After my practice round on Wednesday past in preparation for the 2 person best ball tournament (a 2 day event) I am dissecting were I can improve my game in order to reduce my golf score. During yesterday’s article, I talked about the three major areas of focus that were gleaned from playing Clear Springs after a 10 year hiatus. After more introspection, I think that chipping onto the fast greens is an area I will have to think about more. So, it is back to the basics for me.

One major aspect of an amateur’s short game (like mine) that is often overlooked is the basics of chipping. How many times have we adjusted, fiddle with, tweaked, or changed our chipping technique thinking we found ‘the answer’ to our short game woes. It seems that we are more interested in practicing that amazing looking, high risk, almost impossible to pull off chip shot instead of focusing on the basics of our short game. My experience has taught me that ‘forgetting the basics’ approach to my short game is folly. The more I center my attention on my basic chipping skills, the stronger my foundation for making reasonable shots around the green grows. To enhance my study about how to chip on fast greens (like the ones we will experience tomorrow during the tournament), I stepped back and found a video that is likely more important than trying to learn a specialty shot:

Meredith Kirk breaks down the fundamentals very well. The one specific point that I sometimes overlook is my grip pressure. I think that I hold on to the club with more pressure than needed; it is akin to gripping my putter with a death grip. To tight of a grip when chipping produces more mishits than one would think. It is interesting how watching the basics of chipping helps spotlight challenges in my short game.

Fortunately, I found the above video before I went to play Men’s Night yesterday. I am happy to report that by lessening my grip pressure, my touch around the green was much better. I still have some work to do, but by focusing on the basics and practicing more, I will see and improvement in my chipping game which results in lower golf scores. The only thing I need to do now is carry this renewed short game focus into the tournament tomorrow. More to follow on my success.

If you are looking to improve your play around the greens, I recommend focusing on the basics of chipping. Mastering this skill is a definite stroke saver. I know I will be reinforcing my short game foundation with the month or so of golf left in my 2022 season. My view is that it is never too late to learn or in this case relearn, important skills on my journey to a better golf game.

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