In my early golfing years, my focus point on chips was the pin. I felt that this was the goal, so using it as my benchmark was the correct course of action. Many years later I know that is approach to chipping was folly and I adjusted my whole game. Now that I have entered the world of hickory sticks, I am relearning this lesson. It is important to that I follow this chipping tip all the time in order to develop some sort of consistency in my short game in order lower my golf scores.

If you are wondering, the entire focus of my short game is to hit my landing area. Interestingly, I do adjust my landing area depending on the scenario, but some espouse to land the ball in the same spot and let the ball roll out. This approach does offer the opportunity for us to develop a consistent game and provides an 80% solution to all chips. Before delving deeper in this topic, take a look at what the foundation to hitting our landing area looks like:

I would suggest that other influencers such as if the green is elevated, exactly where the pin is in relation to the ball (short sided or not), hitting over an obstacle or any number of other things will change where our landing area. The important point about this mornings tip is to pick a landing area!

When I made the change from focusing on the pin to a landing area, I started to lower my golf scores. I was a low 80s player at the time with little changes of going lower. My game had plateaued and I was at a loss to figure out how to improve my game. This time in my game was before the internet and so I relied on talking to better players and my local pro for advice.

I am not sure exactly who taught me about the landing area, but when they did I definitely had an ‘ah ha’ moment. I was able to develop a short game that is more consistent. My confidence grew around the green and my golf scores lowered until I was able to routinely break 80. It really was a turning point in my golf game.

Fast forward to playing hickory sticks. I struggle with my short game because I do not have full control of my clubs around the green. I am still trying to figure out how to best use my hickories to hit my landing area. With so much to learn, I overlooked the landing area approach to chipping (I do not know why, I just did) and it cost me many strokes. Now that I have identified the challenge, I am ready to fix it…..next season. Golf is almost over, but that is an article for another day.

Focusing on a landing area is very important to our short game. It allows us to build consistency in 80% of our chips and thus results in lower golf scores. There are some influencers that will change the location of our landing area, but that is just golf. If you want to lower your golf scores by improving your short game, then I recommend using that landing area approach around the green. It might be the golf tip that lowers your scores.

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