Short Game Thoughts

[RichA]

For less skilled golfers like me, I think that intentional use of the bounce is a recipe for chipping woes. I see bounce as purely a forgiving feature of a club. Try for a perfect strike every time and the bounce is there to prevent disaster if I hit the ground first.
Since my reset this autumn I'm just chipping with an armsy putting stroke and using whichever more lofted club will get the ball pitching on the green and, hopefully, running up to where the hole is.
Basically avoiding trying to do anything too clever.
It has largely been working very well.

 

[RichA]

Reasonably close to greenside I often use the putter, ball in the back of the stance and deliberately hit down on it to make it jump and clear the long grass ( technique learnt from the Golf Channel).

Not in winter, but during the summer I was putting from 50 yards if it was flat or downhill. It was so much more reliable than trying to hit chips or mini-pitches from baked out fairways.

 

[Golfnut1957]

I am a relatively good chipper, but started to struggle a bit during the summer when the ground turned to concrete, so I took all the bounce off my 56* wedge.

I experimented with a really old and battered Cleveland 56 and found that it worked a treat, so I took my new Mizuno 56 to the bench grinder and took the lot off. I am a better chipper now than I was before the hatchet job.

I was concerned that come the winter I would be struggling with the softer conditions and need to get a wedge with bounce, but so far so good, no problems.

So there you have it, my solution, no bounce at all.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Only up to a point though - my mate is very steep, strikes irons great but can't chip to save his life, he just duffs it.

Biggest thing I find with good chippers / bad chippers, no matter their attack angle. Good chippers commit to the shot, bad chippers don't. There can be other things, head comes up, some people have better hand eye coordination etc but players stalling on a shot is the biggest error imo. I include myself in that when I hit a bad one. That's often a psychological issue.

 

[Orikoru]

Biggest thing I find with good chippers / bad chippers, no matter their attack angle. Good chippers commit to the shot, bad chippers don't. There can be other things, head comes up, some people have better hand eye coordination etc but players stalling on a shot is the biggest error imo. I include myself in that when I hit a bad one. That's often a psychological issue.

Yeah, I agree. Since my chipping lesson I've gone through the honeymoon period when it was working great, then the difficult second period where it starts being a bit hit and miss and you second guess yourself. The next stage is just to trust it and stop over-thinking the technique I think. As you say, just commit to a shot type and which club, and then hit it with a bit of confidence. Even my decent chips on my last round were all stopping well short of the flag, so that shows you I was not committing as much as I could.

 

[RichA]

Yeah, I agree. Since my chipping lesson I've gone through the honeymoon period when it was working great, then the difficult second period where it starts being a bit hit and miss and you second guess yourself. The next stage is just to trust it and stop over-thinking the technique I think. As you say, just commit to a shot type and which club, and then hit it with a bit of confidence. Even my decent chips on my last round were all stopping well short of the flag, so that shows you I was not committing as much as I could.

Sounds like the standard amateur golfer thing where each time we start to achieve a reasonable level of technical consistency we immediately think we're "players" and try to add a little extra unnecessary complexity and cleverness.
It always backfires. We never learn.

 

[Orikoru]

Sounds like the standard amateur golfer thing where each time we start to achieve a reasonable level of technical consistency we immediately think we're "players" and try to add a little extra unnecessary complexity and cleverness.
It always backfires. We never learn.

Yeah, I'm just going to try and stick to the simple stuff and stop changing what I'm doing now. If I'm close to the green it's a hybrid bump. If I have a bit of room to get to the flag, it's 50°, if I need to go over something, or stop it quick, or coming out of longer grass then 54°. Open stance, ball slightly back, not too much wrist hinge and commit to it!

 

[garyinderry]

Only up to a point though - my mate is very steep, strikes irons great but can't chip to save his life, he just duffs it.

Your mate is half way there having a nice steep attack angle into the ball. His problem is he isn't controlling the arc of his swing.

I made a video in the garden before watching that Alex elliot video and its pretty much exactly what Ridyard will talk about when he releases the 2nd part. Ridyard touches on it but doesn't fully explain what you should be doing. Controlling the handle controls the arc of the swing. You need to extend (rise up) to have that nice steep angle of attack into the ball without sticking the club into the ground.

Joe mayo teaches it. It was Andrew Rice who opened my eyes to it years ago.

Chipping using the bounce is much easier when it's firm ground as it then doesn't give way like it will in the winter. Also if the ball is perched up a bit. It makes it much easier to land the club behind the ball and let the blade slip in under it allowing you to play a high shot. Reading the lie and conditions is key.

