Chipping and Pitching
FAULT
Chipping - poor address position
I'm sure that I don't have to tell you how important chipping is when it comes to saving shots. Getting up and down three or four times in a round can turn a mediocre score into a good score; a good round into a great round.
The key to chipping close to the hole on a regular basis is controlling the speed at which the ball rolls after lands on the green. Only a repetitive method and practice can teach you the relationship between your stroke and the behavior of the ball. But for your method to be effective, it must originate from a solid set-up position.
Judging the pace at which the ball 'releases' upon landing on the green is all but impossible if you play from a faulty setup For example, if you set up with too much weight on your right foot and the ball too far forward in your stance (1); or tend to stand straight-legged and reach for the ball (2) - two of the most common faults that I see - the chances of making consistent club-ball contact are slim, to say the least. The clubhead is destined to approach the ball on a poor, 'scoopy' angle, which inevitably results in a mishit shot. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Ball back, weight forward, hands forward
To produce a stroke that you can repeat over and over again, adjust your setup as follows. Firstly, take a narrow, open stance (ie. align you body left of the target), position the ball back toward your right foot, and place a good percentage of your weight on your left side (1, 2). Now push your hands ahead of the ball and feel that your chest-bone is leaning to the left of the ball.; if you like, feel that you assimilate your impact position at address. At first, you'll probably feel as if you're off balance. But persevere.
What this setup will enable you to do is swing the club up a little on the backswing and then take a shallow divot as you return the clubhead to the ball on a downward angle. So it promotes a slightly descending angle of attack through impact - ideal for 'pinching' the ball off the turf (especially if you have a tight lie).
This exercise will help you check if you have achieved your setup goal. Lay a shaft on the ground just outside your right foot (so that it forms a right angle with you ball-to-toe target line), and then make your chipping stroke (3). If you have set up correctly, the clubhead should pass over the shaft both on the way back and on the way down, creating consistent ball-turf contact. Upon landing, your shots will now roll in a consistent manner each time, so making club selection much easier. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
FAULT
Chipping - stroke to 'wristy'
Once you can appreciate how to set up to the ball correctly, you must work on making your chipping action as simple as possible. Roughly translated, that means eliminating unnecessary and unwanted wrist-action in order to produce a stroke you can trust.
Poor chipping can invariably be put down to a 'flippy' type of hand action, where the back of the left hand and wrist can be seen to collapse through impact. This occurs normally as the result of trying to help the all up into the air, as opposed to allowing the loft of the clubface to do that for you. As a consequence, the backswing gets too long, the clubhead decelerates as the left wrist breaks down through impact and the ball is either thinned, topped or hit fat. Whatever the outcome, this relatively simple shot, that at times only has to travel a few feet, is normally botched. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Keep your wrists firm
Before we look at the nature of the stroke itself, there's an important adjustment that must first be made to your grip - strengthen your left hand (ie. turn your left hand slightly to the right of its normal position on the grip, showing about three knuckles on the back of your hand). This will help to prevent the left wrist from breaking down through impact, which in turn will enable you to more easily control the nature of the strike you impart on the ball.
Now the stroke. Keeping your weight on your left side, move the club back a short distance with a small turn of your body, keeping your wrists relaxed, but passive. Then, on moving forward, smoothly ease your knees laterally towards the target in harmony with the slight turning motion of your body as you swing the club through impact. The back of your left wrist must remain firm as you accelerate the clubhead into the ball, and the angle at the back of your right wrist should remain constant throughout the entire motion. Your follow-through must be relatively short to ensure a crisp strike.
Test yourself to see if your wrists have stayed firm during the shot. Move your follow-through position wholesale back to your address position. Are your hands and the clubface in relatively the same position as they were when you started? If so, your wrist action is correct. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
FAULT
Chipping - no 'touch', no imagination
If you are one of those golfers who seem to strike your chip shots fairly well, but rarely get the ball close to the hole, then the problem isn't necessarily in your method. It could be that your strategy around the green is letting you down.
Certainly, there's a lot more to honing a sharp short game than simply working on a good technique. To be fully versatile, you must also develop the ability to visualize and manufacture a whole array of different shots. One of the reasons why many players struggle to get up-and-down consistently is that they lack this imagination, often reaching for their favorite 'chipping club' long before they have even examined the lie of the ball or the nature of the shot they have to play.
