Most golfers think that a greenside chip should get the ball close enough for a one-putt, and hope it happens.
Some golfers practice chipping with the goal of getting and down every time.
Only a few golfers practice chipping with the goal of getting the ball in the hole. These are the good chippers.
When you practice chipping, have about a dozen balls beside you. Pick a target close to you, say ten feet away. If the practice green doesn’t have a hole close enough to the edge of the green, throw down a rubber “hole.”
Now practice sinking every chip. Practice not getting them close, but in.
Once you get really good at that, move your target a bit farther away from you–twelve feet. Get really good at sinking chips from that distance.
Move steadily outward as you improve.
What you are doing here is re-training your mind to see a chip as a shot that goes in. When your mind starts understanding a chip like that, that’s when they start going in on the course, and if they don’t, they’re kick-in close.
It’s not a matter of confidence or belief. It goes way beyond that to, “Chips go in! That’s just what they do!”
Try it.
Good plan — chip it IN, versus chip it close — versus chip it on the green (which can sometimes be a struggle in and of itself!).