W L
GOLF
CHIP IT EFFICIENTLY THIS WINTER
BY TOM ATKINSON , PGA GOLF PROFESSIONAL
This month we will cover a shot that you , the club golfer will find yourself facing more than any other short shot , the chip and run up the green .
Chipping the ball is the same as any other shot in golf , a task . Get the ball from A-B . When I ask my pupils to list some ' tag ' words that they associate with a chip shot , all too often I hear words like loft , spin , height and wedge , they want to get that ball into the air ! Why ? Here ' s a scenario ( when you ' re allowed back at the local bowling alley ), your task is to get the ball to knock down the pins ( from A to B ) you couldn ' t imagine the reaction if you threw that ball down the lane using the same action as a throw in at football . What ' s this person doing ? Surely they know the best way to get the job done is to keep it on the ground . So what ' s different when chipping the ball in golf ? Nothing is the answer , apart from the misconception of having to get that ball airborne . Ben Hogan once alluded to this ' if golf was designed to be played in the air there ' d be grass on the clouds '.
The Technique
We all realise that the club in our bag that keeps the ball hugging the turf the best is the putter , and rightly so this is a go to club when trying to push the ball through the fringe grass and up to the hole . When the putter isn ' t on though , our mind starts to get confused . We try all sorts of ways to keep it low but the right one , 7 iron , back footed lob wedge , hooded 9 iron . No , no , no . Don ' t make the game any harder than it already is . Your putter has around 4 degrees of loft on it , your 7 iron has around 31 . There ' s a tool sitting waiting to be hit that is perfect for the job in the form of your hybrid / rescue club .
With a loft of around 20 degrees but more importantly a big forgiving head , it ' s harder to play your chip and run badly than it is efficiently . Go out and try it . There ' s little technical coaching needed . Play like a putt . I can guarantee that within 10 shots you will have that ball threatening the hole . Watch out though as it comes off the face at speed !
Go and try this technique today , and not only from a good lie , it will work from an old divot , a wet lie or a bare lie around the green . Winter golf provides a different test , the ball will stop much quicker when it lands , usually forcing you to land the ball further away from you than you ' d like , make it skip over the grass , make it roll more , make the game easier ! If you ’ re still not quite getting it then feel free to get in touch and we can work on it together .
64 wirrallife . com