True, it is possible to develop a good touch around the greens using only one club, but doing so calls for an exceptional amount of 'feel' and requires lots of practice. Unless you are able to invest that time and effort, I suggest that you develop a chipping system that involves learning one basic swing, and then simply vary the club that you use to play chips of differing length. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Simplify your strategy
The most effective chipping strategy is that which seeks to get the ball on the putting surface as soon as possible. Naturally, the situation your are in must determine the ideal combination of flight and roll that you need to get the ball close to the pin, but as a general guideline you should always aim to land the ball within ten feet of the fringe. Visualize the shot in your mind; remember, the more run you need, the less lofted the club you should take, and vice versa.
Try the following test. Starting with a 9-iron, and adopting the procedure as described in Fixes Nos. 49 and 50, hit a few shots, and concentrate on swinging the club with the same tempo every time. Note the reaction of each ball as it rolls across the green. If your swing is repeating, they should all finish fairly close together.
Using the same strategy, now hit different clubs ranging from a 5-iron to a sand-wedge, and not the reaction of these shots. With practice, you will have a good idea of which club produces what roll. With this knowledge, you will then be able to select the correct club and hit different length chips close to the hole on the course. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Chipping - no confidence
If you ever suffered prolonged attacks of anxiety, or periods of little of no confidence in your ability to play short chip shots around the green, then you'll know only too well what an utterly soul-destroying experience it can be. The inability to execute what is, in reality, a relatively easy shot shakes the foundation of your whole game. The terms 'chilli-dip', 'fluff', 'skulled' and 'bladed' describing poorly executed chip shots come to mind, and as your nerves become increasingly ragged you begin to doubt your ability to ever get the ball close to the hole.
Such is the power of the mind. A confident player with a good short game works purely on feel and visualization - and all he sees is success. One with a poor short-game thinks only in negative terms; he gets tense and in severe cases 'freezes' over the shot. All of which shifts the golfer's focus from the 'where' to the 'how' aspect of whatever he is trying to do.
So if you are a player whose preferred choice of club is a putter on almost every occasion around the green, the following simple chipping technique should help you. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Chip as you putt
The quickest way of gaining confidence in your chipping is to simplify both your thinking and your technique. One way to do that is to regard your chipping stroke merely as an extension of your putting stroke. Try this: with an 8-iron in your hands, set up to a ball as if you were preparing to hit a long putt. Take your normal putting grip but play the ball back in your stance, off the inside of your right foot. At the same time keep your hands and weight forward, favoring your left side, and spread your elbows. The club should be held almost vertically so that the heel is raised off the ground - thus you must stand very close to the ball. Addressing the ball in this manner positions the ball off the toe-end of the club, which, when contact is made, helps to 'deaden' and control the roll of the chip.
Controlling the stroke with a gentle rocking of your shoulders, allow the club to rise up several inches off the ground in the backswing, and then hit down on the ball slightly, clipping it into the air. Concentrate on maintaining the width of the gap between your elbows as you swing back and through - that ensures a pure arms and shoulders motion.
The real beauty of this method is that you take your wrists out of the equation altogether. As long as you keep your head still and focus on making a short, firm follow-through, you'll succeed in striking the ball solidly. As with putts, lengthen your stroke to play longer chips. For the very long chip shots, try experimenting with a 5- or 6-iron to get the required roll. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
FAULT
Pitching - poor setup
I define a pitch shot as one of 60 yards or less that travels further through the air than it rolls on the ground. A standard pitch shot is normally played with a wedge or a sand-wedge - the ball is lofted reasonably high up into the air, and depending on the surface of the green, will then roll a few feet upon landing. As always, it is the way that you set up to the ball that determines the shape and consistency of the swing you are able to make.
The majority of the problems that I see players struggle with stem from the fact that they tend to set up to a pitch in exactly the same way they would make a full swing. They align their body parallel with the ball-to-target line; far a pitch shot your lower body should be set slightly 'open' in relation to that line.
If you should mistakenly set up square to the target, the chances of you being consistent, both in terms of distance and direction, are slim. Because of the short-length swing that characterizes a normal pitch, you won't have time to square the clubface with the rotation of your body. Instead, to get the ball started on line, you are forced to manipulate the clubhead with your hands. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Pre-set the perfect impact position
In order to strike your shots solidly, certain criteria must be met at impact. Specifically, your lower body should be open in relation to the target line, while your hands should be ahead of the ball.
