Every golfer can recognize a player with great touch around the green. Their ball always finishes within a reasonable distance for an easy putt. As they watch the ball roll out, they assume that the results of where the ball finishes is the key to great touch around the green. Unfortunately, they are looking at the end result and not the real cause of great touch. If you really want to know how great touch is achieved around the green, we need to examine the process of chipping.

The possible chipping scenarios from within 10 yards of the green can send a player into a tail spin. What is the lie; where is the pin; how far does the ball need to travel in the air; how far is the roll out: etc, etc, etc. I have only touched on a few chipping thoughts that are running through my mind every time I step up to chip. Regardless of how you decided to solve this maze of thoughts, there is one constant for every chip that is the key to successfully getting up and down more often than not.

The one key to developing great chipping around the green is hitting your chosen landing area. This tiny spot will change depending on the plethora of decisions you make, but hitting your chosen spot is the key to lower golf scores. If you are able to hit your landing spot, then you can consider yourself to have great touch around the green. In my case, I actually repeat in my mind three times where I want the ball to land and sometimes I say it out loud. This simple, yet vital, step in my chipping process saved me more strokes around the green than I can remember. Hitting our landing area while chipping is critical to great touch; having said that, there is a drill that will really help:

In 2019, I provided my version of this important skill of hitting your landing area. I added a club behind the hole that provided an understanding of the roll out from each club at different distances. I found this addition to be very beneficial in understanding the affects of each chipping club has to the rollout to the pin. My article was called: Guessing the Distance Needed To Land My Chip

There are many different methods to chip a ball. The one thing in common is hitting your landing area. When you can consistently hit this spot, then you will have developed great touch around the green. This skill is a stroke saver and I recommend spending a bit of time understanding and developing your own touch while chipping.

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