Chipping: Mini-Version of the Full Swing

Finish With Shirt Buttons Facing Your Target

When I was a junior Golfer, I was taught that in order to hit a good chip shot I must do three things:

1. Keep my head down until I heard the “thump” of the ball landing on the green.
2. “Cement” my lower body (which meant prevent any movement).
3. And think of chipping as a mini-version of the full swing.

I’d like to share my experiences for each of these tips:

1. Regarding keeping my head down, jump over to my blog post on that topic by clicking HERE.
2. By cementing or preventing my lower body from moving, my hands became very active in attempt to “lift” the ball through impact resulting in inconsistent shots.
3. And number three? This tip confused me, because if my chip shot was to be a mini-version of my full swing, and I was to prevent my lower body from moving… then I was doing my full swing wrong because my lower body definitely moved! 

Trying to chip this way made me a mediocre short game player at best because I became to "handsy." My chip shots relied heavily on timing. When my timing was on… I was pretty darn good. But when my timing was off… I chipped like I had boxing gloves on. And I’m not talking one day good, next day bad. I’m talking the same round! I could make a great chip on the first hole, only to blade my chip into a bunker on the third hole!

THE TRUTH

First, the hands don’t need to be active in a chip shot since the loft of the club is designed to get the ball airborne.

And secondly, in a good chip (or pitch shot), the lower body DOES move. While not excessively, it should be allowed to react to the upper body. Watch the lower body action of PGA and LPGA TOUR pros when they’re chipping. Their lower bodies definitely move.

THE FIX

While I don’t advocate a lot of lower body movement, I do like to see my students use their shoulders, chest, and yes… the hips… to move the club forward from downswing to follow-through. This isn’t a “violent” turn… but more of a complete turning of the shoulders, chest, and hips. They rotate together as one big happy family.

To help you with this, next time you’re practicing your chipping and pitching… concentrate on finishing with your shirt buttons toward the target, indicating that you made a full rotation through the shot. And ALLOW you lower body to move with the turn. With this new motion, you may find yourself hitting shots a bit further because of rotating through the shot better. Don’t worry, you’ll soon adjust to the new distance.

Enjoy and let me know how things go for you!

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Peace, Love, Golf! #PLG