Chipping -- Club Selection

How many of us are able to spend hours each week practicing our short game? This is certainly something that we as teachers preach, but, in reality, we also realize that to most of us golf is a form of recreation. I will absolutely say that if you have time to practice, short game should be your priority, but there are ways to get more out of the time you practice to improve your shipping.

If you are only able to give minimal time to your practicing, begin with using only one club when you chip, both in practice and on the course. Ideally, we should be able to chip effectively with anything from a 5 or 6 iron all the way to our lob wedges. But to do so successfully takes time and lots of practice. Instead, I would suggest that those of us that cannot devote adequate time to practicing with each club learn to get very good with one club first.

TRY IT. Certainly, using only one club makes it much easier to judge how the ball will fly, both from a distance and a trajectory standpoint. It also eliminates the worry of wondering which club to use. Get to know that club and learn to be great and CONFIDENT with that particular club. One thing I really like about it is that it forces us to be creative and learn to hit different shots with one club, which goes a long way to improving our feel. Is this the only way to chip -- of course not. But give it a try and see if it works for you.

Warm-Up

Make relaxation your priority in your warm-up.

If you have unlimited warm-up time:
1. Begin by stretching your muscles and warming up your body. Walk to the practice tee and slowly swing a club back and forth in a nice rhythm.
2. Hit a few pitch shots just to connect your hands to the clubhead.
3. Work your way up from the short clubs to the long clubs, hitting only 3 or 4 shots with each.
4. Simulate a few opening tee shots. Back away after each one and go through your entire routine.
5. Drop back to the wedge and hit a few more fluid shots. Feel the clubhead.
6. Hit a few chips and pitches. As with full shots, don’t hit more than 2 or 3 of the same shots. Vary them to re-gain your feel.
7. Putt a few 10 to 15 footers to feel the speed of the greens.
8. Putt a few long putts, being sure to putt-out.
9. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
10. Take 5 minutes to relax and chat with your playing partners. Visualize good shots and look forward to your round.

If you only have 15 minutes:
1. Walk to the range to loosen up and swing a club in your fingers as you walk.
2. Hit a few short iron shots just to let the golf muscles wake-up.
3. Hit a few chips and pitches. As with full shots, don’t hit more than 2 or 3 of the same shots. Vary them to re-gain your feel.
4. Hit a few putts, varying the length of each. Be sure to putt-out.
5. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
6. Take a minute to relax and visualize a good round.

If you have less than 5 minutes:

1. Hit a few chips to get a feel for the club.
2. Hit a few putts, varying the length of each. Be sure to putt-out.
3. Make about 5 or 10 one-foot putts to get used to hearing the ball drop.
4. Take a minute to relax, loosen up, and visualize a good round.

Pace Affects Break

Once we have read the slopes of the green, we need to then get a feel for the pace at which we will putt. I believe most of us know that the firmer we hit a putt, the less it will break, and vice versa. Choosing a line on which to stroke a putt is done by a combination of reading the slope and selecting the pace. The pace at which we will roll the putt can be determined by several factors. One is how we generally putt, one is the situation we are in, and one is the physical characteristics of the putt at hand.

First of all, some players typically putt firm, aggressive lines. Tiger Woods is an example of this. Generally speaking, he will putt the ball more aggressively than others, and will therefore play less break on the same putt. A perfect example of a “lag putter,” one who rolls it more slowly, is Ben Crenshaw, one of the greatest putters of all time. In fact, the story is that his rebuttal to the idea that a putt should be hit hard enough to go 17” past the hole is that a putt that rolls 17” past the hole still didn’t go in! Anyway, he is known for playing a lot of break and letting a good putt finish right at the hole. Neither way is always better than the other – what is important is to know how you do it and then read your putts accordingly.

Learn to Play the Game

As a golf professional, one thing I see so often from good players is such a focus on perfect golf. I see so many people spending hours at the range day after day, yet their scores do not come down. I also watch players on the course get so worked up about one bad shot that their entire day is ruined. Yet I also know the guy who rarely practices yet gets to the course and beats the daylights out of his opponents. He may hit a bad shot here and there but he recovers and gets the ball in the hole.

And this is my point - learn to PLAY GOLF. Don't learn to swing perfectly; don't learn to hit balls like a machine. Learn what to do on the course. Admit it to yourself - the range provides us with a perfect lie, a perfect stance, and no consequences for a missed shot. Simply put there is no pressure and there is VERY LITTLE RELATION BETWEEN THE RANGE AND THE COURSE. Sometimes I wish someone would build a range that slopes unevenly and has bad lies, and then charges you for every bad shot you hit! Now THIS would be good practice.

So get out and play the course. If you are determined to hit balls (other than warming up), bring a friend and have a game on the range. Hit the ball high and low, hooking or cutting, and make each shot mean something. But do this only here and there. Get out and play. Chip and putt with a friend. Play with friends. Learn from a poor shot and learn how to recover. You will improve, and you will enjoy the game!

