Phil Mickelson Chipping Video

[Clemsonfan]

Great video from Phil! I didn’t see it posted elsewhere. If so, please delete!

[iacas]

I watched it. It's fine. Lotta "feel ain't real" stuff (like the ol' "hinge and hold") and I disagree with him that the bounce or grind doesn't matter if you're a five handicapper… but it's not bad overall.

[Clemsonfan]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

I watched it. It's fine. Lotta "feel ain't real" stuff (like the ol' "hinge and hold") and I disagree with him that the bounce or grind doesn't matter if you're a five handicapper… but it's not bad overall.

I enjoyed his thought process the most. I chip using the Mayo method but his description of playing off the back foot is what I try to do.

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, Clemsonfan said:

I enjoyed his thought process the most. I chip using the Mayo method but his description of playing off the back foot is what I try to do.

That reminds me. The bit where he says you never play a shot from the middle… made no sense. None.

[Ty_Webb]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

That reminds me. The bit where he says you never play a shot from the middle… made no sense. None.

I haven't watched the whole video, but I did see a comment somewhere else that if you watch, he actually hits some shots out of the middle in the video. It's a very strange thing to say. All I can think is that ams would benefit from having a limited number of shots that they play, so only really need a low one and a high one and not the one in the middle. Still a stretch.

[Clemsonfan]

12 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

I haven't watched the whole video, but I did see a comment somewhere else that if you watch, he actually hits some shots out of the middle in the video. It's a very strange thing to say. All I can think is that ams would benefit from having a limited number of shots that they play, so only really need a low one and a high one and not the one in the middle. Still a stretch.

Mickelson explains that. He only does when he needs to hit a chip with hook spin. His demonstration was very good.

[p1n9183]

I can see a point in this. 

On 7/18/2025 at 5:26 PM, iacas said:

That reminds me. The bit where he says you never play a shot from the middle… made no sense. None.

If you play a straigth 3 footer with a square face aiming at the hole, you can miss both ways, with a close face or an open one. If you aim rigth an close the face at impact (like tiger used to do), physically you can still miss left or rigth but mentally you are only missing left (closed face) and having only 1 miss can give you a boost in confidence. I putt this way on fade putts and aim left and open the face on draw putts, never liked the uncerteinty of putting square to the target. 

I apply something like this on approach shots, only use low or high shots and for middle shots I use a low shot with more loft ot a high shot with less loft. This shots are always what they meat low or high, a middle one can go a little towards the high and the low depending on the AoA of each shot making it mentally a little more uncertain what is going to be.  

[iacas]

31 minutes ago, p1n9183 said:

If you play a straigth 3 footer with a square face aiming at the hole, you can miss both ways, with a close face or an open one. If you aim rigth an close the face at impact (like tiger used to do), physically you can still miss left or rigth but mentally you are only missing left (closed face) and having only 1 miss can give you a boost in confidence. I putt this way on fade putts and aim left and open the face on draw putts, never liked the uncerteinty of putting square to the target. 

Eh. You're tricking yourself. You can still miss right or left, and what you've created is a situation where you HAVE to miss (but the right amount) to make the putt.

That's not for me.

[p1n9183]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Eh. You're tricking yourself. You can still miss right or left

Exactly, confidence is a huge part in putting and this trick me to be more confident. Off course is not for everyone.
As a feel player I normally open or close the face to compensate the break, if I aim for a square face I will always miss on the higher side when I do, dispersion is not corretly centered around the hole. But if I play for an open/close face to compensate the break I have more chances to center the dispersion around the hole.