8 Tips to Help Improve Your Chipping

8 Tips to Help Improve Your Chipping

by Bradley Turner Keiser University College of Golf Director of Online Golf Instruction – MBA, PGA

Most golfers are concerned with improving two skills in golf; how to hit the ball farther and be more consistent in their ball striking. The club’s strike against the ball will get golfers addicted to the game. For coaches to shift their students’ focus from the ball striking to the short game has been and will always be a challenging task. It is always best for new golfers to learn simple motor skills before tackling the complex motor skill of a full golf swing. The most specific skill in golf is putting, followed closely by chipping. The pitch shot adds some complexity to the task, while striking a golf ball off the fairway with a four iron may be the most complex task in golf. In this article, we will highlight eight tips that can easily help to improve your chipping, resulting in better scores and a lower handicap.

I have separated the article into pre-swing tips and in-swing practice tips. Although chipping is a much easier skill to learn than striking a golf ball, I do not want to imply that it is easy to learn. The long-term benefit of good chipping fundamentals is that it will improve your pitching and, eventually, consistency in your ball striking skills!

Pre-Swing Tips

1. Neutral Spine – Feet Together

A neutral spine angle in chipping refers to standing to the ball without too many angles with your body. Simply stand erect with your feet close together, no more than 6” apart. When golfers angle their spine away from the target too much, it will result in poor consistency in contact with the ball. To set up properly, stand in front of a mirror and notice your spine angle straight up and down or in a neutral starting position. As you bend forward to hit your chip shot, it is important to maintain that neutral spine angle.

2. Pressure Forward

Keep the weight or pressure on your lead foot in the setup position. Once you have your feet close together with a neutral spine angle, a simple way to ensure proper pressure on the lead foot is to shift your sternum over your lead foot. You will feel the pressure move to your lead foot, and you will want to keep it there throughout the entire chipping motion.

3. Ball Position

A common mistake in chipping is positioning the ball too far forward, resulting in contacting the ground before the ball. By setting up with feet together, a neutral spine, and weight on the lead foot, the ball position will be slightly behind the sternum. To test your ball position, take the club you are chipping with, place the grip end on your sternum and let the club dangle to a resting position. As you look down, the ball should appear behind the clubhead, more towards the trailing foot.

4. Use a Chipping Grip

Do not use your full swing grip to chip! Since chipping does not require power and club head speed, you can use different grips. Reigning U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick likes to chip with a cross-handed grip! Some coaches advocate for using a putting grip to chip. My advice for a chipping grip is to place the back of the lead hand facing the target and the palm of the trail hand facing the target too! This is simple, effective, and easy to repeat for all skill levels. Golfers that can master these four pre-swing chipping tips will absolutely improve their chipping results.

In-Swing Tips

5. Brush the Grass

Ball ground contact is the heart of good ball striking. If you want to be a better iron player and build consistency in your ball striking, start with chipping. The skill of striking the ball before the ground is much harder than the average golfer may understand. I have always liked to share an image of giving the grass a haircut in chipping. Make sure to cut the grass after impact and never before impact. Do not scalp the grass either. Simply brush the grass in chipping, and good results are guaranteed.

6. Left – Right – Both

This is a good practice session to fine-tune your chipping skills. The idea is to chip with only the left hand for five minutes and then the trail hand for five more. Finally, put both hands on the club to finish off the chipping practice session. The movement of the club should be exactly the same regardless of which hand is being used. Not an easy drill but a good one for all skill levels.

7. Club Selection

This is one of the more frustrating aspects of coaching golf. The perception is that the best club to chip with is a sand wedge or lob wedge. With most chipping situations, I want students to use a less lofted club such as a seven or eight iron rather than a 60-degree wedge. It is a rare chipping situation when a lob wedge is the best club for the task! The next time you are on the practice green, find a hole in the middle of the green and hit ten chips with a seven iron and then 10 with a lob wedge. Be honest about which club performed the best? I would estimate that 90% of the time, the seven or eight iron will give you better results.

8. Distance is King – Landing Spot

The essence of the short game is the skill of getting the ball to stop as close to the hole as possible. The only shot in golf that does not require the ability to control distance is the driver when maximizing distance is the idea. Every approach shot to the green requires a player to determine which club is best to maintain the distance and then hopefully execute a good golf shot. The short game is more complicated in judging the ideal shot to play, given the wide array of short game shot possibilities. To begin improving your distance control, I suggest that you practice landing the ball on a specific spot on the green. Place a coin about 15 feet from the edge of the putting surface. Take an eight iron and chip a dozen shots trying to land the ball on the coin. Next, try to hit your landing spot with a pitching wedge. Finally, take your sand wedge and do the same thing. With this practice tip, you will begin to hone in on the landing spot, which is an essential skill to help you with your chipping.

Applying these eight tips to your chipping practice sessions will absolutely improve this critical skill. I have never played with a low handicap golfer who could not chip the ball with a high level of precision and consistency. A little chipping work will go a long way in improving your golf game.

If you’d like to study with Bradley Turner and other PGA Master Professionals, contact the College of Golf today.