Forward Press While Chipping

/ The Grateful Golfer

I have talked about chipping and how to improve our short game over the past while. I have adopted the technique of not forward pressing my hands past the front of the ball because it significantly changes the loft of my wedge. Not forward pressing is something I feel confident about while chipping until I saw this……

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Ooop, this was not it, but I do feel this way on the golf course some times.

Try this:

I obviously cannot dissect Noren’s, however it was such that he felt that he needed to push his hands past his left knee. He might has well hit a 4 iron for the amount he de-lofted his wedge. And, he chopped down on the ball, popped it up and sank it. Am I missing something or what?

There are a million different chipping techniques. Settling on one that works for you is the only real advice I can offer. It is honed through practice lots of trial and error. I can honestly say that I have worked on my short game since I started golfing. I have found some things that worked over the years and now not having a large forward press is what works for me!

I am still in the ‘not forward pressing your hands past the front of the golf ball’ team. where do you stand?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

8 thoughts on “Forward Press While Chipping”

  1. Jim, I have experimented with Noren’s technique. When I use a lob wedge and set the ball position even with my back toe, my hands are obviously well ahead of the ball. If you hood the club slightly on the way back, you can make a pretty aggressive downswing and get a good amount of spin on the ball. I will use this for short shots from good lies that are either flat or uphill. For other shots, I prefer to use my pitching wedge or 8-iron and more of a middle ball position and very slight forward press.

    Interesting though, in the video, he doesn’t seem to get a lot of check on the ball and if it didn’t hit the hole, would probably have rolled out past tap in range.

    Keep iterating! Thanks,

    Brian

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  2. I just watched a video of my first and last swing after taking my fall the other day. It’s really ugly. Everything broke down. I start off good. Keeping extended, body turning with my arms, but the second I start to allow my leading hands wrist to bend, I start breaking down. At the top, my leading arm is bent a ton. But I managed to still drop under the swing path really well and held the wrist cock longer than I thought. I definitely started the release early, but not nearly as much as I expected at all. And my back foot slides completely out but that probably kept me balanced and moving through the swing. With the pain I was feeling on that swing I am totally shocked. The ball is struck at full extension instead of just before which lost me a ton of distance but considering
    the pain that swing brought I hit it really well. I sent you the video on twitter.

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    • Kevin,

      I looked at your video several times. And yes, about half way back in your swing you start to change the swing plane and hand positions. I can see how pain would cause the variants that crept into your swing. I hope you are feeling better.

      Cheers Jim

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      • I was given a brace to wear for a week or three and some meds to deal with swelling. The wrist feels much better in the brace as long as I don’t put pressure on it or try and lift anything with it. It makes some things we take for granted in daily life a little inconvenient, but it will be over soon enough. Thanks for asking.

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  3. Feet together, left foot pointing out a bit, ball in the back of his stance. He’s using a lofted wedge with the face slightly open to help insure the leading edge doesn’t dig in if you hit a little fat. And he isn’t cocking his wrists, he’s keeping them stable. That helps make good consistent contact but it also means you need to aim a bit left of your target to hit it. He obviously got it perfect. That’s my favorite way to hit short chips around the green though I tend to like a slightly less lofted club like my 50 degree but he had to hit up a rise too so it’s hard to say which club I would have pulled. It works very well for me.

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    • Kevin,

      I still feel that he is adding several other factors regarding loft and ball position that would be very difficult for most amateurs. Regardless, it definitely works for Nornen and he is playing on the tour and I am not….haha.

      Cheers Jim

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