tips for hitting with chipping wedge?

[FireDragon76]

I found a chipping wedge at the Goodwill today for 2 bucks, it was in very good shape so I bought it.   It looks like its a custom-made club, about the size of a putter with a graphite shaft, and the head looks like its not illegal.   I'd like to find some tips for using it.  When I played golf this week for the first time I ended up doing alot of chipping, I seemed to have problems getting good shots with a pitching wedge and most of the time I didn't bother taking the 7 iron out of the bag (I hardly used it at all).  My goal I suppose is just to take a chipper and putter near the green and leave the pitching wedge in the bag whenever possible and save it for longer shots.

I took the chipper to the driving range to play around with (I was hitting it around 60 yards or so, I suppose more of a pitch), but mostly I was messing around on the chipping greens.   I've heard you are supposed to use a chipper like a putter and I'm not sure exactly that's how I was using it- I just moved my arms back a bit and used a little wrist cock then I released through the ball and it would bump up into the air and run towards the hole.  When I tried to swing it with less wrist I got more of a flat roll, which was OK but hardly different from putting onto a green.

The greens are slow as the grass is tall, so that could be another factor- I'm sure it would roll a lot more on faster greens.

[Ernest Jones]

Yep. Basically just a putting motion. I wouldn't recommend using it for 60 yard shots though. Take it to a putting green instead of a driving range and practice getting up and down from off the green. I only really chip if I'm 6' or less off the green. Any farther than that and I'm looking for more of a high lofted pitch with my SW or LW, not something I'd want a chipper for.

[MrFlipper]

My Dad had one of those 50+ years ago, haven't seen one since. His looked like an old blade 8802 type putter but had the loft of a 5 iron. My Dad was scratch back in the 30's but by the time I was around he hardly ever played, had all these funky odd clubs though.

He used it around the greens to chip with, instead of a 5 iron. Considering you chip with a very straight faced club very rarely, I never understood it. Maybe Old Tom used it out of the ruts on the Road hole

It didn't have the structural strength for really anything more than chipping. He offered it to me years ago, said no thanks. You won't use it very often, and it uses up one of your 14 clubs.

He gave me his Mr. Flipper and kept the chipper. smh.

I'm only a weekend slasher 11 handicap, so take my advice for what's its worth, but leave that club at home, it was 2 bucks at goodwill for a reason.  Learn to chip and pitch with normal clubs.

But whatever you do, good luck and enjoy the game!

[FireDragon76]

I think my rationale is more that I'd rather carry fewer clubs (as I have a Sunday bag and not all my clubs are regripped yet), and carry a club that specializes in only one or two shots.  Rather than trying to use different clubs to vary the distance (which isn't so easy to do if you only carry a half dozen or so clubs), I'll just adjust my swing a bit (that's what I usually practice doing on the chipping green area).

This video explains why I'd rather using a chip rather than a lob.  Haney is using what looks like an ordinary short iron or wedge, of course, but I'm guessing it would work with a chipping wedge the same, though when I was practicing I was using more wrist and less body motion, and at slightly closer distances.  So I guess I was doing more of a short pitch.

[FireDragon76]

He used it around the greens to chip with, instead of a 5 iron. Considering you chip with a very straight faced club very rarely, I never understood it. Maybe Old Tom used it out of the ruts on the Road hole

A few months ago I watched a rerun of a History Channel show on the history of golf.  One of the clubs shown was a specialized wedge to hit out of ruts in roads or fields.

I've read a little bit about hickory golf and it's something that I might eventually try (though the clubs can be pricey- definitely not something you find at GoodWill, though I have found a few clubs that are almost that old).  Some of the players only use a few clubs, each is specialized more for different parts of the game, not like the modern system where each club is progressively lofted.   My guess is back then they spent less time analyzing their swing mechanics and more of developing an intuitive feeling on how to play a course - a different approach to the game but still Golf.    Given that statistical data is so poor in golf prior to the turn of the century, and discounting advances in materials and ball technology, its hard to say that golfers back then played worse for it, too.

[David in FL]

As others will tell you, I'm a huge proponent of chippers. I've known some good (mid-single-digit) players to use them with devastating results. More importantly, I firmly believe that they simplify and add consistency around the green for the average player. Like any club/technique, a little practice will help you learn to use it to your best advantage. As to legality, post a picture. Generally, they are perfectly legal as long as they don't have a putter type grip and are not double faced.

[MrFlipper]

As others will tell you, I'm a huge proponent of chippers. I've known some good (mid-single-digit) players to use them with devastating results. More importantly, I firmly believe that they simplify and add consistency around the green for the average player.

Like any club/technique, a little practice will help you learn to use it to your best advantage. As to legality, post a picture. Generally, they are perfectly legal as long as they don't have a putter type grip and are not double faced.

I googled "chipper golf club", there's gazillions of them around, new ones.

Guess I lead a sheltered life, there wouldn't be bunches of them for sale unless there is pretty good demand for them.

I take back all the bad stuff I said about them. I still wouldn't carry one, though

[FireDragon76]

It's really just a hybrid type of club.  I've seen some English videos on chipping where the chipper's head looks more like a hybrid iron than a putter, but the shaft is more like a putter.

My chipper looks a bit like this, except the back is a bit more hollowed out.  But it still has the same sighting lines:

To my knowledge only the ones that are long or have two striking faces or a putter grip are illegal in the USGA.  But lots of people play recreational golf using them- they probably sell well since they are ambidexterous.  That's the kind that I usually see at K-Marts hanging on the shelf for 20 dollars.

The only rationale I could think of for the ban on two-faced chippers is that perhaps it would make it easier to hit left handed shots behind a tree, punching or running them out of the way.