# Thinning chips!



## Beezerk (Mar 24, 2015)

Say you're 10 yards off the green, pin is 20/30 yards away in total, it's a fairly bare lie, what's you're high percentage shot?  A bump and run, a flighted chip, or something else?
I've been thinning these chips at an alarming rate recently (3 yesterday alone) and it's doing my head in! It turns what should be a potential par or bogey at worst into a double or treble!
I always prided myself that my short game wasn't too bad but recently it's got horrendous apart from the odd nice shot which is usually from a nice fluffy lie.
Any tips or drills would be highly appreciated :thup:


----------



## DaveL (Mar 24, 2015)

This works for me http://youtu.be/DF5G24FFAP0


----------



## virtuocity (Mar 24, 2015)

Hands first, accelerate works for me.

Saying that, a thin is less annoying than a duff!


----------



## Craigg (Mar 24, 2015)

Depends if there is a pond at the back of thw green


----------



## Craigg (Mar 24, 2015)

10 yard chip, with a 10/20 yard roll out us an 8 iron for me


----------



## One Planer (Mar 24, 2015)

I'd probably use a 9 iron on that situation.

Ball in the middle, or a hair back of middle hands fractionally forward and look to land the ball as quickly as possibly and let the ball roll out.

If you're hitting it thin, you may be trying to help the ball up. If this is the case, Bob posted a video a while back involving 2 baskets and a club. I can't find the video just now. If Bobs about, and what I'm saying is correct, I'm sure he wouldn't mind linking it in.

Trust the loft on the club, keep your height (... Don't stand up) or try and lift the ball.


----------



## louise_a (Mar 24, 2015)

I was having this problem with chip and runs, my pro said I was trying to help the ball into the air, I now keep my wrists stiff and it seems to do the job.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Mar 24, 2015)

Had the thins big time in the medal on Sundal. I'd foresaken the linear method in search of something more "conventional" following a lesson last week. No confidence and it showed. However daft I look chipping linear, it works better for me and I'm staying that way. Conventional chipping isn't working even though it's a simple shot and it's probably all in the head with me. All about the score though however I get the job done. 

I find though it's just the ball position and the swing bottoming out too far behind the ball and so hitting slightly on the up.


----------



## BrizoH71 (Mar 24, 2015)

Providing there's nothing between me and the pin, hybrid chip every time and play it like a putt.


----------



## pendodave (Mar 24, 2015)

If I'm not feeling confident, I use my putting grip with an iron (9 thru 6 depending on the carry/runout ratio).

Keeps the wrists out of it. When did you last thin a putt ??

Once you're down to a 7i, there's not that much difference between a good strike and a thin anyway. The more loft you use, the more difference in outcome. You can go a long way with a 6i as well, meaning that you can keep a nice compact swing with less to go wrong.

Re-reading this, I notice a lot of scar tissue in my psyche...


----------



## bobmac (Mar 24, 2015)

Gareth said:



			I'd probably use a 9 iron on that situation.

Ball in the middle, or a hair back of middle hands fractionally forward and look to land the ball as quickly as possibly and let the ball roll out.

If you're hitting it thin, you may be trying to help the ball up. If this is the case, Bob posted a video a while back involving 2 baskets and a club. I can't find the video just now. If Bobs about, and what I'm saying is correct, I'm sure he wouldn't mind linking it in.
		
Click to expand...

[video=youtube;84pM1EMya_E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84pM1EMya_E&list=PL7Uf2W3sfvqYBJ3OUldKvQT7ZWYEmPOyW&index=6[/video]

When you thin a chip, the chances are you are trying to lift the ball into the air. The backswing is low and the followthrough is high.
The idea of the drill in the video is the opposite....high backswing and low followthrough. If you try and hit the ball under the shaft in front of you and you get it right, the ball will go OVER the shaft


----------



## tsped83 (Mar 24, 2015)

The hybrid club is your friend.


----------



## Beezerk (Mar 24, 2015)

Many thanks for all the replies, thinking about it I'm definitely guilty of trying to help the ball into the air, I'll give Bob's drill a shot later.
Regarding hybrids, I've actually tried that to good effect recently but more when I have a fair bit more grass between me and the green.


