One Handed Chipping

[Lord Tyrion]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/29890955

Remarkable. Anyone tried this?

For those who don't want to follow the link it is about a pro who was awful around the greens. It was stopping his progression so after discovering in practice that he had a good deal of control when hitting one handed that is how he does his short game now. It must have taken some bottle, the guy must be mentally strong.

 

[pendodave]

Funnily enough, during a recent run of appalling bunker play I found I hit better shots one handed (right). The club released much better through the ball. I'm guessing that the weight of the head and my feeble wrist strength meant that I wasn't able to manipulate or yip the delivery. Just relied on a decent body action and physics.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I know of golfers who play the whole game one handed... well one armed anyway.

I use it as a practice aid and actually I can chip pretty well one handed. I cannot play cross handed like a couple of Pros do.

I have decided my "weird thing" is to wear two gloves, I have won all my biggest competitions and played my best golf wearing two gloves so think I will wear them all year round now.

 

[Dan2501]

Morgan Freeman plays golf one handed, not through choice, but through necessity, but it's definitely possible.

Going to try and hunt down some footage of Palmer's chipping. Must be some on the European Tour website!

 

[Foxholer]

That was one of the desperate measures my Pro mate tried to rid himself of the chipping yips!

 

[TheClaw]

Tim Clark chips split-handed these days- left hand at the top of the grip and right hand at the bottom with a big gap in between. Whatever works!

 

[MattM]

Practiced chipping a lot 1 handed in the garden last year when I had my injury. Still play 2 handed but my confidence around the greens and my par scrambling stats have improved massively.

 

[pendodave]

Can't link to it at the moment, but there's an interview and short vid on the sky sports website. Interesting. He does short bunker shots too, and from 40 yards and in. Gulp!

 

[CMAC]

personally I feel sorry for him. it's working "adequately" but it must be difficult mentally as a pro on the tour

 

[garyinderry]

Its a psychological barb he is throwing at other players. He is essentially saying, ''look guys, I am beating you one handed''. The rest crumble.

Smart play!

 

[Dan2501]

Can't link to it at the moment, but there's an interview and short vid on the sky sports website. Interesting. He does short bunker shots too, and from 40 yards and in. Gulp!

Where abouts on the Sky Sports website is it?

Just watched some footage of him playing on the My ET TV section, and he has a very, erm, quirky approach to his golf, he doesn't do anything in a traditional way. He's about as far removed from an Adam Scott-esque silky smooth swing as I've ever seen from a pro. His putting stance is very interesting too. Fair play to him though, it obviously works for him, he's had an excellent year on the Challenge Tour!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

If you can't follow the link the article is on the BBC Sport website. It is a piece by Iain Carter, their golf correspondent.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Definitely takes a massive pair to do it in competitive play and fair play to him for making it work...to date. Not sure as he progresses whether this can really be a definitive solution but I live in hope of being proved wrong. I've used one hand as a chipping drill but would never dream of doing it on the course

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Where abouts on the Sky Sports website is it?

Just watched some footage of him playing on the My ET TV section, and he has a very, erm, quirky approach to his golf, he doesn't do anything in a traditional way. He's about as far removed from an Adam Scott-esque silky smooth swing as I've ever seen from a pro. His putting stance is very interesting too. Fair play to him though, it obviously works for him, he's had an excellent year on the Challenge Tour!

Remember its all about methods that not only work but also repeat.

Trevino , Palmer, Furyk. None of them have or had classic swings.

Jason works extremely hard on all aspects of his game and is a very nice young man who still joins the £2 Sunday morning roll up if the opportunity arises.

We are very proud of him at Kirby Muxloe GC.

 

[palindromicbob]

Morgan Freeman plays golf one handed, not through choice, but through necessity, but it's definitely possible.

Going to try and hunt down some footage of Palmer's chipping. Must be some on the European Tour website!

Did not know that! Found this though thanks to that little bit of info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQEDEwOaFoY

 

[Region3]

There was an article I read on the Titelist Performance Institute website a couple of years ago where the teaching pro's got players who were struggling with chipping/pitching to try one handed (one after the other) to see which was best.

Basically, set up a difficult shot like over a bunker off a downhill lie (just to give some pressure) then play 5 or 10 shots with each hand.
If your left hand is best you should chip with weight and hands forward, stiff wrists etc.
If your right hand is best you should use the bounce more, weight more centred, and let the club head come past the hands through impact.

Make of that what you will.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

One of my Scottish buddies at previous club was an absolute genius playing bunker shots one-handed (left hand of course).

 

[garyinderry]

Did not know that! Found this though thanks to that little bit of info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQEDEwOaFoY

Brilliant video.

 

[Val]

Never ever tried it in earnest but on the little I have tried it in the past, I have as yet to duff a one handed chip, duff plenty when both hands are on the club though.

 

[Sweep]

When I was struggling to chip - or more accurately short pitch - in practice, I would regularly demonstrate to myself how easy it is by playing the shot one handed (right. I am right handed). To me it seems so easy to hit the ball this way. but then I started to try to hit the same shot using only my left hand and the difference was amazing. I could hardly connect with the ball. It did make me wonder for a while if my left hand was weakening my swing. In fact I think I posted something about it on here.
After a lot of practice I started to realise that the key to the shot I was playing was that even though it was only a short distance shot, you still need to turn. Once I had realised that, every shot went OK.
I can well understand players trying this. A good friend of mine has one arm and his short game is lethal. It is very rare that he plays a round without chipping in at least once. It might be worth a go for those who are struggling, but most find that trying it on the course when you have one go at the shot, is a great deal different from using the same method in practice.