transition be as passive or gentle as you can. That change of direction needs to be silky smooth

Low Point

• The practice rehearsals I demonstrated in the video are very important. Practice those both, away from the course and when playing

• Feel your weight staying forward in the backswing as this will aid you in being able to shift the low point forward

As with anything, practice is integral to improvement. Try a few of those 7 iron shots in practice and don’t allow yourself to make a practice motion without having the intent of getting the club to bottom out of the target side of the ball.

I hope these ideas prove to be helpful to you and your enjoyment out on the golf course. Thanks, as always, for your support and readership.

Brett Rumford

Watch the What?

Oh you’re going to like this one! This is a little drill I discovered a few weeks ago that will help any golfer who has issues with those small motion chip shots around the greens. Watch…

A few ideas that will help if you tend to struggle from close range:

• Mark up the club face with a Sharpie dot to give you something to follow visually

• Determine what your range is for watching the clubhead

• Practice variety by alternating between smaller chips where you watch the face and bigger ones where you watch the ball

You might be wondering why this works so well? The reason is that it encourages a synchronized rotation through the strike with almost the entire body. Everything flows through impact together. Whether you’re a teacher or a player, whether you need this or not, tuck this little nugget in your back pocket for when you or a friend find yourself in the chipping doldrums.

Thanks for following along!

Chipping - Control Your Distance

  This is an excellent drill to help simplify your approach to the shortgame. Using one method and changing the club to fit each situation you encounter is so much easier than trying to hit one club both high and low! If you focus on the landing spot for each shot around the green and, with the help of practice, learn how each mid to short iron makes the ball fly and roll out you will start to feel so much more confident. And we could all benefit from that!

Additional resources: 

Golf Tips For Chipping Distance Control

Chipping Tips, the Advantage of Distance Control

Short Game – Chipping Distance Control » The Simple Golf Swing