The best way that I know to ensuring that these conditions are met on a regular basis is to preset them at address. Accordingly, take a fairly narrow stance, and set your lower body a little open (aligned left) to the target line. (Your shoulders and the clubface, meanwhile, should be square.) Position the ball just forward of middle in your feet, so that your hands lie comfortably ahead. Finally, settle approximately 60 per cent of your weight on your left side, flex your knees and push them gently toward the target.
This setup is essentially the position that you want to achieve at impact. Rehearse it in front of a mirror; get used to the feeling of 'impact'. Taking it from here you can then swing confidently and hit quality pitch shots. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Pitching - poor plane = poor shots
With your pitch shots, your objective is to achieve pinpoint accuracy. That's why swinging the club on the correct plane is so important from short range. So small is your margin for error on this short swing, that the only way you can guarantee making good contact is to swing the club down into the ball on the correct path and angle. For a pitch, that angle will tend to be fairly steep. After all, you're using one of the most upright clubs in the bag.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of players who fail to appreciate this. A common error is taking the clubhead back severely inside and around the body, then repeating that motion through the ball and on into the follow-through. The result of this poor path and plane is that the clubhead is on line for only a very short time - if at all - drastically reducing the chances of (a) solid contact being made, and (b) the shot being on line. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Club on line for solid pitches
Once you are comfortable with the setup described in Fix No.53, work on making your swing plane more upright. As you turn and move the club away from the ball, allow your wrists to hinge up (don't just simply lift your arms). Sense that the shaft moves fairly vertically, both on the way back and on the way through.
With practice, you should feel that the club is much more on line approaching impact as your body turns through the shot. Work on achieving a solid ball-turf contact, and aim to make your follow-through a virtual mirror-image of your backswing position. Think about a smooth rhythm, too. That's important on pitch shots.
To ensure you get your pitch swing on the right plane, try this drill. Set up for a normal pitch shot then stick an umbrella (or an old shaft) in the ground about two feet outside your right foot, in line with your right heel (1). Place another one the same distance outside your left foot, again keeping it in line with your heel. Then swing the club without touching either of the two umbrellas (2, 3). As you swing back, hinge your wrists and try to set the club on its end so that the grip points down towards the ground. Do the same in the follow-through.
Once you have the knack of this, hit a few shots. Don't concern yourself with a particular target initially, simply work on hitting the ball solidly. Pretty soon you'll notice a big difference in the quality of your strike, and you can then focus on direction and distance. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Pitching - inconsistent distance control
It's impossible to over state the importance of pitching in terms of the scoring equation. Good pitchers of the ball will make more birdies on short par-4's and par-5's, and usually save their par when their long approach play lets them down.
But even good players can, on occasion, find these mini-shots troublesome. Whenever a situation calls for anything less than a full swing, judging distance is an obvious problem. While it's difficult to be too far out with your direction from, say, 50 or 60 yards, it is always possible to hit the ball too far, or leave it short.
The most common cause of poor distance control can be traced to the arms and body moving independently of one another. Generally speaking, the tendency is for the swing to be either (a) too long, in which case the club tends to decelerate through impact, or (b) too short, and the clubhead is jerked through. Either way, such poor technique will inevitably cost a player many expensive strokes. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Work on the body-controlled method
By now you ought to appreciate that the essence of my teaching method is that your body controls the motion of the club (or, as I term it, the dog wags the tail). I introduced you to that concept in Part 1 - The Full Swing, and the same applies here in the short game. The turning motion of your body is responsible for the way in which you release the club through impact; increasing or decreasing the rotational speed of your trunk is the key to varying the distance of these precision shots.
To get a feel for this, practice short pitches with a towel tucked between your upper arms and chest. Adopt the proper set up, choke down on the grip for extra control and make compact swings, keeping the towel firmly in place. Vary the speed of your body turn, and see how that affects the distance you hit the ball. Think, on a 20-yard shot, of moving your body at 20 mph back and through; 30 yards needing 30 mph, and so on. As you do this, keep your weight mainly on your left foot throughout the swing. Although you want to encourage body rotation, there is no need to introduce unnecessary wasted motion in the form of a significant weight transfer.
