Not having the most confidence in your ability to chip the ball can rock your confidence on the golf course. You put extra pressure on your drive and short game, which can fuel more anxieties and just make your golf game worse overall. But these are likely just technique errors. And the good thing about those? We can fix them through our professional PGA golf instructors.
Chipping Mistake 1: Setting Up Badly
Most problems that golfers face in their chipping comes from having a bad approach and start. People set up like they want to launch the ball over 100 yards down the fairway, when in reality the goal is to get the ball a couple dozen feet to a better position. Setting up like you want to launch the ball when you just want to advance it a bit can lead to poor control over the distance and power. Stand a bit closer to the ball and your feet only slightly separated, the ball in the middle of the clubhead
Chipping Mistake 2: Limited Body Movement
If your chip game isn’t shaping up the way you’d like, you might be over-relying on your arms when striking the ball. If you watch the elite golfers of the world, you’ll see how their torso is what’s directing their body movement through rotation, with the arms acting more like a pendulum. Letting the large muscle groups control your chip shot means fewer things can go wrong, and ultimately help with the distance control and power.
Chipping Mistake 3: Cheating the Clubhead Inside too Early
A lot of people tend to drag the club too far to the inside too early in their backswing. If you’re going too much to the inside, you run into the possibility of dropping the club too much too quick, and either topping the ball as you compensate or dig a new divot into the grass and don’t actually move the ball. The clubhead will pull to the inside on its own slightly as you move through your swing path.
Chipping Mistake 4: Not Using the Right Clubs
This one is probably the easiest mistake to fix! Make sure you’re using the right club for the job so you don’t create extra work for yourself. Often times, golfers reach for their wedge with the most loft for every chip. In most situations when you don’t have an obstacle in your way, choose a club with a little less loft and let the ball run for a bit. Instead of a lob wedge, try a 7- or 8-iron and aim slightly past the pin to get an idea for how the green slopes.
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