One of the biggest mistakes golfers make around the green is treating every chip shot the same. Trying to approach this shot with the same set up, the same grip placement, the same swing, etc. is a big mistake. You need to become a master of evaluating the type of shot you need to hit. You need to understand how you are going to get the clubface on the ball, how the ball is sitting in or on the grass and how it will react. You need a way to test the conditions.
Even when a lie looks flat, the turf interaction can still change how the club moves through impact. Before I hit a chip shot, I want to understand exactly how the club is going to move through the ground.
One of my favourite ways to do this is by making a few rehearsal swings with my trail hand only – for me, that’s my right hand. I simply toss the club back and through beside the ball, getting a feel for the surface and how the sole of the club is interacting with the turf.
What I’m paying attention to is:
- Is the club digging?
- Is the heel catching?
- Is the toe catching?
- Or is the sole moving through the turf cleanly and flush?
Those rehearsal swings test the conditions and tell me how much I will choke up, and the angle I will hold the club relative to the ground. Sometimes I may slightly open the clubface to expose more bounce and help the club glide through the turf instead of digging.
Once I understand the turf interaction, I decide on the trajectory I want, and how far I want the ball to carry in the air versus how much I want it to release once it lands.
For a standard chip from a nice flat lie, I’m not overly conscious about moving the ball position around. Instead, I focus on the feel from my practice swings and where the club is naturally bottoming out, then simply match that to the ball position. This seems really simple and it is. Sometimes we need to think like a kid!
If I want a lower shot with more release, I may move the ball slightly back in my stance to de-loft the club a touch. If I want to hit the shot a little higher and land it softer, I’ll usually just open the clubface slightly to add loft and use more bounce through the turf. This will change your direction and the height, therefore needing a little more pace on the swing.
But trajectory is only part of the equation. Once I decide whether I want the ball to come out high, medium or low, I also need to match the pace of the swing to the carry distance and rollout I’m trying to create.
Once I’ve matched the trajectory and pace together, then it’s time to visualize and commit. I take a couple of smooth rehearsal swings, focus on my target, trust the feel I created and simply make the swing.
Worried about slow play? Don’t. When you start to make a few chips and leave them close to the pin, you won’t be putting much!