# Why do I duff my chips?



## birdyhunter (Jan 11, 2021)

A shot between say, 15-40 yards should be a simple wedge onto the green.

It's easy on a nice fluffy lie, however when the ball is sitting down on hard ground or mud with not much grass I will either blade it through the green, or hit an inch behind the ball and chunk it.

I have no idea where the clubhead is and I'm just waving at it hoping to make a clean connection.

Any drills or tips much appreciated, thanks.


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## Oddsocks (Jan 11, 2021)

I found when I went through this I’d was due to de-acceleration in the down swing, this was caused by a back swing being too long for the shot.

If you watch tigers practice pitches, he generally takes a very small back swing with a full follow through to the stop which avoids this.

“ personally “ I would try shortening your back swing and swinging through to the top, but this is only based on previous experience and without seeing a video it would be impossible to say.


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## Imurg (Jan 11, 2021)

My short game is pretty hot until my eyes leave the back of the ball.
The moment I look up I hit 3 inches behind.
Rarely blade one through, almost always hit heavy.
Keep my eyes focused on the back of the ball and everything works.


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## HomerJSimpson (Jan 11, 2021)

No short cut to short game success. I have struggled and tried many techniques. I went to a simpler technique as shown by Danny Maude (and he plays off mud in the video)




I have also played with bounce and found that in really muddy lies a lot of bounce seems to let me hit a little behind the ball and it'll skid on the mud and still get it up whereas a thin sole (less bounce) really struggled. As course dry, or if a course has tight/grassy lies I'll switch bounces to give myself the best option


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## JustOne (Jan 12, 2021)

^
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Martin, Gotta love how you post a video where the guy duffs some chips himself. Although I kinda see what he's trying to say it shows how easy it is to accidentally decelerate and flub a chip or two.

I prefer this video as you don't focus on swinging the club thru the ball, rather just worry about where you are going to stop
I like it where he says "Put both hands right here.. past the ball"

You have to commit to the shot so determining before you swing where you are going to FINISH your swing will help make sure they get there.


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## chrisd (Jan 12, 2021)

JustOne said:



			^
^
Martin, Gotta love how you post a video where the guy duffs some chips himself. Although I kinda see what he's trying to say it shows how easy it is to accidentally decelerate and flub a chip or two.

I prefer this video as you don't focus on swinging the club thru the ball, rather just worry about where you are going to stop
I like it where he says "Put both hands right here.. past the ball"

You have to commit to the shot so determining before you swing where you are going to FINISH your swing will help make sure they get there.
		
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Good video that one James. Also good to see a post from you 😁😁


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## Smiffy (Jan 13, 2021)

My chipping is usually pretty good. I normally fancy myself to chip quite close.
If I mess up, it's normally because I've looked up too early which leads to a fatted shot.
Doesn't need to be much, just a fraction of a second. You hardly notice it.
I guess I'm too keen to see the results.


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## IainP (Jan 13, 2021)

The other thing that maybe hasn't been covered above is do you need to automatically grab the wedge.

An 8 or 7 iron may automatically have you shallowing and shortening instinctively. Can work back up in loft once confidence returns.


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## bobmac (Jan 13, 2021)

Hard to advise without seeing your technique as there are many things that could go wrong.
A video would help.


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## SammmeBee (Jan 13, 2021)

Whatever you do just keep turning through it.  As soon as your body stops that’s when you duff it - old school Faldo/Leadbetter....


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## Blue in Munich (Jan 13, 2021)

IainP said:



			The other thing that maybe hasn't been covered above is do you need to automatically grab the wedge.

An 8 or 7 iron may automatically have you shallowing and shortening instinctively. Can work back up in loft once confidence returns.
		
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Did a GM event at Princes a while ago and the Pro doing the chipping section said the thought process for deciding which club to use was Driver, Hybrid, 7 iron, wedge.  Will the driver do the job; if it will, use it, if it won't go to the hybrid, and so on.  We were actually chipping to the 9th on the Himalayas with drivers, and it was more successful than you might think.


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## Curls (Jan 13, 2021)

Check this out, quality advice imo

Chipping


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## USER1999 (Jan 18, 2021)

Padraig Harrington has a good YouTube video on chipping. I found it to be quite enlightening, and in general my short game is tidy. One of the key take aways was that you need your sternum over the ball, as that is pretty much where your swing will bottom out.


