Does Anyone Else Here Use a Chipper?

[iacas]

1 minute ago, David in FL said:

Absolutely.  I’ve never said otherwise.

But very effective in its limited role and easier for a high hcp player to use.

A high handicapper who isn't looking to get much better and who has a spot in the bag for a limited use club.

Yep.

The negatives outweigh the positives for the vast majority of golfers.

[billchao]

54 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Of course the putt/chip can be done with other clubs.  It’s just easier with a chipper because a chipper more closely mimics the length and lie of the putter, so no other adjustments are needed.

I don't know, man. I can count on one hand the number of times a round I use that technique. It's probably less than one. Might just be my experience, but I doubt the greenside shots I encounter are much different than anyone else's. 

Seems like a chipper wouldn't be of much use at all in saving strokes if the one shot is all it's good for.

[TRUCKER]

Is the "Square Strike Wedge" considered to be a "Chipper" type club?

[GolfLug]

5 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

Is the "Square Strike Wedge" considered to be a "Chipper" type club?

It seems so.

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

Is the "Square Strike Wedge" considered to be a "Chipper" type club?

Yes.

6 minutes ago, billchao said:

I don't know, man. I can count on one hand the number of times a round I use that technique. It's probably less than one. Might just be my experience, but I doubt the greenside shots I encounter are much different than anyone else's. 

Seems like a chipper wouldn't be of much use at all in saving strokes if the one shot is all it's good for.

Right, limited utility.

And to save even half a shot, the person has to go from hitting it to seven feet instead of 25 feet. And that's to save half a shot.

[TRUCKER]

Ok. Then if I use a "Square Strike Wedge" and it improves my game, aren't I a "high handicapper" who is trying to improve his game?

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

Ok. Then if I use a "Square Strike Wedge" and it improves my game, aren't I a "high handicapper" who is trying to improve his game?

Do you understand the difference between generalities and specifics?

And do you understand that you can't know what the alternate route would do - that maybe you'll be better off in the long run not using a chipper?

[TRUCKER]

I do know the difference because for years I used a $180 Callaway MacDaddy and I "got better" with the Square Strike. My 10 year old son on the other hand who has a golf coach/instructor and has a routine practice schedule uses the MacDaddy and is proficient with that club.

[David in FL]

A 3-wood and a 60* degree wedge have very limited utility in the hands of most high hcp players too.

Are there better ways to get much better in the long term?  Of course.  But absent professional instruction and significant time devoted to effective practice, putting a chipper in the bag is one of the fastest ways I know to immediately see a scoring improvement for most higher hcp players.

 

[boogielicious]

1 minute ago, TRUCKER said:

I do know the difference because for years I used a $180 Callaway MacDaddy and I "got better" with the Square Strike. My 10 year old son on the other hand who has a golf coach/instructor and has a routine practice schedule uses the MacDaddy and is proficient with that club.

You can become better with any club and technique with practice. But the point some are trying to make is a chipper is a one shot uni-tasker. Where as with a wedge and irons you can chip, pitch, do sand and full swings. So unless you encounter a chipper situation a lot, it may be better to just work on the pitch, chip techniques with other clubs.

[David in FL]

23 minutes ago, billchao said:

I don't know, man. I can count on one hand the number of times a round I use that technique. It's probably less than one. Might just be my experience, but I doubt the greenside shots I encounter are much different than anyone else's. 

Seems like a chipper wouldn't be of much use at all in saving strokes if the one shot is all it's good for.

You’re not a high hcp, and likely have a degree of control over your wedge game, along with the ability to play a variety of differing shots, that most 18+ hcps don’t.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, David in FL said:

A 3-wood and a 60* degree wedge have very limited utility in the hands of most high hcp players too.

The other clubs in the bag (I'm not going to let you put words in my mouth in terms of these high handicappers playing a 3-wood or a 60° wedge either, but nice try) cover a necessary distance gap, and are thus not doubling up the functionality of another club like a chipper.

