Tips Improving 5-75 Yards Off the Green

[wakefield724]

I am a mid handi-capper. I am a terrific punch shotter, good putter and iron player, and comfortable with my drives. The only thing limiting my scores from lowering is my chipping. I started moving the ball towards the front of my stance while adding weight on my front foot and saw improvement. The last few rounds I have been experimenting with keeping my arms locked like a putting motion. My biggest struggle is 5-30 yards. I like to do medium chips with a 55 degree and short ones with a PW. 

Any suggestions on how to work on this part of my game? Is locking arms a good technique to use? Any drills, tools, or books you would suggest? 

[iacas]

Have you seen my Covid 30 day videos on the short game? I wouldn’t recommend locking your arms. Soft and lazy rule the day.

[Darkfrog]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

Have you seen my Covid 30 day videos on the short game? I wouldn’t recommend locking your arms. Soft and lazy rule the day.

@wakefield724, the COVID-19 practice plan day-6/7 drills are my go to anytime I feel like short game technique sucks and is costing me on the course. Try them out and see if they help.

[Shindig]

I am about halfway through the Covid drills and would like to echo @Darkfrog's suggestion of day 6/7 drills.

Also, do you know your half and quarter swing distances with your wedges?  I find it really helps -- if I'm 30 yards from the pin (say, I missed just short but the pin is in back), I know that a quarter UI will get me, give or take, 30-35 yards.  It's great to use that as a starting point instead of picking a club and then trying to figure out how to get that club to go the desired distance.

[mdl]

Def no stiff arms. There's a place for the putting stroke with a wedge like barely off the green. But that def shouldn't be your stock pitch mechanics.

+1 on @Shindig's suggestion. I use a personal system to give me more options. Shaft to parallel at waist, hands to waist, hands to ribcage, and hands to shoulder. I've dialed in distances for those four positions for 60˚ through PW.

For the 5-35 yard range I honestly think it's mostly feel. I got good at those when I lived in an apartment complex where the courtyard was set up so that you could hit up to about 40 yards without too much risk, and the "grass" was all turf, so no worries there. I would take 6 balls out a hit for an hour many nights with my 60˚.

One feel from a different video from @iacas that really works for me is the "float load". Like instead of holding the grip fairly stiff and going back to an exact spot, get the club going back and then kinda let it float back into your bottom hand fingers, "loading up". I've found much more consistency that way.

Edited August 9, 2021 by mdl

[Tim S]

On 8/9/2021 at 7:55 PM, mdl said:

Def no stiff arms. There's a place for the putting stroke with a wedge like barely off the green. But that def shouldn't be your stock pitch mechanics.

+1 on @Shindig's suggestion. I use a personal system to give me more options. Shaft to parallel at waist, hands to waist, hands to ribcage, and hands to shoulder. I've dialed in distances for those four positions for 60˚ through PW.

For the 5-35 yard range I honestly think it's mostly feel. I got good at those when I lived in an apartment complex where the courtyard was set up so that you could hit up to about 40 yards without too much risk, and the "grass" was all turf, so no worries there. I would take 6 balls out a hit for an hour many nights with my 60˚.

One feel from a different video from @iacas that really works for me is the "float load". Like instead of holding the grip fairly stiff and going back to an exact spot, get the club going back and then kinda let it float back into your bottom hand fingers, "loading up". I've found much more consistency that way.

Admirable!   Me--No matter where I bring my hands on the backswing, it's the downswing and impact speed that determine how far I flight a ball.  I might bring the back to shoulder, then my brain computes the distance and decelerates the club. On short shots, just the opposite.  Maybe tempo is my problem, but I do okay trusting my brain to the throw the club.  Too much technique and thinking really mess me up in the longrun.

[mdl]

On 9/19/2021 at 3:38 PM, Tim S said:

Admirable!   Me--No matter where I bring my hands on the backswing, it's the downswing and impact speed that determine how far I flight a ball.  I might bring the back to shoulder, then my brain computes the distance and decelerates the club. On short shots, just the opposite.  Maybe tempo is my problem, but I do okay trusting my brain to the throw the club.  Too much technique and thinking really mess me up in the longrun.

For sure minimal or no mechanics thoughts on the course. I hear you on the swing speed thing. I get around that because I've been really good with my 60˚ forever, and have a sort of stock power/speed for pitch shots. So sticking with that and adjusting the back swing length gets me consistent distances.

If that doesn't work for you, you could try Spieth's approach. He says he controls pitch distances by how far his follow through is. Maybe more directly addressing the variable swing speed thing you talked about.