Tag: Chipping
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When someone refers to “saving your score” on a particular hole, it typically requires a chip, pitch or bunker shot to get the ball up and down. These three shots can have the biggest impact on your score when learned and executed properly, since you can only do so much to make up strokes from the
tee box or on the green.
It’s no secret that you can learn a lot from watching the world’s best
golfers. They hit some amazing shots, make incredible putts and hit the
ball extraordinary lengths. And while there’s a lot of swing cues we
should try and copy from the pros, there are four things I think most
amateurs have no business trying to duplicate.
How you make a practice swing when chipping from off the green is
especially critical. First of all, you’re not just trying to calculate
how far you need to hit the ball, you’re also trying to determine how
high the ball should fly and how much roll you want it to have. Also, a
practice stroke helps you to assess the lie, which can range from
having a ball that’s sunken down in the rough to one sitting high on
the collar. All these variables come into play when making a practice
swing, which is why I think it’s critical that every golfer learn my
“rehearsal” technique before hitting a chip or pitch shot.
It's nearly impossible score well if your short game is sub-par. To ensure this is not the case, Derek Hooper, PGA, from Lake of Isles in Connecticut, shows you the secret to solid, consistent chipping.
The most important thing you can do to improve your chipping game is to
know your distances precisely. Here’s a drill that can help. Find an
area where you can pace off 30, 60 and 90 yards. Then place a small
builder’s brick at each distance. Hit pitch shots at the 30-yard brick
until you land one on it. You’ll get a great thrill from seeing the
ball bounce way up in the air, and you should start to develop
confidence and an aggressive attitude when you begin to hit such a
small target with regularity. After you hit the brick from 30 yards, go
for 60 then 90 yards.
The chipping and putting motions are linear in nature. By that, I mean
the face remains square to the target line throughout, never opening or
closing like it does with full swings from the fairway and the tee.
Moreover, the path of the stroke shouldn’t deviate from the target
line. Realizing these facts can save a lot of amateur golfers a lot of
headaches around the green, where the majority of less-than-skilled
players chip the ball with a full-swing technique and leave themselves
with a lengthy putt.
Chipping and putting are two areas of the game where everyone can
improve. Improve your chipping and putting, and you’ll significantly
reduce your handicap. The touring pros spend more time practicing their
short games than all of their other shots combined. How many weekend
golfers can say the same?
If you think back to your last good round of golf, odds are you’ll
envision a number of solid drives and approach shots. We bet you’ll
also remember making a few excellent par saves or maybe draining a
birdie putt or two you normally would have no business making. And if
you recount your last poor round of golf, it’s likely you’ll conjure
images of errant drives and sloppy iron shots, combined with recovery
attempts that failed to get you on the green and into the hole. For low
scores, the short game is key.
Shotmaking is a broad term and one that’s typically reserved for highly
skilled players. Yet all golfers, even those who have a tough time
breaking 90, should consider themselves shotmakers. Face it, the game
of golf constantly demands a degree of creativity, and unless you play
on a perfectly flat course with no rough, no hazards and no undulations
on the greens, you have to be ready with a variety of plays—just to get
through a single round.
Timing your swing is important, but sometimes a clock can do a whole lot more to help your golf swing. By imagining the face of a clock, you can effectively train your body to calculate the proper swing length for shots from various distances. Sound intriguing? Let Doug Hammer, PGA, show you the way.