8 minutes ago, David in FL said:

But absent professional instruction and significant time devoted to effective practice…

Nope: neither of those are needed, but nice try sneaking them in.

8 minutes ago, David in FL said:

putting a chipper in the bag is one of the fastest ways I know to immediately see a scoring improvement for most higher hcp players. 

You continually over-state the value of a chipper and ignore the negatives.

[Petrocelli]

Great comments above.  I agree with almost all of them.

I have had the chipper in my bag for about two weeks.  I agree it is close to a one trick pony.  It is meant for shots where you are just off the green, and in the rough.  I have that shot about 2-4 times a round.  

I used to use a 9 iron for that shot.  I now use the chipper, which has the same loft as my 9 iron.

I find I am just more confident with the chipper.  My best shots are a little better than the 9 iron, and my misses are far, far better than with my 9 iron.

 

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Petrocelli said:

Great comments above.  I agree with almost all of them.

I have had the chipper in my bag for about two weeks.  I agree it is close to a one trick pony.  It is meant for shots where you are just off the green, and in the rough.  I have that shot about 2-4 times a round.  

I used to use a 9 iron for that shot.  I now use the chipper, which has the same loft as my 9 iron.

I find I am just more confident with the chipper.  My best shots are a little better than the 9 iron, and my misses are far, far better than with my 9 iron.

 

I'm glad it works for you, but what club did you take out to replace with the chipper?

[David in FL]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

The other clubs in the bag (I'm not going to let you put words in my mouth in terms of these high handicappers playing a 3-wood or a 60° wedge either, but nice try) cover a necessary distance gap, and are thus not doubling up the functionality of another club like a chipper.

Nope: neither of those are needed, but nice try sneaking them in.

You continually over-state the value of a chipper and ignore the negatives.

Sorry, but we disagree.

I believe that you over-state the negatives, and ignore the value to those who could benefit from using one.

 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Sorry, but we disagree.

Ya think, David? :P

The value is minimal. A cons list might look like this:

• You can make the same putting motion with a variety of your irons - even your hybrid. With a chipper you get one loft.
• It does a good bit to minimize teaching you proper technique for a larger variety of shots. It often becomes a crutch.
• It takes the place of other clubs which are far more versatile.

The only real pro is that it's built like a putter with loft, and yet there are smaller cons in that too: the flatter leading edge doesn't slide through the rough quite as well as the rounded leading edge of a wedge, it requires more adaptation off sidehill lies for the same reason, etc.

You love chippers. You'd marry one if you could, and you recommend them like crazy. We get it.

But they're not versatile clubs that likely do more long-term damage even if they help with a very small short-term issue.

You'd have been doing most golfers a better service by telling them to learn a simple chipping technique that they could translate to a bunch of clubs (including hybrids) rather than wasting $90 and trying to figure out what club to replace.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

A 3-wood and a 60* degree wedge have very limited utility in the hands of most high hcp players too.

Utility and usefulness are two different things IMO. A high handicap player lacks the skill to take advantage of the multiple functions of various clubs, but that doesn't change the fact that you can do more with those clubs.

A chipper is a uni-tasker, as @boogielicious stated. One with limited potential that loses its upside as a player's skills improve.

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

You’re not a high hcp, and likely have a degree of control over your wedge game, along with the ability to play a variety of differing shots, that most 18+ hcps don’t.

You said yourself that anyone who isn't a single digit player should use one. I'm closer to 18 than I am to 8 so I'm comfortably within your suggest range.

Hell even as an 18 I had a degree of control over my wedge game and could hit a variety of shots other 18s couldn't. For me it wasn't, I can't chip well, let's buy a chipper. I couldn't chip well so I worked on it.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, billchao said:

I couldn't chip well so I worked on it.

Which is a better recommendation or path than "oh, just give up and buy a chipper."