Chipping has three main ingredients for a great golf shot. It requires finesse, imagination, and memory.
So, naturally, the pro’s that can hit the chip shot and make it stop on a dime could probably do it with their eyes closed.
They have refined their golf swing through the years and years of hard work. They drilled these movements into their muscles, and with a little imagination and creativity, they produce amazing shots.
It’s about the angle that you impact the golf ball with your wedge. Some golfers think that you need to de-loft the club but that’s the complete opposite. The goal with chipping the ball to make it stop is to use the bounce of the wedge and brush the grass.
- Use a 60 degree wedge
- Place the ball in the the center of your stance
- Take some practice swings and brush the grass
- With the weight slightly more on your left leg (right handed player) take a normal chip swing.
For example, take a great artist with a paintbrush. Have you ever noticed the finesse with the stroke of his or her brush?
An artist does not complete a great drawing, without remembering prior do’s and don’ts.
Proper Tools
Just like an artist uses the proper brush, you need to use the proper club. This also means you need to use a club with grooves that are of good quality or new.
You also need to have a clean golf club, check out my post on How To Use A Golf Club Groove Sharpener, might help you out.
Wilson Harmonizer
The Wilson Harmonizer is the perfect wedge for the new, intermediate, or seasoned pro.
It’s extremely inexpensive compared other major brands but this wedge has tons of reviews on amazon to back it up.
Where Were We?
Ah yes, notice how the artist imagination creates a great drawing in the end. What has this got to do with golf?
These are the necessary ingredients required to make a great golf shot happen.
The only difference in comparing the two artists is the type of tool they are using to perform the task. Also skill plays a role, don’t get me wrong, gotta work your butt off to get to a certain point.
If you have finesse with the golf club, along with imagination, the results will be a great golf shot, just like an artist using the finesse and imagination in a great drawing.
Finesse
Learning to finesse a golf club is a very delicate task. Next time you’re watching a golf tournament on TV, watch the pros chip around a green.
It looks like their golf swing is in slow motion. The professional golfer guides the head of the club on the takeaway.
This creates the precise amount of weight necessary to make the ball bounce off of the face of the club for the intended landing area.
The pros can stop the ball on a dime it would seem, this is because they have hundreds of hours of quality practice.
Shot after shot after shot, they sit there and hit the shot that will yield them the best results while on tour.
That is why they are able to stop the golf ball and make it look so easy.
Ingredient Number Two
To help accomplish this delicate shot, ingredient number two has to be in place.
The imagination is the preparation prior to this finessed shot.
It helps complete the physical motion and timing necessary for proper weight distribution for the clubhead speed.
If you actually visualize the golf chip before everything is in motion. This will trigger the memory in guiding the muscles and timing to create the perfect shot.
But How?
So how do we create finesse and imagination with chipping? Practicing over and over again, until chipping becomes a sixth sense.
It may seem disappointing at first, but try and pick up a paintbrush and create great artwork with the first couple of attempts.
Make this following practice drill your favorite pastime if you want to zone in on the golf hole out on the golf course.
Take your golf bag and pull out your favorite lofted golf clubs and rest the bag lying flat on the ground.
Take out as many golf balls as possible, if you’re not in the middle of a round of golf.
The more golf balls you use, the more enjoyment you will receive out of this drill and less time walking back and forth.
You will lose interest if you have to constantly gather a small number of balls all the time.
Practice Makes Perfect
Try practice chipping the ball just over your golf bag or hitting it. Move the bag away from the golf balls about 5,10 and 15 yards to start.
This will be your intended landing area when you are out on the course. The golf bag will be your target to hit or go over for distance memory.
The key goal here is to train your memory for the distance of a chip shot with certain clubs.
If you want to learn to pick up the golf ball fast, move the bag closer to you standing it upright. Or distance the bag away from you for those longer lofted shots.
Do not change clubs until you have accomplished a certain goal in mind, like the number of times you hit the bag, or by dropping the golf ball slightly over it.
If you want to learn the distance on running an accurate 7 or a 6 iron, move the bag a least twenty to twenty-five yards from your hitting area.
Progress
As you progress in your chipping skill, try different techniques of bouncing the golf ball off the face of a golf club.
See how the ball reacts with a variety of short irons, and see how high and far the ball travels with an intended target and a goal in mind.
This practice drill will help build your confidence out on the fairway when you have to chip over hazards.
When you are unable to hit greens in regulation, regulate the number of times you use your putter by practicing this drill often.
Instead of getting frustrated waiting for the group ahead of you on a slow day. Try practicing with one or two golf balls alongside a tee box, if you are not playing a match or in a tournament.
You will eventually notice a lower scorecard, even on a bad day when your longer golf clubs and putter let you down.
It is a good feeling when obstacles like sand traps and water hazards, become part of the scenario on the golf course, and not an obstacle to potentially ruin your great round.
One More Reminder
I know I said this already but if figured since we are at the end of the post, I would say it again.
Practice the shot, practice trying to make the ball stop on the green just like the pros do.
Eventually you will get it and once you do it will be a shot you can play whenever you want.
Remember, the pros on tour spend an average of 3 to 4 hours per day on practice.
I’m sure some players even spend 8 hours on practice and then some only spend an hour or two.
The point is, you need to put in the time if you want to get the results you desire.
10,000 hours of deliberate practice can make you a world class golfer, you may not have 10,000 though.
But you do have some time to practice so get out there and practice!