The Simplest Way To Chip

Chipping can be a strength to people’s game or a chink in their armour. The difference between them lie largely in shot and club selection.  Most people lean more toward using a SW which is totally fine but learning how to use other clubs such as a PW, 9 or 8 Iron can be very useful. Choosing which one to use depends on your landing area and slope of the green.

When I’m deciding what club to use I’m firstly ascertaining the location of the flag on the green.  This is because I want to know exactly how much green I have to work with once the ball lands on the green.  The safest shot if the flag is just on the green is playing a bump and run shot.  This means playing a shot before the green and letting the ball roll up.  This would require using a PW, 9 or 8 iron. You could even use lower numbered clubs if the shot suits.

The difference between these clubs is your landing area.  For example with a PW my general rule of thumb is I would land the ball roughly 40% of the way there between me and the hole.  This would mean if the distance was 20m total between me and the the flag, I would aim for a spot 8 metres in front.  I would then land the ball 10% less each  lower numbered club for eg. 9 iron would  be 30%.  Of course these landing spots will change depending on whether you are on an up slope or down slope.  Also a final point in landing areas is also checking where you think the ball will bounce after it lands. For example if there is a right to left slope, aim a little right to start with.

Lastly if you have plenty of green to work with, you could use a SW. You ideally want to land the SW on the green in one shot because the ball tends to have a lot more spin.  If you land a SW short of the green, it may stop too fast particularly if the grass is growing into you.  You can always tell if the grass is growing into you by doing some practice swings short of the green and seeing whether the club gets caught by the grass instead of freely sliding through.  Also with a SW, aim to land the ball around 50% of the distance between you and the hole.

If you have any further questions about surveying your shots around the green, please contact myself at David Waters Golf.