Lets have your CHIPPING practice routine ??

[inthehole]

One question I have always had is this - how or where do you guys practice CHIPPING ?      I've been to a half dozen driving ranges & none have ever had a dedicated place to practice chipping onto a green.    I know of one where they let you hit off grass, but paying $12 for a hundred balls to hit 10 ft chips into the driving range seems odd to me - you'll never be able to judge a roll on high grass anyways.

As for me, I'm fortunate that I can chip real golf balls in my backyard (far cry from a manicured fairway), but I can't judge any kind of roll.   Plus, the wife is getting pretty sick of divots throughout her yard (ok, not really divots, just $#%#^*#$ fat chip marks).    I've never been to a course where they would allow you to bring a bag of balls with you & if nobody was behind you, chip a hundred balls onto a green to just practice chipping & get a feel for proper roll out distances.     Just seems like an impossible task to actually practice effective chipping onto an actual green... how the heck do you guys do it ??

[Ernest Jones]

I think alot of guys (*looks around to make sure wife isn't in the room) chip off the carpet in the living room.

[rustyredcab]

I practice short chip shots around the practice green. One ball. Chip to a hole and try and make the putt. Toss ball off green and repeat. This allows for multiple lies and the "pressure" of one shot at the hole.

I'm lucky enough to play at a course with an additional area dedicated to picking and chipping. I admit, I rarely use that area except to practice out of the sand.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by rustyredcab

I practice short chip shots around the practice green. One ball. Chip to a hole and try and make the putt. Toss ball off green and repeat. This allows for multiple lies and the "pressure" of one shot at the hole.

I'm lucky enough to play at a course with an additional area dedicated to picking and chipping. I admit, I rarely use that area except to practice out of the sand.

+1 on the single ball. I never practice short game shots with multiple balls. Harvey Penick 101. Me and my brother in law go to a driving range that has a decent sized practice green with 9 holes. We'll often play a round of "18" chipping and putting out till we've done all 9 holes twice. Loads of fun

[RPMPIRE]

This is currently how I practice chipping except I don't hide it from my wife. I only focus on making good contact because the carpet doesn't really show much in terms of spin. Fortunately, there are a couple of driving ranges nearby. One driving range allows you to bring you own shag bag to do putting or chipping (unfortunately, not much room for pitching) and the other driving range has a large dedicated short range area where you can practice anywhere from putting to hitting approach shots inside 70 yards. Only thing is you have to pay for the first half and every 15 minutes after. Total for 1 hour is 7 bucks, which is not that bad.

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

I think alot of guys (*looks around to make sure wife isn't in the room) chip off the carpet in the living room.

[poser]

I always practice on our courses chipping green even though its been in pretty poor shape lately.  I practice everytime before a round for at least 15 minutes along with putting.  Me and a buddy always make  a game out of it.  We pick different lies and shots and see who is the closest.  Closest ball wins and we play to 10.  It's a good way to practice cause we will give each other hard pan lies, pine needles,  or buried and makes it more fun.  We also do the same thing on the putting green except lowest score in the hole wins.

[TheGeekGolfer]

I used to live 5 minutes from a course that had a great short game practice area.  You could hit chips / pitches from any kind of lie (tight, rough, uphill, downhill) from up to about 30 yds and sand shots.  The green was kept in the same great condition as their regular greens, so you could judge the roll, too.  Plus, they had a free 18-hole putting course where they changed the hole locations on a regular basis.  Their driving range wasn't the best, as it is a 'floater' range, so the balls don't seem to react quite the same as even normal range balls.  The practice area was the best I've seen though, for any public course.

Right now, I'm thinking about getting a mat and chipping in my garage, just try keep my contact solid and work on different trajectories.

[Harmonious]

I must have been lucky, but I've never had a problem bringing a shag bag of balls to a course's practice area. Some places might not allow you to chip on their putting green, but usually there is an area where chipping/pitching is allowed. It may take some looking around, but the public courses I have been to usually have something, and the price is right.

I don't subscribe to the "one-ball" practice method (I suppose it's OK once in awhile), as it doesn't give you enough shots per time period.  I'll dump out my bag of 20 or so balls and chip to three separate flags, set at different distances.  I work on hitting the exact carry distance to get the correct roll-out.  Then I'll round 'em up and go to the opposite side of the green and do the same thing.  Then I'll move a little further away and use a more lofted club, again trying to ingrain the feeling to carry a certain club a certain distance for the correct roll-out.

My feeling is that it takes this kind of repetition to ingrain those feelings, and to bring some consistency to the short game.

[sk golf]

I use the eye a line target circles and have a point system to hit shots inside a certain distance from a certain distance (10 shots from each yardage).  I also use it on my clients and save there score and then re-test them in a couple of months for improvement.

[boogielicious]

I have a local muni near work that has a large practice green for putting, chipping and pitching.  I use it all the time.  It has lots of rough and odd hill sides next to it for uphill, down hill, side hill lies, etc.  For an average course, it has one of the better practice greens around (Hillview CC, North Reading, MA).  Too bad it doesn't have a sand trap.

