There are many ways to chip a golf ball around the green. I have found that depending on the club I select I have a tendency to chop at the ball vice swing through contact. There are a couple of ‘tells’ that indicate I made a poor chip regardless of the results. The reason I end up chopping down on the ball is I am trying to help the ball to the spot I selected to land. This motion is a challenge to my short game and for some reason this terrible swing creeps into my game. When I swing through the ball and skim the ground I have better results as it is something I can control better than the chop swing. I have known tells when chipping when I know I did not make my best swing that I think might help with your short game.

My first visual cue is where my ball flies. By chucking the ground the heel of my club digs in first and closes the clubface. Sometimes this is happens to a small degree and other times is very pronounced. Most of my issues while chipping are because the heel of my club digs into the ground first. This is how I know I did not properly swing through the ball.

Second is my follow through; it is abrupt or truncated. It is as if I am trying to scoop the ball and throw it to the hole. My ball usually ends up short of my landing area which in turn results in a longer next shot. I am not sure why I hit the ball this way, but it shows up every once in a while.

My last cue that my chipping is not crisp deals with my distance control. I always pick a landing area and if I am not within 3 feet (may vary depending on distance of the chip) of my spot, then I know something is wrong. Usually, my lack of distance control deals with too much wrist action. I know this all sounds crazy for a low handicapper, but we all have challenges to our short game and these are just a few that affect my game.

Well, you know negatively affects my game, it might be a good idea to touch on a couple of things that happens when my chipping is going well. The first and most important aspect of good chipping is to skim along the top of the grass and let the clubface do all the work. The feeling that works the best is when I chip with locked wrists. There is no flipping or snapping of my wrists. I keep a strong chipping triangle between my shoulders, arms and hands. This technique is less affective outside of 10 yards, but when it is working, my short game is spot on.

Rick Shiels touches on the other aspect of my successful chipping. I chip towards the toe of my clubface. I started using this technique about 10 years ago and really like the feel during contact. The key to this technique is body position. Need to stand just a bit closer and choke up on the club. If I remember to adjust my body to chip with the toe, good things happen. I know you are asking why I would not set up this way all the time? That is easy, I get out of my pre-shot routine and therefore do not set up properly. This mental error usually happens during friendly matches, but that is a story for another day.

Successful chipping is easy and hard at the same time. It is easy because I know what to do all the time, yet it is hard because I mentally fail the do so. I know this all sounds crazy, but that is the nature of my golf game at this time. How is your chipping?

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