Inconsistency in chipping is one of the game’s great bugaboos, leading to all sorts of issues around the green — skulls, tops, chunks — that ultimately do serious damage to your scorecard. The secret to striking the ball the way you want to, again and again? Let’s just say this: Maintaining your “lean” is the true key to clean chipping contact. And all you need to groove this move is a simple folding chair.
SET-UP
As in the regular swing, the set-up is critical to hitting a solid shot. One of the key set up fundamentals for chipping that I like to teach is a forward “lean” with 60 percent favoring your front leg. Other elements related to a good set up involve ball position and stance. I like to have the ball positioned center to slightly back with a relatively narrow and slightly open stance (Photo 1).