One of the most important skills a golfer can have is just a basic chip shot from around the green. I don’t care how good of a ball striker are, you’re going to miss four or five greens around at least.
The biggest fault that I see in chipping when somebody’s getting started with the game is they try and lift and scoop the ball into the air. And the way I teach chipping is there’s only one technique: if we want to change the trajectory, we change the golf club, or do something in our setup.
The basic technique is going to be narrow stance, weight 60% on your left foot, the ball is going to be opposite of your sternum. There’s a little wrist hinge in the backswing. And then I want to turn going forward.
Just so you know, or as a thought, if I turn my chest enough that right foot can come off the ground and that that’s absolutely fine. I don’t want to see somebody getting real rigid with their lower body. We’re just not really using it. So it’s a wrist hinge and a turn.
And a good check to make sure that you are developing a good angle coming into the ball is take an alignment rod with your trail foot stand on that. If I am over here and releasing this angle too early, I’m going to hit the stick. Whereas if I hinge and then this angle in my right wrist is going to stay as I turn through the ball, then the sticks not in my way and I can hit a nice solid crisp shot out onto the green.
