CHIPPING
All golfers need to know how to chip and pitch the ball properly. As with putting, chipping and pitching is another area of your game that should be practised regularly. Chipping and pitching requires feel, touch, imagination and the ability to picture the shot before you play it. Picturing the shot and how it will pan out comes with practice and experience.
CHIPPING
The chip shot is normally played when your ball is fairly close to the putting surface but you are unable to use your putter. The intention when chipping is to keep the ball flight low and let the ball roll the majority of the distance to the hole. You can play a chip shot with just about any club, but there are three main clubs you can choose from when deciding to chip the ball; 5 iron, 7 iron and a 9 iron.
A 9 iron would be chosen when a little more rough ground needs to be cleared before the ball lands on the putting surface and then rolls to the hole side. So with the 9 iron you should be looking for a shot that requires the ball to fly about 45% through the air and rolls about 55% on the green. A 7 iron chip will normally fly about 30% through the air and roll about 70% on the green and a 5 iron about 15% through the air and roll about 85% on the green. Experiment with these three clubs and see the variance that each club offers and by doing this you will have far more shots in your arsenal.
Remember don't just chip for the sake of it, if you can use your putter then you should always choose to putt rather than chip. A good chip shot is normally the equivalent of a bad putt so play the percentages at all times.
PITCHING
The pitch shot can be anything from a two yard pitch onto the green to a seventy five yard shot over water. The intention behind the pitch shot is to hit the ball higher with the ball travelling most of the distance through the air with little or no roll after landing on the green.
Nearly all the top pro's play their sand iron when pitching and I recommend you do the same. The sand iron has more loft than your pitching wedge and generally offers more versatility for the many different shots you will face. You will of course use this club when your in the sand.
APPLICATION
Providing you've learned how to putt properly using my ‘50/50 stop' system, you should find chipping and pitching relatively straight forward to learn. Your chipping and pitching action needs to be the same as your putting action the only difference being the length of swing. For instance if your pitching fifty or sixty yards your backswing might swing back half way to the nine o'clock position and then your through swing should mirror this to the three o'clock position. Then you would hold your finish position like a statue for three or four seconds whilst turning your head to watch the ball.
It really is that simple! ‘50/50 stop' every time and your short game will be fantastic. I guarantee it!
The only other changes are ball position and width of feet. The ball position for both chipping and pitching should be played back in the right side of your stance. The correct ball position for chipping is about 15% in from your right foot and pitching should be about 40% in from the right foot. Your width of stance should be somewhat narrower for both shots. When you adopt your address position for chipping I recommend placing sixty percent of your weight on your left foot and keep it there throughout the swing. This will help you to contact the ball first and ensure the ball will roll out sufficiently on the green.
Experiment with your ball position for both chipping and pitching. For instance, choose your sand iron and play a few shots with the ball position of your left heel. Remember, never try to lift or scoop the ball up, allow the club and ball position to achieve the height you desire. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter how knowledgeable you are, you still need to put in the practice if you want to improve your short game, or any other part of your game for that matter.
CHIPPING
The chip shot is normally played when your ball is fairly close to the putting surface but you are unable to use your putter. The intention when chipping is to keep the ball flight low and let the ball roll the majority of the distance to the hole. You can play a chip shot with just about any club, but there are three main clubs you can choose from when deciding to chip the ball; 5 iron, 7 iron and a 9 iron.
A 9 iron would be chosen when a little more rough ground needs to be cleared before the ball lands on the putting surface and then rolls to the hole side. So with the 9 iron you should be looking for a shot that requires the ball to fly about 45% through the air and rolls about 55% on the green. A 7 iron chip will normally fly about 30% through the air and roll about 70% on the green and a 5 iron about 15% through the air and roll about 85% on the green. Experiment with these three clubs and see the variance that each club offers and by doing this you will have far more shots in your arsenal.
Remember don't just chip for the sake of it, if you can use your putter then you should always choose to putt rather than chip. A good chip shot is normally the equivalent of a bad putt so play the percentages at all times.
PITCHING
The pitch shot can be anything from a two yard pitch onto the green to a seventy five yard shot over water. The intention behind the pitch shot is to hit the ball higher with the ball travelling most of the distance through the air with little or no roll after landing on the green.
Nearly all the top pro's play their sand iron when pitching and I recommend you do the same. The sand iron has more loft than your pitching wedge and generally offers more versatility for the many different shots you will face. You will of course use this club when your in the sand.
APPLICATION
Providing you've learned how to putt properly using my ‘50/50 stop' system, you should find chipping and pitching relatively straight forward to learn. Your chipping and pitching action needs to be the same as your putting action the only difference being the length of swing. For instance if your pitching fifty or sixty yards your backswing might swing back half way to the nine o'clock position and then your through swing should mirror this to the three o'clock position. Then you would hold your finish position like a statue for three or four seconds whilst turning your head to watch the ball.
It really is that simple! ‘50/50 stop' every time and your short game will be fantastic. I guarantee it!
The only other changes are ball position and width of feet. The ball position for both chipping and pitching should be played back in the right side of your stance. The correct ball position for chipping is about 15% in from your right foot and pitching should be about 40% in from the right foot. Your width of stance should be somewhat narrower for both shots. When you adopt your address position for chipping I recommend placing sixty percent of your weight on your left foot and keep it there throughout the swing. This will help you to contact the ball first and ensure the ball will roll out sufficiently on the green.
Experiment with your ball position for both chipping and pitching. For instance, choose your sand iron and play a few shots with the ball position of your left heel. Remember, never try to lift or scoop the ball up, allow the club and ball position to achieve the height you desire. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter how knowledgeable you are, you still need to put in the practice if you want to improve your short game, or any other part of your game for that matter.