I have decided to repurpose an old post because of a tournament I play in two weekends ago at Clear Springs Golf Course. The rough around the green was long, wet and thick. When I used my technique of toe down chipping, I was asked by the playing partner and opponents what I was doing. They asked because my ball effortlessly popped out of a difficult lie with great success. Thus, with fall golf upon me and the grass being wet and think, I thought it was important to revisit this great chipping tip.

We have all heard of life hacks that make our lives easier. Well, golf is no different as there are a few tricks and tips to help you shoot better scores. And this is one of them. I use this technique often and it is something I learned about 20 years ago. It is such and integral part of my game, I actually overlooked talking about it earlier. Today we rectify that oversight. It is time to talk about the benefits of chipping with the toe of our club.

Chipping with the toe of my club is a technique I use when I am not farther than 10 yards from and green and I am in the rough. I do not use this shot when father out, on the collar of the green or in the fairway on the short grass. I found that my success rate plummets when I try to chip with the toe in any of the three situations mentioned above. I think this technique would be considered as a specialty shot that has more than one use.

I decided to use a video by Rick Shiels to walk us through the technique I use:

I have a couple of other aspects to this technique that should not be over looked. In no particular order:

• First, the thicker the grass the more upright I hold the club. I never go past 90 degrees, but this move forward will allow the club head to skim through the grass without being caught up.
• Second, if the height of the grass is above the ball, I do not use the toe technique. I find that the hitting area is too small and as such I have a tendency to hit the ball of the edges.
• Third, depending on the position of the pin, I will use my putter grip to soften contact on the ball and how the ball ands. Generally, the pin is on the short side and I need to land the ball in the first cut, so soft hands is definitely a benefit.
• Fourth, the higher the loft of club being used, the farther you play it back in your stance. This is something you should practice to find the proper ball position for your unique stroke.
• Lastly, it is important to follow through at least to your knees. The follow through is often overlooked on this shot because players will have a tendency to truncate their shot thinking it is helpful. Actually, the ball scoots out on a low trajectory forcing it to roll out much farther than intended. Hence, following through is very important.

The above is my golf hack for chipping with the toe of your club. It is a very useful technique when playing out of the rough around the green. This proven shot lowers your chance of mishitting the ball and improves your chances of getting the ball up and down.

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