My 2024 golf season is well underway. I have played a few times, but the weather is not cooperating so hitting the links more often is in my future. After 10 rounds I can say that my chipping is the worse it has been in years. I truly am struggling around the green. My chipping woes has created several high scores and I am now on a track to fix my challenges. It is a frustrating journey, but one that needs to be addressed immediately!

My challenges are rooted in contact with the ground before the ball. For some reason, I am not in the proper body position or at my ball is not in the right spot in my stance. Or, Or, Or……I could go on! The point is that I am currently experiencing a very low point in my short game. Unfortunately, my poor ball striking is also affecting me mentally. I am starting to second guess my club selection regardless of where the ball is located. This approach to chipping has failure written all over it!

The question now is: what to do about my chipping woes. Before I lay out my roadmap, here is a quick refresher video that might help you (and me) focus on the basics of chipping:

My path forward is pretty simple or at least I think it is 😉 Actually, nothing is simple in golf, right! My challenges started early in the year when I was miss hit a few chips. During my first rounds, poor contact is expected as I have not practiced all that much. Unfortunately, a few poor hits turned into a few more and now I am in my head. I second guess my shot selection and even choose what I think is an easier shot, but will not produce the results I expect. Well, all of that stops now!

I have a three step plan that I think will reset my short game and allow me to focus on hitting great chips. It is simple, focused and easy to implement. Sounds perfect in my head as I am writing this article.

First, stop overthinking about how to chip. I already know how to execute this simple shot. I have proven that my stance, ball location and landing area skills are honed. Currently, I am overthinking everything because of my mental approach of focusing on not making mistakes. I know how to chip and thinking about all the steps only makes it worse. Therefore, stop overthinking is the first step.

Second, slow my tempo and clubhead speed of my chipping stroke down. As my woes grew (at least in my head), I changed many things about my swing. I am fast, choppy, and inconsistent when swinging my clubs. I am hitting behind the ball more than ever before and I am negating the bounce on my wedges. All of these issues are a result of a poor tempo and clubhead speed. Thus, I need to reset my swing and rely on what I already know what to do.

Lastly, I need to mentally reset. This is different than overthinking because I am mentally in a negative spot. I need to focus on the positive aspects of my chipping. Mostly within the process, not in the results. I have to stop thinking I am going to chip poorly before I even get to the ball. This negative thinking is as much to blame for my poor performance as anything else. It really is time to mentally reset.

My chipping woes need to stop. I am heading the course shortly after I publish this article to take the first steps towards changing my current short game challenges. I am confident that I can make the appropriate changes to be successful, it is a matter of doing it. I will update this article after today’s adventure.

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