Chipping

Chipping comes into play when you’re close to the green and need the ball to carry a few yards through the air before rolling toward the hole.

What Club Should You Use?

I recommend chipping with a sand wedge or pitching wedge, but you can use a 9 iron or even a 7 iron. Just know that these irons will have a lower ball flight and roll more.

There are three things to remember when chipping the ball, I’ll call it W.H.O.

Weight is on your front foot
Hands are in front of of the club head
Option to place ball towards right or left foot

Weight is on your front foot

You will want to place about 70% of your weight on your front foot. When chipping, you want to have a feeling that you’re hitting down on the backside of the ball – you’re not scooping! Hitting down on it pops it up, and creates backspin. Hit down on it like you’re just sticking the club into the ground

Hands are in front

As mentioned above, the ideal chip is where you hit down on the backside of the ball and dig into the ground. Keeping your hands in front of the ball also helps hit down on the ball. After making contact with the ball, you want to finish by leading with your hands and pointing your chest towards the target.

Ball position

This is the simplest way to affect how high the ball pops up

• Ball slightly back (right foot) = This closes the club face a bit and creates a lower ball flight which allows the ball to roll more, it’s also known as a “bump and run”. I’d recommend hitting with this style whenever you have enough green to roll on. There is less variability when rolling – think how putting is always the easiest shot
• Ball slightly forward (left foot) = This opens the club face a bit and creates a higher ball flights which allows a softer landing limits the roll. This is how you want to play it when there isn’t a lot of green in front of you and really want to control the amount of roll.

Once you figure out the ball flight, pick a landing spot. The key is to hit it to a landing spot, instead of hitting at the hole.