Standard green side chipping

[goblue107501]

I will use a 56 for about 90% of shots around the green. The other 10% is a 60 when a flop shot is needed. I grew up using just one club to hit all the shots and still do it today. It is working well for me, so I see no need to try and change my established touch/feel that I have around the greens.

[moparman426]

Well, my wife brought me home a cheap John Daly branded sand wedge yesterday, as listed in my sig now, and I tried it out. I have a brown patch of grass in my yard (about 5ftx10ft), so I picked that as my target. From 20 and 30ft away, I was able to flop/pitch the ball onto the patch with about 75% of them staying in a pretty tight radius, maybe 6ft max. I really have been missing out!!!! Now I need to pick up a 60* to see what that's like......

[TN94z]

If I am anywhere around the green and don't have to carry anything in particular, I use my 9I. If you practice the 9I with a putting stroke and get your distance down, IMO it is much better than a wedge. There just seems to be much more room for error with the 9I than there is with a wedge. I mean you are getting it on the ground quickly and then it is basically a putt. I only use my wedge when I have to carry a bunker or if I am short sided and need a flop or something. It's just too easy with the 9I though

[itzzzberny]

If I am anywhere around the green and don't have to carry anything in particular, I use my 9I. If you practice the 9I with a putting stroke and get your distance down, IMO it is much better than a wedge. There just seems to be much more room for error with the 9I than there is with a wedge. I mean you are getting it on the ground quickly and then it is basically a putt. I only use my wedge when I have to carry a bunker or if I am short sided and need a flop or something. It's just too easy with the 9I though

+1 i have the same approach. its more consistent then trying to carry the ball to the hole (obviously except when you need to carry a bunker) , no matter how close. love to use this when my ball is next to a sprinkler head, drain, or a nasty divot that is between me and the hole.

[jockass]

Playing links golf in Scotland i sometimes use my putter for chipping!!!

I am also of the opinion that you want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible and for that you are better placed using a lesser lofted club than the 60 degree. At the end of the day it is all down to feel so whatever you feel comfortable with is best!

[jrm1493]

I am very different than others that have posted. I will use my 60 pretty much exclusively. I will use the 64 for really ackward shots but the 60 I can judge it better than flatter clubs. I have a really hard time judging the bump and run (I made stupid doubles when I tried to hit a chip with my pitching wedge and run through the other side of the green). I seem to not have as much control. When I got a good lie lots of green, I will deloft the 60 and use pretty much a putting stoke, hit down on it and let it roll out (chip). For me, this works better. I wish I had the time to really get good at chipping with other clubs but I do not have the time to work at it. I know I am not good at judging it so I stick with my gun, the 60 (well bent to 58). I am fearful of doing anything else right now unless it is severely up hill and I know I can not get my lob wedge there.

I also use my 56 sand wedge almost exclusively within 80 yards; the only exception would be my putter which I have no problem using from up to several yards off the green if the grass isn't too fluffy. I just find it easier to learn the feel of one club. I try to hit a number of shots with it, everything from a low punch to a flop to chips with and without spin. About the only thing I can't do with it is a flop from a tight lie (because of the high bounce) but that is a very low percentage shot and one that I only end up needing maybe once every other round. I've found that a lot of times in those situations I like to open the face a bit with the ball well back and make a very short backstroke and really smash down on the ball. This tends to generate a low trajectory shot that stops almost immediately when it hits the green and can be used in the place of a flop from a tight lie.

I think using the higher lofted club for me is easier because it allows me to make a more aggressive swing, which prevents chunks, shanks and fluffs. I tried chipping with a 7i this week just to see what happened and i ran it 25 ft past the hole (from about 15 ft away!). Of course I never practice that method but I was lucky to make bogey from what should have been an easy par!

