Short Play Tips Please

[Jim Bloodworth]

For chip shots keep your arm straight. Just turn you shoulders. Make you chips with the same swing as a putting stroke. Then you will be more consistent. 

[RH31]

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 9:40 AM, paininthenuts said:

I have only been playing 8 months, and whilst certain aspects of my game have improved, my short play is dreadful. My lobbing is so bad, I don't even attempt it now, so I tend to pitch and run using my 8 iron. Sometimes I smash the ball in the face, and it shoots off of the back of the green, and other times I make some useless attempt, only to find it has gone 6 feet. I am going to have a lesson when I get back from my holiday, but until then can I have some tips to ponder over whilst laying by the pool.  Thanks

The best tip I can give a beginner is don't listen to everyone's tips. There are many many different ways to play shots around the green, and often times the tip is the "only" or "best way to do it. What that means is its the best way that method works for that particular player(s).

The best advice I can give is get lessons. Have a teaching professional show the difference between a pitch shot, lob shot and chip shot. Have him teach you how to read lies and what shots work for what lies. Have him teach you how to adjust for uphill, downhill and sidehill lies. Most importantly, have him teach you how to properly use the bounce of your wedge so that the club glides along the ground and does not dig into the turf. Good luck!!!

[Avalanche]

Why all the arguing about head down, or not head down?  I don't keep my head down.  But I can believe it might actually help someone who has problems making solid contact on chip shots or short wedge shots.  It'd be worth a try anyway, in that situation.  And it doesn't seem like keeping your head down would be likely to cause an injury on a short greenside shot.  I mean, it's not like 9wood is advising to keep your head down up in the tee box or a full swing approach shot.   Anyway, carry on.  

 

[Lastpick]

Here is my two cents.  I chip with my feet very close together.  Try to not get my legs or hips involved in the chip.  Maintain the same height with your shoulders(don't dip or bend your legs).  I try not to open and close the club face.  Straight back and through(Steve Stricker).  I must concentrate to keep my grip pressure light and make sure to see the club contact the ball.  This is my explanation of what works for me.  My goal is to try and get the ball on the green with a reasonable putt for par and to avoid duffs that lead to a double bogie.  I am almost 66 years old, so my expectations are not as high as those of a younger man.  By eliminating lots of timing movements during chips, I have become more consistent and have lowered scores.  Stricker is a good guy to emulate as he doesn't play much, but has maintained his level of quality play.  

 

One quick edit for clarification.  Keeping ones head down really equates to seeing the club head hit the ball and accelerating through the swing with the proper tempo or swing speed.  Don't get quick.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Lastpick

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, Lastpick said:

Stricker is a good guy to emulate as he doesn't play much, but has maintained his level of quality play.  

Interesting thought. Is Stricker's technique generally considered simple and flub-proof, such that he can play less than others yet still maintain high quality? I know he has the reputation of taking it easy and picking only the tournaments he wants to play as he slips quietly into retirement mode, but still shows off a good game when he plays (for the most part).

For players that play infrequently, is there a style that could be better for them, but for a player that plays more frequently, they could potentially move "up" to a more advanced, more accurate technique that pays off only if they spend the time with it?  

Just something I hadn't thought about before, and thought I'd highlight your comment as it struck me as interesting to consider.

[DaveP043]

12 minutes ago, RandallT said:

For players that play infrequently, is there a style that could be better for them, but for a player that plays more frequently, they could potentially move "up" to a more advanced, more accurate technique that pays off only if they spend the time with it?  

Just something I hadn't thought about before, and thought I'd highlight your comment as it struck me as interesting to consider.

To me, the pitching technique that you recommended in Post #3 of thread is one of the more fool-proof short-game shots available.  I say that because when using the bounce, perfect contact isn't required to make an acceptable shot.  The chipping technique (see post 4) does ask you to make a more precise contact, but the mechanics are much simpler when using a variation of the putting stroke.  Its when you start taking more risks and/or longer swings, like you would with a full-swing flop, that having more time to practice becomes essential. 

[sirhacksalot]

There are a lot of different ways to get the ball to go 20 yards. Every club in the bag can make the ball go that far. Everyone has a favorite way, the quickie pitching video is a great one.  I think its one of the easiest ways to utilize bounce and limit my misses. I play with a guy quite regularly that insists on flopping the ball, and i honestly feel that if he started pitching with the bounce of the club he would lower his scores by 5 strokes a round easily.  

[natureboy]

On 4/26/2016 at 6:17 PM, 9wood said:

I don't know if any of you have ever tried this. I never have seen anyone do this nor did I ever hear of this being done. I wouldn't be surprised if it already has been done by others, it's just that no one taught me this, and I didn't see any video about it. I learned it without any ones help by simply messing around. Anyways, I was experimenting today with my short chip shots. I was using a 9 iron and I bent over my ball until the the butt of the shaft of my 9 iron was pushing into my belly just above my belt buckle. This acted like a fulcrum for my short back swing to about the 8 O'clock position and swing to the 4 O'clock position. I noticed this method produced some really accurate results on short chip shots.

Paul Runyan actually advocated that as a cure for chipping yips, but anchoring now against the rules per other posts.

[sirhacksalot]

But as far as tips, the best advice that i don't use is take your medicine.  Where i play most of greens are elevated and pretty small, with a pretty decent amount of slope to them, i tend to always leave myself shortsided with no green to work with. So instead of pitching on and the ball running out a bit leaving me a pretty long putt, I usually get cute and either blade a flop shot across, or a bump and run that has about 30% chance of being short, great or long.

[natureboy]

I like a lot of the info this guy puts out: https://www.youtube.com/user/GolfSwingRebel

[Lastpick]

One other item of major importance for me to be successful in the short game is hand position.  The hands need to be ahead of the club at impact.  This may have been addressed earlier by someone, but I didn't read every post on this thread.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Lastpick

[uitar9]

For me, within 10-15 yards of the putting surface, I keep my feet closer together, open stance, and open the club face.

If the grass is deep, I'll often use a hybrid to get through the grass