----------



## Fish (Mar 24, 2015)

I use a p/w as it keeps my hands forward avoiding the thin, if I try to use any other wedge based on a very bare lie I have  a greater chance of thinning it, I struggle using a 7i or 8i, I just don't have the feel for them in these circumstances and they come too hot off the face. 

In a more suitable lie I have no issue flopping a 60/5, its a club I'm very confident with and I think confidence standing over these kind of shots whilst keeping your head down is probably 80% of the shot itself, IMO!


----------



## the_coach (Mar 25, 2015)

Beezerk said:



			Say you're 10 yards off the green, pin is 20/30 yards away in total, it's a fairly bare lie, what's you're high percentage shot?  A bump and run, a flighted chip, or something else?
I've been thinning these chips at an alarming rate recently (3 yesterday alone) and it's doing my head in! It turns what should be a potential par or bogey at worst into a double or treble!
I always prided myself that my short game wasn't too bad but recently it's got horrendous apart from the odd nice shot which is usually from a nice fluffy lie.
Any tips or drills would be highly appreciated :thup:
		
Click to expand...

if you find yourself still having some trouble, or any point in further the future those issues with these shorter chips shots return.

make sure at set-up for these short shots your stance width is narrow about a iron blade + a half width at the heels, toe line plus hips a little ways open to target line, shoulders square. weight around 60% lead foot - it stays there through the stroke. ball position is around center, hands atop front of ball so just a little ways forwards leaning shaft, not hands well forwards with a big forwards leaning shaft. choke down the handle some so hands in the middle of the handle, not in full swing position.

for this drill too set-up as above, choke down the handle some (assuming you RH) place the hands so there's a soft little ways angle in the back of the right hand at address & have _the right forefinger extended_ (yes straight- & yes will feel a ways odd at first but it's just a drill so go with it.....) _

so that right forefinger straightways down the back of the bottom of the handle so the pad tip of that finger is touching the steel._

with the motion itself - let the shoulders move the triangle back & through so you move the handle, handle doesn't stop moving until the end of the motion - _so handle doesn't stop at impact_, likewise the left shoulder keeps moving away from the chin, chest & navel gentle turn through ..... & real important _have that extended right forefinger both before impact & just after impact point downwards at the ground_ - don't let it point to target.


----------



## Foxholer (Mar 25, 2015)

Another major contributor - to thins particularly - is bad (too much normally) tension. So make sure there's enough to allow for a stable platform and smooth swing, but not so much that the movement is jerky. These small shots should flow smoothly, just like bigger ones!


----------



## Smiffy (Mar 25, 2015)

My chipping is normally fairly good, but I had a horror one on Sunday at our 18th.
Ball was sat pin high but on a really (really) bare lie where other players had walked off the green towards the clubhouse.
I really didn't fancy it at all.
Was between two bunkers, and had an option of putting it up through some fluffy grass between them to just get it on the green.
Couldn't make my mind up, but eventually decided to try to chip.
Hit an awful shot, thinned it, but it hit the front of the bunker and somehow kicked up onto the putting surface.
Could have been a lot worse, and I think I would go the putter route if I was faced with that shot again.


----------



## virtuocity (Mar 25, 2015)

BrizoH71 said:



			Providing there's nothing between me and the pin, hybrid chip every time and play it like a putt.
		
Click to expand...




tsped83 said:



			The hybrid club is your friend.
		
Click to expand...

Got to say, I've never played with anyone who uses a hybrid for these kind of shots as effectively as I think they would do if they spent just 3 hours practicing chipping.  Not doubting that it works for you both though.

Saying that, I will take hybrid if it's on a bare lie, muddy lie or on a path (only when I know putter won't work) just off the green.  I do see people using hybrids almost exclusively from 50 yards out with limited success.  Also, if they are stuck behind a bunker or need to hit a high chip, they inevitably put themselves in more danger as they don't have a clue how to execute the shot.

Typical of many golfers, including me who have no time or inclination to practice their short game as much as they'd like.


----------



## Liverbirdie (Mar 25, 2015)

Damn, I thought NASA had invented the ultimate food.


----------



## virtuocity (Mar 25, 2015)

Liverbirdie said:



			Damn, I thought NASA had invented the ultimate food.
		
Click to expand...

:rofl:

Very good!  I thought the same when I ordered a thin pizza the other night and have now had to cancel my trouser order knowing that I won't quite manage a 30 inch waist.


----------