Practice for Confidence

There are varying schools of thought on practice techniques. Some suggest we should practice the difficult shots so that all the other shots seem easier. Others believe that we should practice easier shots in order to gain confidence and feel success. Well, just like most anything else there are balanced approaches that ultimately serve us best, and with that in mind here is a great way to improve your trouble areas and gain confidence.

Let's say, for instance, that you really struggle with your 5-iron. Instead of beating hundreds of balls into submission on the range, try warming up with a club you are confident in such as a short iron. Hit a bunch of solid shots with that club and get a good feel and rhythm going. Then, when you are ready, pick-up your "trouble club" and hit some shots with it.

How did they go? Were you able to make better contact and hit solid shots? If so, great. If not, no problem. Either way, after hitting a few with that club, jump back to your confident club and hit some more good shots. Continue to go back and forth and observe how you are able to translate that confidence from one club to another. In particular, pay attention to your rhythm and tempo. Duplicate what works in your good club with your swing in the trouble club.

There are many other examples of ways to use good shots to aid in the more difficult ones. Hit several chips from good lies and then hit a couple from bad lies. Make 6 or 7 one-foot putts in a row and then try a few four-footers. Go back and forth between the easy and the difficult. Use your strengths to improve your weaknesses. Remember that confidence is not static - it rises and falls. If it is low it can be improved, and if it is high it needs to be maintaned. Confidence allows us to perform our best, so always look for ways to improve it. Try this and other ways and you will find yourself playing more great golf!

Problem Diagnosis

One of the biggest problems I see in most golfers is problem diagnosis. Often we chase swing symptoms when the root cause is never addressed. While no one solution is 100% effective, here are two checkpoints to give you an idea where to begin.

I believe there are two primary reasons we hit poor shots - poor swing mechanics or rhythm, timing, and feel issues. If you are hitting poor shots, here is a great way to determine which root cause is affecting you.

Go to the practice range and hit some balls. Observe your shots by paying attention to the initial direction the ball is flying. Is it consistently headed in the direction you are intending? Even if you hit it fat or thin, is the ball beginning on target? If so, more than likely your swing mechanics are solid and your problem lies in your rhythm, timing and feel. However, if the ball flies off in all different directions, even if you are hitting hit solidly, then most likely you would need to address the mechanics of the swing.

Problems with swing mechanics are often a result of poor alignment, so this is the first place to start improving. If your problem is more with the feel and rhythm of your swing, chip and pitch a lot or practice hitting a variety of shot shapes. Of course as always it is a great idea to get help from your local PGA professionals, as we can really help you diagnose the problem and come up with multiple ways to see improvement.

Root Causes

Although I find statistics interesting, I typically will not spend enough time to determine them with things I am involved with. However, with observation I can feel confident in saying that I would bet about 90% or more of the problems in a golf game are related to one of two things: poor swing path, or poor tension & rhythm.

Swing Path

Swing path determines where a ball will go, and the majority of players I work with tend to come "over-the-top," meaning they start the ball left of the target. A path like this leads to greater inconsistency than a proper swing path that delivers the clubhead into the ball correctly. An improper path will cause pulls, slices, shanks, topped shots, and deep heavy divots. By correcting the path, the poor shots will be reduced to slightly thin or slightly fat shots, and even those shots will be only slightly shorter than a well struck shot. In short, an incorrect swing path creates all kinds of problems, and makes your bad shots worse.

Tension & Rhythm

Tension is a killer. Tension can make a good golfer play poorly, and make a bad golfer play even worse. Tension causes all kinds of mistakes, including the above mentioned poor swing path. When the body is tight, it is very difficult to swing the club on the proper swing path, and makes it difficult to strike a solid shot. Tension also can cause us to lose our rhythm, just as poor rhythm can cause us to be tense. The clubhead is built to swing efficiently, and when we grip too tight or get out of rhythm we inhibit the club from swinging correctly. Tension will not allow the club to release through impact, and the resulting shots will be short and off line. A tension free, rhythmic swing will allow the club to work effectively, and will allow you to produce better and more powerful shots.

As I mentioned above, I would bet that most of you, if you are having problems, are doing so because of either a poor swing path, or tension or poor rhythm. No matter what the problem is, it probably relates to one of these two issues. And if it doesn't, it is probably in your head (which, incidentally, usually causes tension!). To try to fix the problem, first of all check your grip pressure. If you cannot feel the weight of the clubhead in your hands, relax your grip, and waggle the clubhead until you can. If that is okay, then look at your divots, or watch the beginning ball-flight of your shots. If the divots are deep or pointed left, or the ball is beginning left of your target (for a right-handed golfer), then your path is incorrect. Try to swing the clubhead towards the target, and let the club do the work. Remember, great golf is not perfect golf. Great golf is having fun and learning more about it each time we play. Focus on these key areas and you will see fantastic results.