Help with chips...

[gatorsteve]

getting them to bite

I have always relied on a lot of roll out on my chips but its hard to do that when the there is very little green to work with and the pin is close. I was wondering if you gus had an tips on getting chips to bite and slow down or even stop in a short distance. I'm guessing its just a descending blow to the ball but when I try to all I get is a low skipper.

any help would be appreciated,
steve

[lefty92]

I was first going to bring up the equipment aspect of it, but I noticed you are using a Platinum and Vokey, so that can't be the problem. ;)

 

When trying to get a chip/pitch to check, make sure your weight favours your front foot and really try to "mash" the ball into the ground, as if you are squeezing the ball against the turf with your wedge. However, doing these two things will give you a slightly lower launch as compared to having your weight equally distributed and trying the sweep the ball rather than pinch, but it will stop much quicker. My flight usually is low-mid with two bounces and a quick check.

 

But in some cases such as little green to work with, a lob shot is often the only way to put it tight to the pin.

 

Oh, and keep in mind that if your ball is in the rough, chances are the ball wont bite at all.

[ezra76]

There was a segment on this in a recent issue of Golf Magazine. May be available online if you look into it.

 

I use 2 different chip shots. Shot #1 is a running chip and I use an in to out path with a square to shut face on my GW or 58*. Shot #2 is the one you are looking for. Use an open stance, open face and an out to in path to plop the ball up onto the green. This is the one I use shortsided and into a downslope. I just have to remind myself to get agressive because the best 2 options are to hole it or go past and putt back uphill.

 

This is for chipping. If you want to put backspin on the ball, that requires clubhead speed. I need some room to work with to spin the ball. I'd say I need a solid 30yds. to get enough speed to use the skipper.

[thenewbie]

firstly, a downward blow is NOT what produces spin. face to ball contact produces spin. with full shots, a downward blow is pretty much integral to get clean face to ball contact, especially with any grass around the ball. however, with chips around the green, a downward blow in not always needed to get clean face to ball contact.

 

it does depend on your wedge, because you need to use your setup to manipulate the bounce angle on the wedge so that you can have good clean contact. increasing the bounce angle (by opening the face) will get the club to slide over the grass instead of digging in. its important to use the loft of the club to produce a higher shot, while still getting clean contact to produce spin. open the face a little, then experiment with how the ball reacts to different degrees of opennes.

 

personally, I like to hit a low spinner with my 56 around the green. its got a lot of bounce, with a soft leading edge, so it hardly ever digs on me. I set up with my feet fairly close, stance open to the target, ball neutral, maybe stightly back on center. weight 65/35 favoring the front foot. as I take the club back I try to keep it close to the ground, the continue to keep the club close to the ground through impact and through the follow through, making contact with my hands in front of the club. having my hands leading through impact helps promote clean contact, while keeping the club low back and through keeps the club from digging. since the club slides over the ground, I get consistently clean contact, promoting spin and control.

 

just remember, the ONLY thing that will get the ball to check is clean fact to ball contact.

[Diesel]

facts stated in teh post above... not so much in the preceeding ones...

 

face to ball, no grass between them is what gets short chips to check up for you... also keep the face from turning over through contact to use all the loft on the club... if you turn it over through impact the ball will or should release more towards the hole...

[lefty92]

thenewbie said it very well.

[DanZ]

I like to use my 56 for most chips and though this can go a bit high, it rarely checks much so I always plan for rollout. When there is little green to work with I use the 60 which helps it go up higher, spin a bit more and check quicker.

[thenewbie]

of course, sometimes theres nothing you can do. today I had a 35 yard pitch over water with only about 7 feet to work with. I hit a PERFECT pitch with my 60, but they had just put sand on the greens (why? no clue, I'm no greens keeper). my pitch hit literally a foot left of the hole, but instead of sticking it release 20 feet by the hole, thanks to the sand.

 

I was not a happy golfer. I couldn't get a thing to stop all day, not even a full wedge with a proV1.

[hayam]

Did you try "weak" shots like a flop or a floaty cut?

[The Boom Bapp]

firstly, a downward blow is NOT what produces spin. face to ball contact produces spin. with full shots, a downward blow is pretty much integral to get clean face to ball contact, especially with any grass around the ball. however, with chips around the green, a downward blow in not always needed to get clean face to ball contact.

 

it does depend on your wedge, because you need to use your setup to manipulate the bounce angle on the wedge so that you can have good clean contact. increasing the bounce angle (by opening the face) will get the club to slide over the grass instead of digging in. its important to use the loft of the club to produce a higher shot, while still getting clean contact to produce spin. open the face a little, then experiment with how the ball reacts to different degrees of opennes.

 

personally, I like to hit a low spinner with my 56 around the green. its got a lot of bounce, with a soft leading edge, so it hardly ever digs on me. I set up with my feet fairly close, stance open to the target, ball neutral, maybe stightly back on center. weight 65/35 favoring the front foot. as I take the club back I try to keep it close to the ground, the continue to keep the club close to the ground through impact and through the follow through, making contact with my hands in front of the club. having my hands leading through impact helps promote clean contact, while keeping the club low back and through keeps the club from digging. since the club slides over the ground, I get consistently clean contact, promoting spin and control.

 

just remember, the ONLY thing that will get the ball to check is clean fact to ball contact.

 

 

Well said, another fact of chipping is that we MUST remember to "acclerate" the club head through the ball, this is integral for crisp contact and will impart a significant amount of spin by using compression, as slight as it may be the head speed gets the grooves to "bite" into the ball because it has now been compressed and is in effect touching more of the club face and filling grooves . So acceleration+compression = spin. :russian_roulette:

 

Stick it close!

[thenewbie]

Did you try "weak" shots like a flop or a floaty cut?

 

I'm never trying a flop over 30 yards of water. . .haha. I've worked hard on my pitching technique, accelerating through impact with a slightly open face and hands slightly ahead of the ball. I have it really dialed in. my average 35-40 yard pitch with my 60 almost always hop and stick. But, like I said, even a full 56 with a proV was releasing on these greens, usually I can stick it and maybe even pull it back a few feet.

[stevestrike]

The best way I heard it described was by Stuart Appleby (I think) when he said it was like striking a match. It's a very aggressive blow against the ball, but I found I need 30 min. to work with because the ball will go that far just from the blow. Then the spin can dig in. For closer shots, I just go with a higher, softer shot.

[hayam]

Driving the ball around the green/ or short pitches can be unpredictable, especially if it hits a bad slope and bad spin direction, I know its nice when you make it . Butetter to have weak soft shots and let them release a little, learn to control the trajectory instead, I get closer to the hole that way, consistently. I learn this the hard way when I played with those Old folks club and they are just so close all the time, the old hackers in my club just cut it and get it within 8 feet of the hole most of the time, ball stop on a dime on uphill , release a couple of feet on downhill , we play at a pretty fast green. 9-10 stimp.