Pitching & chipping help needed

[hipcheck4u]

I have been having real trouble lately making clean contact when pitching and chipping. I usually ground the club several inches behind the ball. Could you share drills or advice to help?

Thanks!

[MPS67]

Sure,

Look here for chipping help: CHIPPING

Look here for pitching help: PITCHING

[Shindig]

I have been having real trouble lately making clean contact when pitching and chipping. I usually ground the club several inches behind the ball. Could you share drills or advice to help?

When I have trouble with my chips, I go to the practice ground and scoop a handful of chips. Literally, open the face wide with a low-bounce wedge, aim left your body left, and scoop the ball. After a few of these, go back to trying to chip. This seems to work for me

Good luck.

[reid]

Shindig:
You are probably playing the ball too far forward in your stance. Play it off your right ankle (if you're a righty) and rotate your body through the shot so you are facing the target at your finish. Don't hit it with your arms and wrist only without rotating your body through and don't let the clubhead pass your hands on the follow-through.
I hope that helps.

[ks8829]

swing with your shoulders and not with your hands. I had the same problems hitting my shots fat.

1) Keep feet close together in an open stance.
2) Play the ball behind the back of your feet and away from the target.
3) Rotate your shoulders and have my arms and hands quiet.
4) Weight more towards the target.
5) Knees bent slightly.
6) Distance is judged by the length of your back swing.
7) Practice, Practice & Practice

you'll gain confidence in making consistant crisp contact.

Hope this helps.

[JaY_B]

A simple full proof tip for chipping and pitching that helps your ball striking 100% is as follows:

1) Set up to the ball as normal
2) (for a right handed golfer) take the 3 fingers nearest to your belt buckle off of the grip (leaving your thumb and fore finger gripping the club)
3) this will feel weird, don't worry
4) Hit a normal chip

Don't worry if you hit a complete duff, this trains you to take your hands out of the chipping action and use body rotation to swing the club back and through, try it i guarantee it works, it can be used for pitch shots as well.

JaY_B

[i-Guy]

hipcheck4u - You should check your basics as follows:

1) Ball position (off inside right heel, righty)
2) Stance (feet close together and slightly open)
3) Hands forward (at address and through impact)
4) Weight on left side (through out shot)
5) Finish Position (turn body through shot toward target)

After you feel confident you have your basics going in the right direction if you are still having difficulites try hitting chips or pitches as follows:

Set up as normal (see above) and then simply pull your right foot back and up on your toe. Then actually hit your chips this way...this is a tip from my coach which has helped me make more consistent contact on chips. I have actually worked this into my pre-shot rountine in that I address the ball (see above) then back up a step and then pull my right foot back up on my toe and take two practice swings. Then I step up to the ball and hit my chip. I am getting up and down a lot more recently. This helped me...hope it helps you...

[hipcheck4u]

Thanks to all of you for the useful advice!

[harrinjj]

Pick up Dave Pelz book "Short game Bible". It has a lot of good stuff in there with this type of problem.

[Chas]

I agree with all those emphasizing the shoulder turn aspect - the hands should be completely out of the stroke, as in a putt. The other thing that helped me a lot was to keep the clubhead path low during the stroke, i.e. make your trajectory shallow. That way you almost cannot chunk the shot, and it's the fear of chunking a delicate little chip shot that creates havoc in the mind and destroys confidence.

Chipping is the aspect of my game that seems to have improved the most in the past few months - I just wish the rest of my game would follow suit. I now always look for up and down possibilities, instead of fearing another debacle from just off the green.

Practice practice practice.