Anybody use a Chipper?

[Don Golfo]

Anybody use one of these Chippers?

http://www.callawaygolf.com/products/golf-clubs/odyssey-putters/x-act-tank-chippers/putters-2016-x-act-tank-chipper.html

[Piz]

I carry an off-hand Cleveland Niblick (42 degrees) just for the hell of it.  I use it for repair shots when a normal swing is not possible.  One can get fairly proficient, with a chipper, if you give it time.  I don't ask a lot of it...only that it be more advantageous than declaring an unplayable.  For running chips, I use a 9 iron or pigeon wedge.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Piz
Grammatical error

[David in FL]

My man!!!!  

My mission in life is to convince everyone with a handicap over 10 to put a chipper in he bag...

...and preferably to get rid of that damn 60* wedge too.  

 

[mdl]

60˚ is the best club in my bag!

[David in FL]

2 minutes ago, mdl said:

60˚ is the best club in my bag!

You're a 9 hcp...

[jsgolfer]

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

My man!!!!  

My mission in life is to convince everyone with a handicap over 10 to put a chipper in he bag...

...and preferably to get rid of that damn 60* wedge too.  

 

I've been trying to talk my wife into one of these for years, she can't chip worth a darn and is too stubborn to use a putter from off the green, because I don't do it.  She's had chipping lessons and I try to help her but I can't get her to not decelerate most of the time.  She skulls lots of chips. 

[Midpack]

I chip with my 7-iron (37 deg loft) all the time. I only use a wedge to chip/pitch when there's a trap between me and the flag and too little green to work with. I'm not sure why I'd give up another club in my 14 club bag for a "chipper" but maybe I'm missing something. Wider sole, but I've never had trouble making good contact with my 7-iron. But we all need to choose the 14 clubs that serve us best, no right answer.

Someone gave me an Alien sand wedge as a gift years ago, I tried it a few times and  literally gave it away. I've never been a fan of limited utility clubs. YMMV

Edited August 16, 2017 by Midpack

[Jack Watson]

No chipper for me.  I bought one for a gag for a friend and I've never seen him bag it.

[bm85]

I used one for a little bit. Worked like a charm.

 

[Don Golfo]

8 hours ago, Don Golfo said:

Anybody use one of these Chippers?

http://www.callawaygolf.com/products/golf-clubs/odyssey-putters/x-act-tank-chippers/putters-2016-x-act-tank-chipper.html

Will people take the Mick if I use one. My bro has vowed that he won't play with me if I carry one in my bag 

[Piz]

3 hours ago, Don Golfo said:

Will people take the Mick if I use one. My bro has vowed that he won't play with me if I carry one in my bag 

 

3 hours ago, Don Golfo said:

 

Don't know how that happened...Anyways...I have both a left and right handed niblick.  No one seems to mind the left-handed club.  In fact, I get props for having the nerve.  The right-handed club, however, draws an occasional "a chipper?  Really?"  I don't know why guys using drivers the size of cantaloupes look askance at a wide-flanged 9 iron.

[David in FL]

6 hours ago, Don Golfo said:

Will people take the Mick if I use one. My bro has vowed that he won't play with me if I carry one in my bag 

Why?  Because he's afraid you beat him on the course?  

Too many people don't use one because of some misplaced sense of ego.  Play what works.  Not what others think should work, or worse yet, think are somehow cool.  Cool is shooting lower scores.

BTW, chippers don't have to be just for immediately off the green either.  I know some very good players that use them very effectively from inside 50 yards or so.

12 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

No chipper for me.  I bought one for a gag for a friend and I've never seen him bag it.

Any time you want to pull a gag on me, I'll let you know where to send that Odyssey in the OP link!

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Too many people don't use one because of some misplaced sense of ego.  Play what works.  Not what others think should work, or worse yet, think are somehow cool.  Cool is shooting lower scores.

I think for most people, the low utility is the bigger issue, not the ego thing.

[David in FL]

31 minutes ago, iacas said:

I think for most people, the low utility is the bigger issue, not the ego thing.

Yet they'll put a 60* wedge in the bag.  

Guess which one the average 15+ hcp will a) use more, and b) be more effective with....

 

[Elmer]

17 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Yet they'll put a 60* wedge in the bag.  

Guess which one the average 15+ hcp will a) use more, and b) be more effective with....

 

As I 15+ hcp (15.7 at last revision), I have no use for a chipper.
However I use my 60 numerous times a round. 
 

Use what works!
I know a guy who carries a 9 wood.
Another who carries both a right and left handed putter!

Edited August 16, 2017 by Elmer

[Jeremie Boop]

I will probably buy my dad a chipper, he struggles a lot with wedge shots around the green and he basically never practices or hardly plays outside of league. It would probably help him way more than it would help me, plus I plan on practicing to get better whereas he obviously doesn't.

25 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Yet they'll put a 60* wedge in the bag.  

Guess which one the average 15+ hcp will a) use more, and b) be more effective with....

 

I use my 60* wedge quiet a few times a round depending on how well I'm driving the ball. If a course has several par 4s in the low 300 yard range I'll typically be close enough for the 60 but outside of what I'd consider the effective range of a chipper. I doubt I'd be more effective with a chipper from 40-80 yards out. However, I'm not the typical 15+ HC either so I'm not saying that others wouldn't benefit from a chipper more than I would. Truth be told, most people would benefit more from practicing their short game a bit more than they would from purchasing a specialty club. Of course that's just my opinion, if someone doesn't care to try to improve their short game through practice, like my dad, then a chipper may well be worth the small investment.

Edited August 16, 2017 by Jeremie Boop

[David in FL]

45 minutes ago, Elmer said:

As I 15+ hcp (15.7 at last revision), I have no use for a chipper.
However I use my 60 numerous times a round. 

Maybe that's why you're still a 16 hcp.  

A 16 hcp hits almost no greens in regulation.  Moreover, they very seldom get up and down all those times they miss the green.  A chipper can help improve the odds of getting up and down.

I (and a lot of others) consider this to be one of the better, more helpful instructional threads on the site...

...and for good reason.  It promotes an extremely effective, simple, method of chipping.  Using this method becomes even easier, and more effective when you use a club that has virtually the same length, lie, and feel of your putter.  The only real difference being increased loft and generally a bit of bounce, or glide as Erik likes to refer to it.

Make no mistake, I'm not saying that a chipper is a magic wand.  It needs to be practiced with, and the technique, as in Mike's video, learned.  But then, you already know how to putt, right?

A chipper can help you drop strokes from your game, and if it helps you get up and down just 2 additional times in a round, you'll drop 2 or more full strokes off your handicap.  There are very few clubs that have the potential to do that for a lot of people, just by putting them in the bag and committing to using them when the situation calls for it.

[Patch]

16 hours ago, Piz said:

I carry an off-hand Cleveland Niblick (42 degrees) just for the hell of it.  I use it for repair shots when a normal swing is not possible.  One can get fairly proficient, with a chipper, if you give it time.  I don't ask a lot of it...only that it be more advantageous than declaring an unplayable.  For running chips, I use a 9 iron or pigeon wedge.

I too have a 42 niblick I sometimes carry. Works well out of terrible lies, or even worse, off a bare ground, muddy lie.