Practice Tip  

Chip Shot

The biggest problem for most amateurs is making consistent, solid contact. Without solid contact both direction and distance control are lost.

The late Paul Runyan gave us what I believe is the secret to the chip shot. He utilized an opposing hands grip where the palms faced up and in at nearly a 45 degree angle instead of the orthodox swing grip where the palms face directly toward each other. His grip put the left hand (right-handed player) in an extremely weak position so that the back of the left hand is facing at the target. The right hand is placed more under so the V made by the thumb and forefinger is even or slightly to the right of the right shoulder.

With this grip take a comfortable narrow stance with the body slightly open to the target. Choke down on the club for lever control and so as to be able to stand close to the ball. The closer your eyes are to the target line the easier it is to line up accurately.

The next big keys to this shot are maintaining a straight right arm and not using any wrist cock.

Keep your right arm straight on the backswing so your right shoulder rocks up and down instead of around and back. Be aware that maintaining a straight arm does not mean a tense arm, keep it soft and without tension, and try to use it like a piston that rocks back and forth for the power source of this shot.

Eliminate any wristcock in this shot. Wristcock adds speed to the clubhead as well as spin to the ball which makes distance control more difficult.

In your practice sessions concentrate on using the same tempo each time and vary only swing length to hit shots different distances. I recommend using a 56 or 58 degree sand wedge for the majority of shots around the green with this technique. You can also hit a forty to fifty yard shot using this method.

Recommended short game reading: “The Short Way to Lower Scoring”, By Paul Runyan, 1979. Available on Amazon.com in the collections or used books sections.

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