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CHIPPING
Chipping from Good Lies
"When the lie is clean and there’s a fair amount of green to work with, you want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. I chip almost exclusively with my lob wedge, but amateurs should experiment with a 9-iron or lower lofted wedge from these kinds of lies because it encourages a shorter swing. Place the ball back in your stance, just inside your right heel, and move your body weight forward so the clubhead makes contact with the ball first, and doesn’t slide underneath it, popping it up. Control the swing with your arms and shoulders, making sure to keep your weight forward, your wrists firm and your hands ahead of the clubhead through impact. The ball will come out low and track along the green just like a putt."
Feel
"How is your feel? When I’m talking about feel, I’m not just talking about on the greens and your putting, but shots within 100-yards. This is a good drill that I’ve been using for quite some time. I use my lob wedge and I have a few cones. I put one cone down for 30-yards, one for 40, one for 50, and one for 60. Of course, you can put them at any distance, but distance wedges are really important to work on, so give it a try!"
Avoid Scooping
"I’m going to share how you can still make par if you miss the green with your approach shot. You can either use a 7-iron and do a bump and run, meaning keeping the ball low, or you can use more of a lofted club, a 48-degree or an approach wedge to get the ball up in the air. So basic chipping is actually like a long putt, you’re keeping your shoulders moving together, creating a ‘Y’ with a club, and just going back and forth. The length of the back swing determines the length of the shot. Here is a drill to help. I have put down a tee in the ground, and I have a little bit of the tip in the ground. The idea to avoid scooping is to make sure you drive the tee straight into the ground, and not flip with your hands. So, what you do is set up like a normal chip, and then you drive it into the ground. If you’re scooping, meaning using your wrist and not so much your shoulders, the tee might actually go further than the ball would go, but it’s flipping it rather than driving down with your left arm."
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