How do you practice the chipping

[Golfing Dad]

It seems like it is impossible to get good at chipping. I mean you can practice chips from the back of the green to a hole at the front, from the side to a hole at the back, middle or front of the green, from the front to the back, middle or front of the green, from the fringe, just off the fringe, then practice from all these areas 5 feet off the green, 10 feet off the green, 15 feet off the green, 20 yards out, 30 yards out, lies that are uphill, lies that are downhill, lies that are flat, lies where the ball is on an uphill or downhill and you are on flat ground, I think you get the idea.

How does someone get good at chipping when you have all these different lies you need to practice?

Any and all practice tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Shindig]

The issue isn't that you practice every single shot. Certainly not now.

Since you're claiming a high handicap, start with this: get good at a few basic shots. A basic chip to a medium-distance pin from a good fairway-ish lie. Getting out of a bunker. Things like this.

Now, if you're faced with any short game shot you haven't practiced, such as being short-sided in heavy rough, make your focus on getting the ball on the green (almost regardless of where on the green).

But, in your approaches, plan these to try to leave yourself with a basic shot you've practiced.

Unless you're prepping for Q-School, knowing 3-4 basic short game shots is immensely helpful.

[ks8829]

with practice you can make chipping a strong part of your game. Practice with the ball back of your stance and hands forwards with different clubs or try using one wedge for all your chip shots around the green.

The key is solid consistent contact and distance control and before you know it you will be getting up and down for every lie around the green.

[deronsizemore]

There is one thing I wish someone would have told me a long time ago with chipping that has really helped me improve.

Don't just use your hands and arms when you chip. You should be using your big muscles, i.e., your shoulders and your arms and hands should stay fairly quiet. It's almost like a putting stroke. For me, I have try to get the feeling of moving the club back with my shoulders instead of my hands/arms on all those shots from 70 yards and in. It's the same swing, it's just longer or shorter depending on your distance.

[ctyankee]

All good advice.

If I were telling someone the four big things on chips, it would be:

- Hit down and through chips, don't try to scoop the ball.

- Distance control is much more important than the correct line.

- Lead with the hands, not the club

- With a lot of green to work with, get the ball rolling, don't try the high soft one that stops like magic by the hole. Why? Because you're not a magician.

As for practice: don't hit a bunch of shots from the same spot. All you are doing is repeating shots in a game where shots (hopefully) don't immediately repeat. Also, give yourself some bad lies - it will give you some confidence. Lastly, play some sort of game that doesn't end until you do it right. Say, hit three balls to within a club length to three different pins. Believe me, that last one will be under pressure and that makes all the difference in the world.

[wedstuntpuller]

The main thing(s) that elevated my pitching/chipping game from mediocre to round-saver are:

1) Wrist-flex should be kept as close to none (but there is always a little) as possible! This makes your consistency much better through contact... the less movement you have through fewer joints makes your shots more consistant.
2) My follow-through is always (during solid shots) as long as, or almost as long as my backswing. This helps with controlling your distance. Master these two things and you will almost certainly become a better short game player.

Things like bad lies, different length rough, stuff like that... as an amateur golfer you just have to get used to that on the course and see how they play.

[O.B. Right]

I practice chipping into flower pots in my backyard. I find it very helpfull to determine how hard to hit those bump and runs from the fringe . .or any shot where you're really trying to land the ball in a specific spot on the green. With just a few hundred of these practice chips, my chipping went from totally embarassing to pretty average.

[Jay-Bird]

...practice chips from the back of the green to a hole at the front,

If you took 75 shag balls to a practice green near you 3-5 times a week, and hit each of your suggested shots five times - I'd bet that in a year you'd be playing golf you never thought possible.

Practicing chipping from various lies helps you become a better ball striker on all clubs. The most important thing in chipping is try to make everything . Make. As in hole out.

[verse214]

There was a pretty good article this past month in one of the golf magazines with a chart - forget which mag it was.

Essentially if you're such a high handicap - I would just use one type of swing for your chip. Be sure to keep your left arm straight and lead with your left shoulder. Use your shoulders as the primary driver and keep your pits closed. Hands should naturally hinge and release. Once you get a single type of chip down tight you can use the below chart and essentially hit what i'd say is 80% of all needed chips pretty solidly:

Ratios are all Distance in the air : Distance roll out on green

60* - 2:1
Wedges between 50* and high 50's* (I forget) - 1:1
9-iron- 1:2
8-iron- 1:3
7-iron- 1:4
6-iron: 1:5

pretty good chart to remember and definitely helpful.