[TN94z]

I also use my 56 sand wedge almost exclusively within 80 yards; the only exception would be my putter which I have no problem using from up to several yards off the green if the grass isn't too fluffy. I just find it easier to learn the feel of one club. I try to hit a number of shots with it, everything from a low punch to a flop to chips with and without spin. About the only thing I can't do with it is a flop from a tight lie (because of the high bounce) but that is a very low percentage shot and one that I only end up needing maybe once every other round. I've found that a lot of times in those situations I like to open the face a bit with the ball well back and make a very short backstroke and really smash down on the ball. This tends to generate a low trajectory shot that stops almost immediately when it hits the green and can be used in the place of a flop from a tight lie.

It is something that will take practice, and I would be willing to bet that if you practiced this shot and got your distance control down....you would switch

My cousin chips with his lob exclusively. I talked him into using his 9I one round and by the end of the round, he was sold....the problem is, he doesn't like practicing so he won't get the control down.

[toddmcguire]

I do the same when there is more green to work with. The less the ball is in the air, the better. Like Blades4Me, I will pull out the hybrid from time to time and use it almost like a putter just off the first cut.

[songwriter]

I used to use a 56 deg sand wedge, then I went to a 60 degree for several years. For most shots... throw it near the hold and spin it or roll out a few feet. And I did it pretty well. But... the best chippers I have ever seen roll the ball to the hole. Get in on the green asap. So, now, I generally use whatever club it takes to do that unless the shot calls for a spinner or flop... 6i to lob wedge.

[mdvaldosta]

I use my 56 when I want to get it close to the hole and stop it for an up and down, but when I think I've got a chance to hole it out I'll usually use my PW or a 9I for more roll.

[Chas]

I used to almost always use a 56 or 52 wedge from around the green but lately, after spending more time practicing on the range, I have introduced the PW, 9i and even 8i. If the pin is a good distance from the fringe I seem to get better results rolling it up rather than pitching it up close. Delicate pitches are very, very difficult to pull off consistently IMO, esp. with the wirey greenside grass we get around here. As others have said, many chips are more like putts, both in the arm/body action and in that you really have to READ the green, as if you were putting. Where exactly is the ball gonna land? and how exactly is it going to roll to the hole?

There is no worse feeling in golf IMO than chunking a blasted ball a few yards when trying to play a delicate little greenside lofted pitch. I'd rather hit out of bounds off the tee than do a woozy thing like that .......


Something else I've learned: keep the clubhead LOW going back and then forward again, unless dealing with a specific issue such as ball-in-divot. This reduces the chances of the dreaded chunk shot and makes for more consistent contact. Does anyone else find this also?

[DaveLeeNC]

One of the best short games that I have ever played with was a round a number of years ago on Pinehurst No. 2. The guy was Bic Long who many years ago was the US National Amputee golf champion (lost one leg around the knee - noticeable, but not obvious at a glance when he is wearing slacks).

This was a couple decades after his championship but even in his 60's Bic was carrying a 1'ish index. Of course No. 2 (like many/most of the Pinehurst courses) plays with closely mowed fringes - VERY closely mowed. It is tough, but not impossible, to slide a LW under the ball for a lofted little floater.

Bic played darn near everything within 30 yards of the putting surface with a putter. But he didn't use a putting stroke. He would move the ball back in his stance a bit and hit the ball with a slightly descending blow. This got the ball up on top of the grass, bouncing just a bit, and made distance easier to control (a really smooth roll can get unpredictably "sucked up" by fringe grass).

I don't use that shot nearly as much as Bic does, but it was impressive to watch. For the record I usually use the longest club (among LW, SW, PW, 9i) that will allow me to land the ball on the putting surface. If that doesn't look good to my eye, I will use putter. And that circumstance shows up more often on No. 2 than any of the other courses that I play.

dave

[gb123]

7i 8i 9i and almost never a wedge...keep it low and let it run

[golfman43]

60* if i need the ball to make a dead stop and my pw or 54* if i need a little roll.

[golfman43]

ohh and i use my 56* to really control the ball

[right handed phil mickelson]

I use my 58º for chipping, flopping, bunker shots, rouch shots, high shots, low shots, drop-and-stop shots, and for shanks. Its my all-around club.

[RC]

And blades,,, you left out the hard, over the green blade -- the knee cap breaker, the end of the world shot, the "how on earth did that happen" shot. Shanks and blades -- yep, those are in all our bags.