Lesson 1

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Chipping (Part 1)

Next, after putting, chipping is the easiest motion in golf. And the reason for this is because a chip shot has the least moving parts after putting.

Now in this first lesson I'm going to teach you something called chip-putting but before I do that I need to give you the definition of a chip shot. You've probably heard a variety of definitions on what constitutes a chip shot....but most of them are wrong. So here is the best definition of what a chip shot is...

Important Note: Chip Shot Definition...a chip shot is a motion that is very close to the pendulum putting motion as it requires no independent wrist movement.

So a chip shot is not defined by how far the ball flies or rolls, but rather a chip shot is defined by the motion being very close to a pendulum putting action and it requiring no independent wrist movement. So if you are chipping the ball and you break your wrists then you have just hit a pitch...not a chip.

OK, that's cleared up, let's now start this first chipping lesson and to do this you'll need your....

Completed Short Game Practice Station

You'll also need your table tennis balls.

Plus to complete this lesson you'll need to get some white masking tape....

Once you have some white masking tape then I want you to cut a long piece and put it on the artificial turf so it's parallel to the shortest edge on your short game station. And place this line about a foot inside the edge of your board.

After doing this you then need to put another piece of tape about 20cm's (almost 8 inches) inside the first tape and parallel to it.

Important Note: The distances I'm telling you to place your tape are a rough guide. As you're completing this lesson you may need to adjust them to suit you. So if you need to then move them.

Finally, in the middle of the two pieces of tape you need to put a piece of tape like this...

OK, now place a table tennis ball just outside the first line where the 3rd line would intersect if it where to continue.

Once you've set this up then you you need to get out your 9-iron, as that is what you're going to be chip-putting with.

OK, to setup to chip-putt I want you to hold the club with just your right hand and place your 9-iron behind the ball so it's aligned square to the starting line of your shot. Then place your right foot just to the right of the 3rd piece of tape that you've put on the artificial turf. Here is a picture that shows you what to do...

Important Note: At this stage you should not have a final target that you're wanting your ball to finish - that will come later.

Next I want you bring up your left foot up so it's just to the left of the 3rd piece of tape that you placed on the artificial turf. And at the same time I want you to grip your 9-iron with a putting grip.

Now I'm not really concerned with the putting grip you use. Just use the same grip as you do when you're putting. Here is a close-up of the putting grip I use.

Important Note: You'll notice that in the picture above there is a lot of the actual grip (the rubber thing) visible. That's because I am gripping well down on the grip. And to setup to this chip shot as though you're putting you'll probably have to do the same, which is fine.

OK, next you need to move your right foot to the right so it's about in line with where you right shoulder is...

...then you should move your left foot to the left so it's virtually in line with your left shoulder.

Now it's important when you setup to chip-putt that you...

Here is a picture of summary of the setup you should have for this chip-putt shot...

Chip-Putt Setup Face On

Chip-Putt Setup Down The Line

Once you are in a similar position to what I've demonstrated above you are ready to swing. Now to swing the 9-iron you need to understand that very little should be moving. And I want to go through the parts that should NOT be doing anything as you swing. So here are all the parts that should NOT be doing anything as you're chip-putting...

• Feet - Nothing
• Ankles - Nothing
• Knees - Nothing
• Legs - Nothing
• Hips - Nothing
• Head - Nothing

All that should be moving to make the golf club move should be your shoulders, arms and wrists, and at setup there is a triangle that is formed like this...

So to swing the 9-iron you simply have to concentrate on moving your shoulders, arms and wrists and keeping this triangle intact as you're swinging. So there should NOT be any independent action from your hands. They should be dead.

Now before you swing I need to explain why I'm getting you to start practicing using a table tennis ball. The reason for this because I want you to take the hit out of the chipping stroke. A lot of people have problems with the short game because they try to hit the ball. Understand this, the ball should just get in the way of your swing. And by using a table tennis ball it will help you to learn the swing without the hit that ruins so many short game shots.

OK, just before you swing there's a couple of other things that are VERY important.

OK, so that's all there is to it. Just swing your shoulders and arms keeping everything else still, and swing through longer than you did going back and hold your finish.

If you do this properly then at impact you'll arrive at a very similar position as you were at setup. Here is a swing sequence of me chip-putting, and please notice that my follow-through is longer than the backswing and the impact position is very similar to the address position.

Now when you practice I want you to go through the same setup procedure that I showed you. And here is a couple of videos that show you how you should practice this.

Important Note: These videos have no sound in them.

Click the Play Button below
to view a golfer practicing the chip-putt
correctly from the face on view.

Click the Play Button below
to view a golfer racticing the chip-putt
correctly from the down the line view.

So here's how you need to practice this for the next week....

Tasks For This Week Task 1 - Practice chip-putting as I've shown you. And I suggest you try and do short practice sessions (e.g. 10 - 15 minutes), each day rather than practicing for an hour one day and not doing anything else the rest of the week. If you can do short practice sessions each day it will help up to build up a more ingrained habit. When doing this make sure your follow-through is longer than your backswing and you hold your follow-through at the end of each swing. Time Needed - Approximately 15 minutes Per Practice Session

So that's your first task for this short game program. It's not very hard but it is very important. You need to focus on getting the correct action before you attempt to hit real golf balls specific distances. So practice this and then next week you're going to start using real golf balls and hit to a target. But this will be done with a twist. So practice what I've taught you today for the next 7 days and then come back to The Short Game index page in 7 days time to get the next, new, crucial lesson.