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Chip Shots!!

A chip shot is designed to be a low-flying, long-rolling shot that is usually hit from close to the green. The goal is to attempt to land the ball just on the green and get it immediately to start rolling toward the hole.

The most difficult part of any chip shot is the club selection.

Your choice of clubs will be dictated by how your ball is lying on the ground and by how far you must hit it in the air in order for it to land on the green.

If you watch as the Pro's setup for a chip shot you will notice that many of them use their putting grip for their chip shots. I recommend, for any golfer, that when you line up for a chip shot you follow these basic fundamentals:

1. Use a palm grip while choking down on the club (for anyone playing Natural Golf, simply use your regular grip and be sure to assume the simplified straight line setup)

2. Narrow the stance of your feet so that they are close together and align yourself slightly open to, or left of, the target line.

3. Position the ball toward the back of your stance and make sure that your hands are in front of the ball. This should put your right wrist (for right handed players) in an extended, or cocked, position, eliminating the need to further cock the wrist on the backswing.

4. Distribute your weight toward your front side.

5. Now, adjust your shoulders so that they are tilted in such a way that you can take a more upright backswing and a steeper angle into the ball on the downswing (this will help get the ball in the air faster).

6. Keep your hands "passive." Focus on your forearms coming through the ball.

7. Maintain a firm left wrist through the impact zone. Do not "slap" at the ball.

8. Keep the palm of your right hand going toward the target. As if you were tossing a ball underhand.

By following these steps and learning the proper distance for each club, you will improve your consistency around the green and you should be able to shave 3 - 4 strokes off your score.

Give Yourself an Arsenal of Clubs!!

Generally speaking, good players-those with excellent short games, want to get the ball on the green and rolling toward the flag or target as quickly as possible. Poorer players tend to throw the ball up in the air and take a chance on where it might stop. With minimum air time and maximum ground time, your chip will behave more like a putt and you'll know-with precision-where the ball will stop (well, you will after awhile!). When you add a stiff breeze to the scenario, the decision to fly the ball closer to the hole becomes even more questionable.

Using a complete chipping arsenal-from at least the 7-iron through your lob wedge-has another benefit. If you use one favorite chipping club-say, your pitching wedge-for all of your shots around the green, you're going to have to make somewhat dramatic changes to your technique for shots of various lengths. For example, the swing you'd make for a 50-foot shot will be much longer than the one for the 15-footer. But if you choose a 6- or 7-iron for the longer shot, now you can make approximately the same motion-with the same rhythm-for the longer shot as you would for a shorter shot; you let the longer club do the work for you rather than making a significant adjustment to your swing.

So experiment using a variety of clubs around the green. Use your wedges on faster shots, shorter shots, and those where you have to carry the ball over trouble. Use longer clubs for longer shots when you have no trouble to carry and plenty of green with which to work

Tip of The Week

A three-wood: From off the green??!!!???.

It may sound preposterous to some, but the three-wood chip is a great shot to have in your arsenal when the ball lies no more than a foot into the first cut of rough. For starters, a three-wood won’t snag. You know why we like this concept? Because it works for Tiger Woods!!! I first tried this out in South Carolina, USA. It since has become my "Carolina Pitching Wedge".

The key to working this shot is to keep the left arm fairly straight but relaxed throughout. The more tension, the quicker the stroke, resulting in a loss of distance control. Grip down with the palms facing each other, similar to the way you would grip a putter. Place the forefinger and thumb of your lower hand on the shaft for better feel and control of the club head. Then, use your wrists to pop the clubface into the ball (kind of like an axe, but not as hard as you would if you were splitting wood, or whatever else you use an axe for). That will propel the ball airborne just enough to coast along the top of the grass.

The rest, we shall say, is putting history.