I'll upload the video now to show how to keep the club out of the ground.

 

[Orikoru]

Your mate is half way there having a nice steep attack angle into the ball. His problem is he isn't controlling the arc of his swing.

I made a video in the garden before watching that Alex elliot video and its pretty much exactly what Ridyard will talk about when he releases the 2nd part. Ridyard touches on it but doesn't fully explain what you should be doing. Controlling the handle controls the arc of the swing. You need to extend (rise up) to have that nice steep angle of attack into the ball without sticking the club into the ground.

Joe mayo teaches it. It was Andrew Rice who opened my eyes to it years ago.

Chipping using the bounce is much easier when it's firm ground as it then doesn't give way like it will in the winter. Also if the ball is perched up a bit. It makes it much easier to land the club behind the ball and let the blade slip in under it allowing you to play a high shot. Reading the lie and conditions is key.

I'll upload the video now to show how to keep the club out of the ground.

I do know what you mean. A lot of them talk about making sure you turn your chest towards the target, as this creates a bit of space for the club to come through without you flipping it.

 

[garyinderry]

In this video I am dipping down at the start of the downstroke. This is to emphasise the amount that I am extending later in the stoke.

My garden is wet. The ground is soft. If I dont extend I'll likely stick the club into the ground.

The standing up part allows me to have a nice angle of attack into the ball whilst not digging. I have shaft lean and strike the ball clean.

Hope this helps.

 

[garyinderry]

This is impact. Lots of shaft lean. Good angle of attack and no digging.

 

[rulie]

Yeah, I agree. Since my chipping lesson I've gone through the honeymoon period when it was working great, then the difficult second period where it starts being a bit hit and miss and you second guess yourself. The next stage is just to trust it and stop over-thinking the technique I think. As you say, just commit to a shot type and which club, and then hit it with a bit of confidence. Even my decent chips on my last round were all stopping well short of the flag, so that shows you I was not committing as much as I could.

I often remind myself that there is no penalty for chipping past the flagstick.

 

[Orikoru]

Well my short game was great today, on a muddy wet course. I just committed to playing the open stance, weight forward, ball back technique, with 50 or 54 depending on what was required (mostly 50). Without my head cluttered with thoughts I definitely chipped better. Same technique for pitching too, just with a longer swing, and I hit some great ones of them as well. Bump and run around the green with hybrid still working great too, got up and down twice with that. There was only one I got wrong really, when it was an awkward distance of around 35 yards, so I was really in two minds over what the best shot would be, and ended up fatting it.

Cheers to everyone who's contributed here, it all helped focus my mind a little bit.

 

[irip]

Well my short game was great today, on a muddy wet course. I just committed to playing the open stance, weight forward, ball back technique, with 50 or 54 depending on what was required (mostly 50). Without my head cluttered with thoughts I definitely chipped better. Same technique for pitching too, just with a longer swing, and I hit some great ones of them as well. Bump and run around the green with hybrid still working great too, got up and down twice with that. There was only one I got wrong really, when it was an awkward distance of around 35 yards, so I was really in two minds over what the best shot would be, and ended up fatting it.

Cheers to everyone who's contributed here, it all helped focus my mind a little bit.

Do you think the one you messed up was because you was thinking about it too much or didn’t commit to the shot.

Well done mate.
Good to see my advice on taking a putter helper

 

[Orikoru]

Do you think the one you messed up was because you was thinking about it too much or didn’t commit to the shot.

Well done mate.
Good to see my advice on taking a putter helper

As I say, with it being 35 yards I didn't know whether to try and fly a 54 degree past it (probably about a 45 yard shot), or try a low punchy PW and run it up there more. I chose the 54 but didn't commit to it 100% as I still wasn't convinced it was the right shot, I don't think. Hey presto, chunked it 3 yard short of the green.

 

[garyinderry]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

She gets it.

 

[garyinderry]

nerdy explanation. Move up as the club comes down.

 

[Orikoru]

Danny Maude actually mentioned this Joe Mayo chap in his latest chipping video this week, incidentally.

This is pretty much where I'm going with it - weight and hands forward, not using the wrists, keep everything connected.

 

[NearHull]

My short game thought from today’s round. “Well that will happen if you pick up a 6i instead of the 9i.”

 

[irip]

My short game thought from today’s round. “Well that will happen if you pick up a 6i instead of the 9i.”

Come up short?