The first things you should do when you walk up to your ball before playing a chip shot are:
1. Analyse how the ball is lying
2. How much rough do you have to carry
3. Where is the hole positioned on the green
This will determine the length of your back swing and the club you should use to play the shot.
With this in mind, it is important to understand the air-time/ground-time ratios of shots hit with different clubs. The selection of the correct club is vital. You can chip with anything from a 3-iron to a sand wedge depending on how much rough you have to carry, and where the pin is positioned on the green.
For example, if your ball is 20 feet from the fringe of the green, your back swing and follow through should be roughly 2 feet back and through, this is the length of swing required to land the ball just on the green from this distance. Now if we use a sand wedge the ball will land on the green and because of the loft it will roll approximately 15 feet; if we use an 8 iron the ball will roll approximately 45 feet and a 6 iron the ball will roll approximately 60 feet.
The benefit of using this system is that you have one solid technique and you’re using different clubs to achieve different distances, where most people use only one club for chipping but they change the technique every time to suit the different distances. The best way for each individual to find out exactly how far each club rolls out, is to experiment on the chipping green with 10 balls and measure the average distance.
Figure 1.
Technique
The technique should be very simple, narrow stance, with ball positioned in the middle, it’s important to keep the wrists very quiet. Therefore, try not to break your wrists in the stroke. Your hands start ahead of the ball at address, the left hand is in control of the stroke throughout with the right hand very passive. This is important for crisp striking when chipping.
Figure 2.
The distance the pin is on the green, determines which club you use. Above is shown, from left to right, sand wedge, pitching wedge and 8 iron.
David Mortimer is originally from Renvyle, Co. Galway was selected for the Connacht Youth Team and Senior Team in 1994. Played 9 years with Connacht Senior Interprovinical team from 1994 - 2002.
Turned professional in 2002 at Newlands Golf club and qualified as a PGA professional joining GUI National Academy at Carton House.
2010 Glenmuir PGA Champion and winner of the Irish PGA Championship 2006 and 2010.
David is a member of FORE Ireland
