Rule of 12 (Chipping)

[Kdaniel72]

New to the forum and this is my first post!

 

Does anyone use the rule of 12 when chipping?

[Rasser75]

Welcome!

 

Can you re-cap the rule?

[snwfrk10]

I think this is what he is talking about.

 

[CoiledUP]

Solid material, but like all else a choice.

[om18v]

I have always used the rule of 12 but my current instructor is attempting to change the way I look at these shots. For now I'm going with the instructor and see how it works out for my game.

[Kdaniel72]

Getting back in the game and used this in the past when I was always under 90. My biggest gains, when I am playing my best, usually are 10 yards from the green and in! Setting a goal to break 80 this year (First is to break 90 again LOL). I was wondering if this sounds like a solid system or if anyone has something better. For me I need simplicity with a full time job, wife, training for a half marathon and 3 kids. I do indorse this system because it requires the same stroke for each shot. Just different clubs for different distances.

[Yrrdead]

I made a post about it awhile back, it's solid for people that don't have a ton of time imo.

 

Have to obviously calibrate a bit due to changes from loft and green speed considering this system was popularized by Paul "little poison" Runyan almost 90 years ago.

 

[DavePelz4]

I use the rule of 3 because after 10 fingers, I'm not smart enough to have anything to count with.

 

Fill in your own jokes here.

[Kdaniel72]

Thanks.

[crazygolfnut]

I can not get my head around it. Sorry

[RichieHunt]

Yes, I still use it. There's some give-and-take here. If you have a steep downhill chip, you may want to take a club or two less and vice versa on uphill slopes.

 

The big benefit is that it creates a landing area that is closer to you. This beats always hitting a SW to a landing spot that is further from you which is more difficult to accurately hit and then have the right amount of spin to go with it.

 

 

 

 

RH

[dasams]

My biggest problem with using the lower lofted clubs is distance control. I chip with my lob, sand and gap wedges and I hold them at the bottom of the grip. The differences in the lengths of the shafts is 1". That I can handle. But if I chip with a 6 iron, then the shaft is another 2" longer and distance control becomes an issue. YMMV.

[Ri_Redneck]

I play greens that can range anywhere from 8 to 12 on the stimp and are rarely level...... so no, I don't use it.

 

BT

[crapula]

I use it but I don't think about it. With enough practice you can feel it. I always hit a couple chips on the practice green to give myself an idea of what my 50/50 club would be. I don't walk off paces, I just try to visualize. I take mental notes during the round so my chipping gets better as I play.

[FormerBigDaddy]

Was playing around with this yesterday and found it to work really nicely, especially on the approaches. That being said I had a thought near the end of my practice session... if i want to keep the stroke as consistent as possible with wedges to longer clubs (didnt go lower than 8 iron in practice), would choking down affect the math? Seems very logical to me to try to keep the club length consistent so to practice the same way every time.

[parmark]

This really works. For some of us not able to determine what kind of shot to hit this really simplifies things once you figure out the equation. Several playing partners have noticed an improvement since I started with this method last year, and helped to knock of a few strokes at the same time which is always fun.

[parmark]

> @dasams said:

> My biggest problem with using the lower lofted clubs is distance control. I chip with my lob, sand and gap wedges and I hold them at the bottom of the grip. The differences in the lengths of the shafts is 1". That I can handle. But if I chip with a 6 iron, then the shaft is another 2" longer and distance control becomes an issue. YMMV.

 

Not being a smarmy type - what I do with the longer ones is really choke down on the club a bit to give same stroke and feel as wedge, right thumb almost on shaft. Give that a try. Good luck.

[bluedot]

I've been using it for over 30 years now, and to be honest, I'm not sure why ANY amateur wouldn't.

 

The pro at my club in 1986 taught it to me in a lesson; he'd been a college A-A, and still competed successfully in PGA section events. The way he explained it was pretty simple: If you putt/roll the ball ON the green, why wouldn't you want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible when you are OFF the green? We don't chip on long putts, right?

 

Most of the criticisms that you will hear about the Rule of 12 are out of a lack of understanding of what is really being done. The baseline is simply to hit some chips and figure out FOR YOU which club gives you an approximately 1:1 carry to roll ratio. From there, it's a simple matter, and you are constantly making adjustments based on slope, grain, lie, etc. So you might have three different chips that all have a 1:3 carry to roll ratio, but use three different clubs for those three shots if one is flat, one is uphill, and the third is downhill. The key point, of course, is that you don't try to manipulate the stroke anymore than necessary; you manipulate the club selection instead. And you do EXACTLY what you do when you putt; you try to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

[BogeyParBogey]

Old thread alert

 

This afternoon I had an iron mishit and found myself somewhat short-sided and with an ok lie.  I had about 15 steps to my intended landing spot just a yard or so onto the green and another 16 steps to the hole, roughly a 1:1 ratio. 

 

My wedge game is not the best so I've been interested in trying Rule of 11/Rule of 12 chipping.  The greens in northern IL are dormant now and the greens on this course are always on the slow side anyway.  I chose my 45 degree PW and executed the chip to about a 2 foot putt.  I made the putt for the up and down.

