In the summer of 2012, following two back surgeries earlier that year, all I could do was chip and putt. So I decided to start over with that and learn how to do them both the right way, not the way I had fallen into on my own.<\/p>\n
I had a chipping lesson that June. I said to the pro, “Pretend I\u2019ve never hit a chip shot before and tell me how to do it from the ground up.” That\u2019s exactly what he did.<\/p>\n
Whenever I have a golf lesson, I take notes afterward. I wrote down the points he made on chipping, practiced them a lot, because, remember that\u2019s all I could do at the time, and I became a very good chipper.<\/p>\n
I looked through the blog and found out that I had never posted the points he taught me. They don\u2019t really substitute for a lesson, but here they are anyway. I hope you can make something of them. There are six.<\/p>\n
1. Setup: The ball is in the center of your stance, weight is slightly left, the clubshaft leans slightly left. Light grip pressure, grip down to the metal for control.<\/p>\n
2. The wrists break back slightly when the club goes back. Do not overdo this.<\/p>\n
3. Swinging forward, the shaft and the outside of the right thigh feel like they are moving forward together.<\/p>\n
4. The right knee continues breaking through the shot. The right heel comes off the ground little bit.<\/p>\n
5. The hips turn. There is no slide. The left hip moves straight back, not around.<\/p>\n
6. The wrists are straight again at impact and do not break further (the right hand does not pass the left). The clubface ends up facing the sky.<\/p>\n
As I have said earlier, think of sliding the sole of the club<\/a> underneath the ball, not so much on hitting down on the ball. There is a bit of that, but do not emphasize it. <\/p>\n If you perfect this stroke, and calibrate a number of chipping clubs<\/a>, getting up and down from greenside will become your expectation.<\/p>\n See also: My Chipping Formula<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the summer of 2012, following two back surgeries earlier that year, all I could do was chip and putt. So I decided to start over with that and learn how to do them both the right way, not the way I had fallen into on my own. I had a chipping lesson that June. … Continue reading My Chipping Stroke<\/span>