How To Chip As If You Were Putting

The chip shot is one of the easiest to learn in the game. Yet, many recreational players have trouble hitting the short chip shot, even after several golf instruction sessions. In fact, they're so bad, they substitute their putter for wedge, which isn't always wise, as I explain in my golf lessons.

Using a putter when you need a pitching wedge or a sand wedge is, needless to say, a poor decision. It can add strokes to your overall score or cost you a hole in match play. It's a problem you must overcome to lower your golf handicap. If you can't hit a short chip shot well, don't despair. There's help.

The inability to hit a short chip shot is as much mental as physical. To overcome these obstacles, you need to simplify both your mental approach and your physical technique. The next time you have a short chip shot, try using an 8 iron instead of a wedge. It's an approach I sometimes use myself. That's because it works.

Here are 6 keys to chipping as if you were putting that I recommend in my golf lessons:

- Replace your wedge with an 8 iron
- Take a normal putting stance
- Place hands and weight forward
- Hold the club vertically
- Hit the ball off the toe-end of the clubface
- Rock your shoulders to control roll of ball

First, set-up as if your were going to make a long putt. Use your normal putting grip and play the ball back in your stance, off the inside of the heel of your back foot. The 8 iron is ideal for this type of shot because it's short enough to deloft without the club's shaft hitting you during the shot.

Also, keep your hands and weight forward, favoring your front side, as you would if you were hitting a chip shot. Hold the club vertically, so that the club's heel is raised off the ground, enabling you to stand closer to the ball. And spread your elbows

Moving the ball back in your stance and shifting your weight forward positions the ball off the toe-end of the clubhead when you hit it. Using the toe-end will deaden the ball when you make contact. It will also help control the ball's roll.

Hit the ball with a gentle rocking of the shoulders, as you would if you were putting. This technique raises the club several inches off the ground in the backswing and forces you to hit down on the ball slightly, chipping it into the air. Concentrate on maintaining the width of the gap between your elbows as you swing thorough. It also ensures a pure arms-and-shoulders motion.

Using the 8-iron approach takes your wrists out of play. Recreational golfers who have trouble making short chip shots often have overly active wrists. With my approach, you'll eliminate your wrists yet still strike the ball solidly-just keep your head still and focus on making a short, firm follow-through,

You can also use my approach for longer chip shots. Just lengthen your stroke to play the longer shot, as you would if you were hitting a long putt. For extra long chip shots, try using a 5 or 6 iron to get the required roll.

Chip under Target Drill
The key to accurate chipping is keeping the ball low so it runs like a putt when it hits the ground. Here's a drill I use in my golf lessons designed to teach players to keep the ball low.

Lay a club or bag horizontally across two baskets placed about three feet apart. Then, step back a few feet and try chipping under the obstacle toward the hole, using either a wedge or an 8 iron.

To chip under the obstacle, you must deloft the club, which you can do by keeping your hands ahead of the clubhead when you swing. Having a visual obstacle to hit the ball under forces you to develop your ability to keep the ball low. Keep practicing this shot until it becomes second nature

Hitting the short chip shot well-whether you use a wedge or an 8 iron- is a start toward improving your short game, and chopping strokes of your golf handicap. And aren't those the real goals?

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Golf" article category.

People interested in the above article "How To Chip As If You Were Putting" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 

The Matrix Ozik Golf Shaft - New Technology for a Better Golf Game

Matrix Golf has a special high performance golf shaft called the Matrix Ozik. This shaft is very different from conventional shafts. It incorporates new technology to make for a more perfect tee. There are several different Matrix Ozik Golf shafts to choose.

A Different Approach to Improving Your Golf Score

Really enjoying the game of golf requires a change in attitude. It requires that you learn to love playing a game that will always include good and bad, better and worse, fighting to improve and only occasionally being completely satisfied with your shot, hole or round. It requires that you learn to actually love the whole experience.

The Correct Way to Hit a Long Bunker Shot

Bunker shots are difficult enough to get right when next to the green, but the longer bunker shot from a fairway bunker is even more challenging.
So here are a couple of simple things you should do to improve your long bunker shots.

Why You Should Invest in Golf Lessons to Improve Your Golf

Many amateur golfers spend lots of money buying new golf equipment and no money on golf lessons. They have the impression that the new equipment will improve their golf and take their game to a whole new level. This is one of the reasons why amateurs never seem to get better. Here is why you should invest in golf lessons.

Practice Makes Perfect - Have FUN Practicing Golf

Practice is absolutely crucial for the golf beginner as it is for the golfer who has been playing golf for some time. Golf is such a technical and precise game that you will never improve unless you play and practice regularly. You only have to look at the pro tour golfers. Take Tiger Wood for example. He has been out of the game for about 9 months and although he wasn't practicing golf for some of that time to avoid aggravating his injury, it is quite obvious that he had been working on his golf fitness.

How to Get a Great Pre-Shot Routine and Improve Your Consistency on the Golf Course

Are you a golfer that needlessly throws away at least one stroke per hole? So many golfers waste precious shots during a round either due to a lack of concentration or lack of adequate preparation for a particular stroke. Here is how to ensure you don't waste these strokes any longer.

Two Things Golfers Must Do to Improve Their Consistency

What can you do to improve your consistency on the golf course? Today I am going to give you two simple tips that all pros do but many weekend golfers overlook to make you a better golfer. To find out what they are you have to read this article.