Chipping – Keep Your Weight on your Front Foot in the Backswing

« « How To Get Out Of The Bunker. | Golf Cart Parts » »

Chipping – Keep Your Weight on your Front Foot in the Backswing

Sunday, July 13th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

A chip shot is a short shot around the green that has minimum airtime and maximum roll time. Another way to describe it is 1/3 air, 2/3 roll. You can use one of the following clubs when chipping: 5-iron, 7-iron or 9-iron. Common complaints that I receive from amateurs about chipping are that they top the ball, hit the ball thin, hit the ground behind the ball, blade the ball over the green or completely shank the ball.
The miss-played shots I just described to you are usually the result of an incorrect set-up. There are three positions in chipping that are the foundation of a successful chip shot. Let’s review them:

1.The golf ball should be positioned in the middle of your stance
2.Place 75% of your weight on your left foot (right-handed golfers)
3.The grip end of the golf club points to the middle of your left leg.

When you place 75% of your weight on your left foot, you are ensuring yourself that you will hit down of the ball and not up.Grip down on the golf club to the END of the grip.
The reason you want the golf ball in the middle of your stance is for a more consistent impact. If you place the golf ball too far forward in your stance, you will have a tendency to hit the ball thin, or top the ball and you will pull the ball to the left. If you play the ball too far back in your stance, you will have a tendency to top or shank the ball and push it to the right. When you place 75% of your weight on your left foot, you are ensuring yourself that you will hit down of the ball and not up. Make sure you keep the weight on your front foot in the back swing.Gripping down on the golf club will ensure a cleaner more controlled hit at impact. If you are struggling with hitting thin shots or topping your chips, when you move your handle further to the left (across from you left leg), you will allow the clubhead to hit the ball on a descending blow and not ascending.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.