[James_Black]

I find chipping to be a strong part of my game.

Tip 1.
Always play with the same type of ball
It doesn't matter if they're bad golf balls you need to get consistant results

Tip 2.
Focus on dispersion.
Forget about the hole and see if you can actually hit those chips straight instead of a few feet left or right.

Tip 3.
Focus on where the ball lands.
Put a glove on the the green and try to get the ball to bounce as close to the glove as possible.
It doesn't matter where the ball ends up this is all about getting a consisten strike.

Tip 4
If there isn't anybody else on the chipping green see if you can get 6 chips up and down in a row. You'll be surprised by how much your short game will improve.

Thats really all the help I can give but follow those tips and your game should improve

[bunkerputt]

1. Work on technique indoors on carpet if possible. This eliminates break and let's you focus on whether your technique is producing the right line and trajectory. Otherwise get on something level and just focus on the in-the-air part of the chip when working on technique.

2. Figure out how to see a shot. You need to be able to see how high a ball will go and how far it will roll out and when it will check up. Then...

3. Find a landing spot. Once you know which shot will land and roll out to the hole, it's just a matter of hitting the spot. Most people don't take this approach and just try to "feel" their way to the hole. When they are done, they can't separate the quality of their technique from the quality of the execution from the quality of the landing spot choice. It's all one big blur and leaves one dumbfounded as to how to improve. If this has been you so far, your confusion is to be expected.

There is nothing magical to "feel" in chipping. Just develop a good technique and put in the work in a methodical way. Once your on the other side of it, you'll find that you are trying to hole everything in sight. The up-and-downs are tap-in gimmes and will start to feel like failures.

This is how to go about getting really good at chipping. Maybe in your mind the question was a mixture of "What is the proper chipping technique?", combined with "How does one develop feel?", combined with "What's the most effective way to practice?", all governed by the question "How do I get really good?". Tackle the first three questions separately and the last will take care of itself. Good luck.

[Paulbee]

It's been mentioned in the thread already, so at the risk of repetition:

Distance control

My usual drill involves hitting balls with various clubs to the same spot on the practice green. Gives me a good visual of how the ball will run out.

I then move back a bit and hit balls to the same spot just short of the green with different clubs, again a good visual as to how the ball will run out.

I don't subscribe to the one club theory. I'll use the club that gets the job done, depending on what I need to negotiate and how much run I want on the ball.

[laxbballgolf]

I think chipping is the easiest thing to practice, because all you need is some grass! At my parents' house I used to chip in the yard all the time, and at college I would chip in the quad. It's a great way to get your hands on a golf club without committing to driving to the course. Granted, you don't get to see how the ball rolls out unless you are chipping onto a green, but you can still make huge strides with your technique and even feel by chipping around in a field or yard, and it's extremely convenient.

As for the specifics, just read up a little bit on proper technique and get out to some grass and have at it! For me, chipping around for an hour or so (or playing "campus golf" by picking targets such as tree trunks to aim for, with or without opponents) is the equivalent of a meditation session for some people. It rejuvenates my mind and body. And I bet you'll see improvement in your overall golf game as you develop a better feel and understanding for proper and crisp contact with the ball.

[CalBoomer]

I would make one unequivocal comment. You have to have correct technique first. Ball at right ankle with open stance. Hands well ahead of ball. Fixed wrists--all motion from large muscles and shoulders. Hit ball with descending blow--which means thinking of the low point of your swing in front of the ball, not driving the club into the ground. No wrist release of any kind on follow-through. In general, length of ball flight corresponds to length of backswing for any given club. You can apply same technique from lob wedge to 5 iron. After you have technique down, then practice your brains out.

[uttexas]

All good advice above. I would recommend reading a few short game books.
Tom Watson's Getting up and down http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Up-Dow.../dp/0394531426
and Dave Peltz Short Game Bible are great http://www.amazon.com/Dave-Pelzs-Sho.../dp/0767903447

Many people recommend Utley's books (haven't read them)

Then commit yourself to practicing the short game. My handicap dropped significantly a few years back because I only took my PW, GW, SW, LW, and putter to the practice facility. All I did for 3-4 months was practice the short game.

Then continue to emphasize the short game during your practice sessions.

[mcman1]

Becoming excellent at chipping is a challenge. One thing that has helped me is keeping my head as steady as possible when I chip and pitch. It seems to help me with my consistency and accuracy. It also cuts down on thin shots. Good luck.

[ks8829]

Fool proof method for chipping below

[ctyankee]

^^^^^

Worthwhile.