Chipping contact with the ball

[Gregolf]

Arg!!!!!!!!! Infuriating. Worst part of my game is chipping, I find it very hard to make good contact with the ball. I think I could take 5-6 shots off my game by improving chipping.

So can anyone give me tips on making good contact with the ball when chipping? I know I need to make sure my hands are in front of the ball, but what about amount of wrist break? Sometimes I think I come at the ball too quickly instead of with a smooth acceleration.

If anyone has decent swing thoughts for chipping, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Curls]

Put more weight on your left side is a common one you'll hear. The one I found really useful is to focus on hitting the back of the ball. To practice this put a few balls down and turn them until you can just see Titliest or whatever peeking from the back, the rest of the ball should be plain white. Now watch that spot as you make your swing, you're not trying to hit the centre of the ball which is where we all look.

Including me when I don't follow my own advice ;-)

Also try to make a putting stroke rather than a wristy one, try your hardest to cut the wrists out, this takes a lot of practice though, I tend to fall back on a little wrist break to give me feel, sometimes with questionable results.

 

[Gregolf]

Interesting. I don't ever think about hitting the back of the ball, I'm always paranoid about hitting the ground first and fluffing it. I do end up thinning a lot of chips though.

I generally am a very good ball striker with my irons so it drives me mental that I so rarely make good contact with chips.

 

[brendy]

Looking at the back of the ball helps greatly, same as bunker shots, focussing on the sand behind the ball works great too.

 

[Curls]

Interesting. I don't ever think about hitting the back of the ball, I'm always paranoid about hitting the ground first and fluffing it. I do end up thinning a lot of chips though.

I generally am a very good ball striker with my irons so it drives me mental that I so rarely make good contact with chips.

If your weight is on the left and you're set up properly it should be near-impossible to hit the ground first with a simple pendulum swing. If I were the inventor of the V Easy I'd be suggesting you give it a whirl...

 

[RGDave]

As much as it probably sounds like more gadget sales patter, may I recommend a V-Easy.
Off 11.5 you need to make the most of your short game and since practising with one, my chipping has improved dramatically.
It's hard to be a short game god, and last match I made a right mess of pitches (basically because no good opportunities came my way), but there's a difference between hacking a ball out of the rough, and hitting crisp chips around the greens.

You can still employ exactly the same technique.
1. Weight favouring the front foot (narrow stance)
2. Ball centre or back, unless you are sliding underneath, then that's not really basic a chip
3. Hands in front of the ball
4. Use your shoulders and cut out the hands.

Once you hit a few good ones, it's terribly addictive. I can do 100 balls easy.

Good luck.

 

[G1BB0]

I watched the Phil Mickelson short game dvd the other day and used his hinge and hold method to great effect my last 2 rounds, I also use the putting stroke method with my pw for pitch and runs aswell. Practise and confidence is the key imho

 

[Jabba]

I use my V-easy for chipping more often than I use it for putting. It has really helped me.

 

[Smiffy]

If anyone has decent swing thoughts for chipping, I'd love to hear them.

Keep your head perfectly still and avoid the temptation to look up early to see the results of your shot. You only have to move your head or eyes a fraction of a second early and it will result in thinned or fatted chips.
Whenever I chip (I think my chipping is the best part of my game) I always try to remember to focus on the mark that the club has made in the grass before even attempting to look for the results.

 

[Gregolf]

If anyone has decent swing thoughts for chipping, I'd love to hear them.

Keep your head perfectly still and avoid the temptation to look up early to see the results of your shot. You only have to move your head or eyes a fraction of a second early and it will result in thinned or fatted chips.
Whenever I chip (I think my chipping is the best part of my game) I always try to remember to focus on the mark that the club has made in the grass before even attempting to look for the results.

Perfect. Exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for and actually makes me realise this is a forgotten swing thought I had during my days as a better golfer in my 20s!

Cheers.

 

[Aztecs27]

If anyone has decent swing thoughts for chipping, I'd love to hear them.

Keep your head perfectly still and avoid the temptation to look up early to see the results of your shot. You only have to move your head or eyes a fraction of a second early and it will result in thinned or fatted chips.
Whenever I chip (I think my chipping is the best part of my game) I always try to remember to focus on the mark that the club has made in the grass before even attempting to look for the results.

I'm actually going to use this piece of advice. Does this mean the world is about to end?

 

[bobmac]

Hi Greg

If anyone has decent swing thoughts for chipping, I'd love to hear them.

The biggest problem I see with poor chipping is the long backswing followed by a slowing down into the ball with a bit of a flick at the end.
Try a slightly shorter backswing and longer follow through and see if that improves the contact.
OR

Modesty would normally forbid but, try a search on the forum for the V-Easy, there are plenty of members who have benifited from using it.
Hope this helps

 

[danbaylis]

Go on YouTube and search for Phil Mickelson. There are some very useful clips on there about chipping - the good old hinge and hold!

 

[jdchelsea]

This video by pete cowen really helped my chipping game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFprw2Onyfk

Also dave pelz's short game bible has a good bit on chipping.