 

I think for lower skill golfers like me this technique has a chance for more ups and downs than I am used to.  

 

Dave

[bluedot]

On 4/15/2018 at 7:18 PM, Kdaniel72 said:

New to the forum and this is my first post!

 

Does anyone use the rule of 12 when chipping?

 

I've used it for many, many years.  It's just based on the idea of getting the ball rolling on the green as soon as possible, rather than trying to judge carry distances, and using multiple clubs to do it. 

 

The mistake or misunderstanding about it is that it is that you are somehow locked into using a particular club at a particular distance, which is, of course, silly.  The "formula" is just a staring point, and you factor in the lie, the slope, the green speed, grain, etc. 

[me05501]

I know this is going to sound nuts to many here, but these kinds of methods make much more sense for a player who walks and carries their bag than for anyone who plays from a cart.

 

This was one issue that eventually caused me to give up on the Pelz method for short approaches. Every time I faced a shot inside 100 yards, I left the cart with three or four wedges and usually my putter too because it was generally close to the green anyway. Then I wanted to know exactly what my distance was, not only to the flag but also to the flattest landing area around the pin, which required seeing the green up close before planning my shot. Not wanting to be "that guy" who slowed the group down so I always felt like I rushed through the process just to keep moving. 

 

This method is similar in that you want to have all of your clubs nearby so you can choose the right one. If that means going back to your cart for a different club several times a round it's going to get pretty old. 

 

If you walk and have your bag handy it's no big deal. But even those of us who like walking don't always have the choice or find it impractical. I've never seen anyone walk and carry in a scramble, for instance. 

[MrJones]

I'm a fan. I don't really use the rule as much as I have a feel for which club to use in each situation but I actively attempt to get the ball on the ground and rolling as soon as possible.

 

One of the things I found surprising was balls hit with a lower lofted club will still have a good bit of check prior to release.

 

The biggest plus for me is that my chip in "makes" and near makes went up drastically once I got the hang of this method.

[DallasDan]

i don't use the rule but i do try to use the least lofted club possible. 

[bluedot]

14 hours ago, DallasDan said:

i don't use the rule but i do try to use the least lofted club possible. 

 

This is the key, whether you call it the Rule of 12 or not.  I think the vast majority of teaching pros would advise the vast majority of amateurs to chip with that thought as their guiding principle.  When we're ON the green, we putt; we don't chip, and there is a reason for that.  So when we're just OFF the green, why would the idea of getting the ball rolling asap not still be better?

[Kdaniel72]

I do not use my 60 degree wedge in the rule of 12. I start with my sand wedge. 

[bluedot]

Just now, Kdaniel72 said:

I do not use my 60 degree wedge in the rule of 12. I start with my sand wedge. 

 

The starting point of the Rule of 12 is to figure out which club has a 1:1 ratio of carry to roll on a standard and relatively flat chip, and work from there.  Mine is gap wedge, but I imagine that varies from person to person. 

 

I have a really hard time off a tight lie with either my 54 or 58; the bounce on those seems to work against chipping, at least for me.  They are great for pitch shots; chipping, not so much.

[Kdaniel72]

The tight lies I try to putt if possible, flop with 60 or run it by with SW hoping for an uphill putt. Sometimes I will play around with PW 1-3 and 1-4 ratio. 

In my bag:

Putter 1-1 ratio

60- don’t use for Rof12

SW 55 1-2 ratio 

Gap 50 1-3

PW 45 1-4

9i  1-5

8i 1-6

7i 1-7

Edited May 4, 2021 by Kdaniel72

[MelloYello]

Seems like an honorable attempt to mechanize distance control and replace feel, but I can't imagine using it on the heavily-sloped courses I play. I feel as though I need about as much spin as possible most of the time. Roll-out is usually not a good thing in my short-game. I'm almost always looking to minimize how much a ball releases. If you're on the collar or right beside it, you probably ought to be putting anyhow, right?

 

This seems like a system ideally suited to flatter courses with exceptionally large greens where roll-out is to be embraced. 

[aethomp]

A couple of years back, I had a real bad case of the yips whenever I was chipping/pitching. I came across the rule of 12 - in the form of the Runyan method - and I have never looked back. 

 

There are a ton of benefits, but I think it all boils down to the simplicity and repeatability of the stroke. If you look up "putting tips" or something similar on Google, almost every result will include something along the lines of: have a repeatable routine and use it for every single putt. In my opinion, this method allows you to take that same putting routine and extend it to chipping. 

 

This video is what made it all click in my head. Paul Runyan was an excellent teacher, and he breaks it down in an understandable way. I think the putting stuff at the front of the video is useful as well, but the chipping method starts at 21:40.

 

[Three_Jack]

You still have to know how much speed to use to hit it to that first spot.

 

So you STILL have to understand how much effort is required for each club in the bag to hit it to a certain spot. 

 

I still prefer to master how 1 or 2 clubs fly with a given effort.

 

No matter what you need FEEL around the green. I don't practice short game enough to master feel with a bunch of different clubs.