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## Dannyc (Jan 18, 2021)

Curls said:



			Check this out, quality advice imo

Chipping

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What a quality video 👍


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## Curls (Jan 19, 2021)

Dannyc said:



			What a quality video 👍
		
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They’re all quality in fairness, the only channel I actively check in to see if he’s put another lesson up. The latest shoulder turn one is awesome and while I usually hibernate in the winter, this channel has me excited for the restart to try out some of these moves


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## ScienceBoy (Jan 27, 2021)

If you are using a lofted club the shot is a pitch as you probably want the ball to roll a lot less than it flies. If you want it to roll more than it flies use a less lofted club.

I wouldn’t worry about too much technical details until you figure out if you want to carry it there or roll it.


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## funkycoldmedina (Mar 2, 2021)

Just to revive an old thread about my nemesis - pitching.
I don't mind a chip, I generally use a high iron with a putting stroke. It's not perfect but it works. Pitching from 20 yards plus is a big issue, I duff a lot of them. I went up today for a long practice and was having a nightmare so decided to just have a go at swinging with just my right hand on the club. I didn't miss one out of 30 or so but every time I put my left hand back on the inconsistency was back.
Any ideas what might be going on apart from lack of talent?🤣


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## funkycoldmedina (Mar 2, 2021)

Traminator said:



			Just go again tomorrow and practice.
And then practice again, and again....

It's a skill, you'll work it out.
		
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It's something I've practiced an awful lot to the point that I feel I have a head full of too much theory for something that should be a natural touch feeling. The one handed swing had more of that natural feel to it.


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## funkycoldmedina (Mar 2, 2021)

Traminator said:



			If I get like that I just go back to thinking about what the club is doing and then just swing it through the ball.
Might be worth just swinging a few right handed and then just try and recreate that.
Tee the ball up at first to get a bit of confidence, works wonders.
		
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Thanks traminator, that sounds like a good plan, take the ball out of the equation for a few.
I do remember a BBC sport report on a bloke on one if the lesser tours who used one handed to help.his training and then stuck with it. Safe to say he didn't make the main tour 🤣


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## birdyhunter (Mar 3, 2021)

Since I thought about my problem I've looked at a lot of online stuff and found that Danny Maude is very good - this video describes the one-handed chipping drill you are talking about.


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## rulefan (Mar 3, 2021)

A tip I was given by one of the EG squad coaches was to always use the same club. Either PW, 9 or 8, whichever you feel most comfortable with. But get the feel of the club don't keep switching. I now virtually always leave myself with gettable putts. But I'm working on curing the yips now - LH'd seemed to be doing the job before lockdown.


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## funkycoldmedina (Mar 3, 2021)

birdyhunter said:



			Since I thought about my problem I've looked at a lot of online stuff and found that Danny Maude is very good - this video describes the one-handed chipping drill you are talking about.







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I'm looking forward to giving that a go because I think i do a lot of the things wrong and he discussed at the beginning and I got the same results when taking my left hand off.

Thanks for sharing.


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Mar 5, 2021)

As an expert 'chip duffer' for many years I've been working hard my short game in the last year or so. I've finally realised that good chipping is about body rotation not hand movement. Use the big muscles not the small ones.


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Mar 5, 2021)

I need a chipping lesson as I have frankly little idea whether or not I have set up and executed correctly when I do a good one or whether the good outcome was simply a fluke.  I pretend to myself that I know what I am doing but given how variable my chipping outcomes are I’m thinking I just don’t.  Soonest I get my pro telling me to do X,Y and Z then practice it the better...my imagination and skills can wait until I have built a decent foundation because too many times I fail to get down in two from just off the green.


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## ScienceBoy (Mar 12, 2021)




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## Huwey12 (Mar 12, 2021)

On dead pan lies or in the summer I never use a wedge with high bounce.
When playing with your sternum over the ball with hands slightly forward at impact a high bounce angle might knife the ball unless you’re very precise. All my wedges are 8 degree max. Just my opinion though


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## Diamond (Apr 13, 2021)

Up until yesterday I hadn't had a lesson on chipping.  My only chip shot is the chip and run which is not always the right shot to play.
The Pro yesterday had me weakening my left hand grip, which just felt wrong, but the odd time I made good contact it did float quite high for me.  I also looked at some videos which shows the difference in ball flight between a strong right hand and weak right hand grip and it was very interesting.  
Its a bit like when someone asks you to eat with chop sticks for the 1st time but I am going to need to persevere.


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## Stealthdrawer (Apr 14, 2021)

hi funnily enough i was chatting with the pro at my club today after an hours practice of mainly chipping and short pitching, he said the main issue he sees with amateurs particularly, mid to hi, was too long a back swing leading to deacceleration through the ball, !
cheers Sd


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## stefanovic (Apr 16, 2021)

One answer to this. Your head moves in front of the ball, more specifically the nose.


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