The chip shot involves a very short swing and is designed to improve accuracy when close to the putting green.
Here are a few elements to help improve your score around the greens:
Hold the club near the bottom of the grip. (This will allow the ball to be closer to your feet and give you better control of the club.)
Place your feet slightly open (turned to the left ) to the target and position the ball approximatly opposite the left heel.
Maintain the majority of your weight on your left leg during the entire swing (there is no weight transfer).
Execute the stroke without breaking your wrists during the forward swing.
Even though this is a short swing you always want to accellerate through the ball.
Address Position:
Your arms should be in a fully extended but relaxed position with your hands slightly ahead of the ball. Your feet are not as wide as they would be for a full shot and the knees are slightly more flexed.
Make sure your hands are low on the grip as this will position you closer to the ball. This position will promote a pendulum swing (straight back to straight through).
Finish the swing with the arms extended and without breaking your wrists. Let the left arm and the club form a relatively straight line as indicated by the red line.
The swing is an upper body motion initiated by the shoulders with the majority of the weight remaining on the left side throughout the swing. Even though there is no weight transfer there will be a slight mouvement of the legs towards the target in response to the swing. Practice and learn this motion and your accuracy will improve dramatically. The next lesson will focus on helping you to improve this important part of your game.
I will change clubs but I always use the same stroke for this shot. I prefer using a different club and trusting the same stroke to reach the desired distance.
This is a very short swing, again the fastest part of the swing is at the impact area, 6 o’clock.
The short game: Chipping (The wrists)
To play to your potential, you must understand how to execute this shot so it becomes second nature. By doing so, your accuracy will improve and your score will drop dramatically.