Remember, the longer the shot, the faster you must move your body - the added momentum you generate will naturally increase the length of your swing and the amount of clubhead speed. Constantly vary the length of your shots when you practice, so that you instinctively learn how fast to move your body in order to hit the ball the desired distance. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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High, soft shot - no way!
The high floating, softly landing pitch is a useful shot for any golfer to have in his repertoire - it's ideal when you have to stop the ball quickly, over a bunker to a pin cut close to the edge of the green, for example. Naturally, it's a shot that requires a great deal of touch, not to mention a certain amount of practice.
Of course, the key to executing this shot properly lies in understanding the correct technique involved. Sure, it's a touch shot to take on, but I see many golfers who make it all the more difficult by nervously trying to lift the ball up into the air. They don't appear to have much faith in the loft on the clubface doing that job for them - even though they would be using the most lofted club in their bag. Typically, save the occasional fluke, the results range from dumping the ball short into the bunker to blading it right over the green. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Learning the lob
The lob should be played only when you have a reasonable lie - ie. the ball should have a cushion of grass beneath it so that you can slide the leading edge of as sand-wedge beneath it, clipping the grass and the ball almost simultaneously. From a tight, firm lie, you should consider the risks, and probably think in terms of hitting a regular pitch shot and having to hole a reasonable-length putt to get down in two shots.
For the lob shot, stand with your lower and upper body open in relation to the target (for regular pitch shots only the lower body is open). Aim the clubface to the right (ie. lay it open), position the ball forward in your stance, keep you weight evenly distributed and aim to make contact with the turf a fraction behind the ball. Focus on making a fairly lengthy, slow swing, sensing that your arms control the motion. Your hands should feel 'dead' as the clubhead strikes the turf then the ball - keep the clubhead swinging through to a high finish. Obviously, standing open, you will swing the club on an out-to-in path, but with the clubface being aimed to the right, the shot will, in fact, fly straight.
Once you learn to play the lob correctly, you will see that the ball climbs steeply and lands softly, with little roll. The key is to trust a long, slowish swing - keep the hands quiet, and resist any urge to try and help the ball up into the air. Oh, and to practice! Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Pitch and run - where's the run?
There can be no doubt that working on your pitching technique and developing a good feel for the distance you fly the ball will quickly benefit your game. But don't fall into the trap of relying totally on that high-flying shot. There are times when throwing the ball up into the air just isn't a good idea. If you have a strong wind into your face, or behind you, for example, or if the greens are firm and you have plenty of room to work with, hitting a lower, controlled pitch-and-run shot is often a much more sensible option. However, trying to hit a shot firmly with a lofted club and getting it to run can prove difficult to execute if you impart too much spin on the ball.
The danger is hitting down too steeply. Even though you may produce the desired low trajectory, the excessive backspin placed on the ball will cause it to check up short of the hole. Then you find yourself caught up in a vicious circle: because you are coming up short so often, you begin to hit the shot harder. Which imparts even more backspin, and so it goes on. Basically, any control you have over how far the ball will run is lost. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
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Let the club work around your body
The key here is hitting the shot with overspin, so that the ball 'releases' on landing. To do this, your first move is to play the ball further back in your stance than on a regular pitch shot. Using a lofted club - a wedge or 9-iron is fine - lean your weight towards the target, place your hands well ahead of the ball, and stand almost square to the target, as opposed to open. That's the first part of the equation taken care of. Now you have to learn to swing the clubhead correctly, so that it approaches impact on a shallow angle, thus enabling you to pick the ball almost cleanly off the turf.
Your set up will allow you to work the clubhead away from the ball more inside the target line than normal. Then, as your body turns through the shot, encourage your right arm to turn over your left, thus releasing the clubhead. Imagine you are hitting a mini-draw; feel that the toe of the club is closing as you strike the ball, and keep both the backswing and the follow-through reasonably short.
Through all of this, keep your grip pressure light to encourage the club to release. Any attempt to hit 'at' the ball will only steepen your angle of approach, and induce backspin. Finally, practice tossing a ball underarm, trying to make it run as much as possible - almost like bowling. To do that, your right arm has to rotate and release, which is exactly the action you must strive to achieve on these pitch-and-run shots. Click here to learn about the Swingyde and other swing training tools.