I also use the "one-ball" approach most of the time.  I throw a ball off the green and play it as it lies toward a hole that no one is using to putt too.  It forces you to decide whether to chip, pitch or do something creative.

It has helped my game immensely.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by TheGeekGolfer

I used to live 5 minutes from a course that had a great short game practice area.  You could hit chips / pitches from any kind of lie (tight, rough, uphill, downhill) from up to about 30 yds and sand shots.  The green was kept in the same great condition as their regular greens, so you could judge the roll, too.  Plus, they had a free 18-hole putting course where they changed the hole locations on a regular basis.  Their driving range wasn't the best, as it is a 'floater' range, so the balls don't seem to react quite the same as even normal range balls.  The practice area was the best I've seen though, for any public course.

Right now, I'm thinking about getting a mat and chipping in my garage, just try keep my contact solid and work on different trajectories.

What's a "floater" range?

[Tiger90]

I usually get about 30-50 balls or something (big pile) and hit to 3 or 4 differnet pins.I never chip to the same pin more than twice in a row (just trying to keep the feel and not get repitition).  I try to pick a spot where one pin is pretty striaght forward, one is uphill, one has a tighter landing area, or whatever is available, but i try to have different shots.

I never really play the bump and run, altough i know i should practice with it (i can never get the proper feel for the distance), becasue it can be very usefull.  However, i always use my 60 no matter where i am.

ANd then i go into the rough and basically do the same thing, and hit more flop shots.

I finish it off with some bunker shots, again to different pins.

Chipping and putting are probablty the most important thing to practice and often are the least.  The first thing to go is feel, and that is the chip shots and putts.  We can go a whole winter and come back and hit a solid iron shot, but probably 3 putt the first green.

[WUTiger]

You may have to hunt for a driving range that has a chipping area or allows chipping onto the practice green.

Another option is to find a time on a course when not many people are playing. Then, practice chipping onto the actual greens after you putt out on the hole.

By chipping, I assume you mean a greenside shot you hit so that it flies a little and rolls quite a bit. As for practicing:

• Use the type of ball you play on the course.
• Learn to hit the right landing "spot" to match the rollout of your ball. (Find out if your chip is 30% air + 70% roll, or whatever your tendency)
• Decide what club(s) you like to chip with. For me, it's the 8-iron, or a PW (if grass is a bit fluffy). Also, I'll practice a few with a 5 iron in case I get a tight lie, or a really long chip shot.
• Make sure you take a modest backswing, and accelerate as you follow through. Keep the left wrist straight, and the hands ahead of the ball.

(There are multiple ways to set up for chip shots; pick one you like.)

I'll hit 5-10 chips from different spots and distances to build tempo. Again, key thing is to hit the "spot" which will give you proper rollout. Then, I'll do a "one ball," practicing trying to get up and down from different spots.

Pre-Round: If the first tee is backed up, and the course allows chipping on its putting green, I'll try an up-and-down chip every couple of minutes to keep my hands warm.

[scv76]

@ Ernest Jones..Practice balls that float

http://www.practicerange.com/FLOATER-Range-Balls-1-Dozen-P772.aspx

[mymizunosrock]

I am fortunate enough to have a dedicated chipping green at our course, and being just 300m away, I get to work on that part of my game when ever I feel I need to sharpen up. Its mowed and treated jut like any other green on the course, so its not a case of practising the contact, then making the adjustment for the roll on the course. I have about 70 balls in my practice bag (all ProV so I get the same feel and results in practice), so I'll hit 5 to one hole, then 5 to another, then alternate between them so I don't get in a rhythm. If I have the time, I'll spend easily 2 hours on that green (or until my back says no more). I'll hit shots off the fringe, then some out of the rough. Its a part of the game I have had to rely on the past couple of months, so I always make sure I take the time to maintain the feel. A small chipping net in the backyard is perfect for short game practice too. I used to practice hitting off a piece of plywood when I was younger to work on hitting the ball first.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by mymizunosrock

I used to practice hitting off a piece of plywood when I was younger to work on hitting the ball first.

Hmmmm, I like that one, might o the same.

[TheGeekGolfer]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

What's a "floater" range?

Originally Posted by scv76

@ Ernest Jones..Practice balls that float

http://www.practicerange.com/FLOATER-Range-Balls-1-Dozen-P772.aspx

scv76 beat me to it... I'll explain further.  They have a range where you hit out over water.  The balls float, but they also don't seem to go as far as a 'normal' ball or normal range ball.  I'm not sure if they have a sweeper to pick them up or what, they have a little rowboat also.  The course is Tri-Mountain, just off of I-5, north of Vancouver, WA.

[ohiolefty]

My pre-round routine involves hitting a variety of chip and pitch shots with a set of 4 golf balls. I start with running chip shots, usually with my PW (I've ditched the 8 iron chip shot completely), then SW, then LW. I try to hit chips and pitches to an upslope and a downslope with all my shots. I usually chip at least 8 balls per shot/club before I play.

If I'm not tired after I play, I try to do the same thing.

I also practice at a range that has a short game area. That really helps if you can find it.