Short chips with a 56 degree SW

[QWKDTSN]

I just got a SW to compliment my starter kit, since I wanted to get the ball up and have it stop rather than the hop and roll I've been practicing with my PW.

I found that if I have a reasonable distance to chip - I guess 20-40 yards - and I'm putting a pretty good swing on the wedge, I usually get good results (though I still need to practice distance control).

However, when the chips are short - I've been having a problem where I occasionally 'slice' the ball 30-40 degrees off to the right! It happens maybe only 1 of 15 chips on the practice greens, but out on the course I was killing my short game with these mistakes.

When I'm trying to cover some distance and making something approaching a full swing (say 50-80%, where the clubface goes back out of my peripheral vision), I usually strengthen my grip up, because that is how I play all my irons. The ball goes nice and straight. When I'm making short chips, using the SW almost like a putter, swinging it 'straight back' a foot or two, then chipping through the ball, I use a neutral grip. This usually works fine, but it's those few times that the ball goes completely off to the right... I just don't understand! I'm watching the clubface the whole way through the short chip and it seems to be angled properly, but I must be doing something wrong.

I usually put the ball just a ball's width behind centerline and put my weight on my front foot when making most chip shots.

Any tips for me?

[Craig Mac]

I also use the putting style on short chips, mostly when there is more than 50% of green between the ball and the hole. These shot are all about feel and the best thing you can do is practice. I would also recomend learning various types of shots so if you are faced with something like hoping a bunker it will feel natural. I like to take a bucket of balls and throw them randomly around a practice green, give yourself some horible lies as well, just to get the practice.

[mikelaw]

deloft the wedge at address, forward press the club then chip down on the ball and youll get a nice biting trajectory and nice skip and roll. I even like to use a pw for this.

[Alex B]

The chips that go at a sharp angle to the right could be shanks, which occur when the hosel of the club (where the clubface is joined to the shaft), rather than the clubface itself, strikes the ball.

[goblue107501]

The biggest thing to remember on short chips with a SW is to accelerate through the ball. Anytime I happen chunk one or shank it off to the right it is usually caused because I decellerate the club coming down so I don't hit it too hard. When you decellerate many, many bad things happen. You can't just use an easy swing so you don't hit it too far. If you are afraid you're going to hit the ball to hard, shorten your backswing and remember to accellerate through the ball and hit down on it. Even if your backswing is only a foot or two, you still have to hit the ball with some authority. The club and ball should do the rest. It takes some practice to get the feel and distance control down, but once you get the right feel for certain distances it makes chipping real easy.