No More Chunky Chips

Today I had a long conversation with one of the members of the golf club I work about how to eliminate the ‘fat’ shots from his short game. He said he had a great round except for a couple chips that he ‘chunked.’ To clarify, a ‘fat’ or ‘chunked’ shot is one where the clubhead impacts the grass behind the ball first, which decelerates the club tremendously and results in the golf ball traveling only a fraction of the distance desired.

In order to eliminate the ‘fat’ shot from your short game, you must accomplish a few things. One of these keys is to hit down on the ball and contact the golf ball first. This is easiest when you play the ball in the middle or back of your stance and lean the shaft of your club forward at address. You also want to put more weight toward your front foot and lean toward the target slightly.

Another important part of eliminating heavy shots is to select your club carefully. Many golfers take a high-lofted wedge out for every shot around the green. That can work in your favor when you do not have a lot of green to work with to roll your ball up to the hole, but when you do have some green to work with you need to take something with less loft. Take 8 or 9 iron to chip with around the green, this will keep your swing very short and compact which helps with hitting the ball solidly. When you take a high-lofted wedge around the green, you usually have to alter your normal chipping stroke to hit the ball the correct distance. When you alter your chipping stroke, you bring the ‘fat’ shot into the equation.

The final thought is definitely the most important for avoiding a chunked shot. You must accelerate through impact. Many golfers, with a chip or pitch, try to take a long backswing and control the distance the ball travels by slowing their clubhead down when coming into the impact area. Decelerating the club is the leading cause of ‘chunked’ shots. That is because when you slow things down in the middle of your swing your club can snag the ground very easily and dig into the ground and cause a ‘fat’ shot. So, what I teach my students to do when they are struggling with their chipping is to make sure their follow-through is longer than their backswing. This insures that the club is accelerating through impact.

Hitting a shot heavy around the greens is one of the worst feelings in golf and you know instantly that you have made a mistake. Hopefully, this article has helped you save some shots around the greens and I hope you never have to endure another ‘fat’ shot around the greens again!

Distance Control In Putting

In putting, there are two factors influenced by the player that determine whether or not a putt will go in the hole. Those two factors are distance and direction. Distance is by far the more important of the two because it can control the direction you need to hit the putt to find the optimum line. For example, if you hit a putt that is traveling toward the hole at a fast pace, you would have needed to pick a direction that takes less break into consideration. This is because a ball traveling at a fast speed will break less than one traveling slow. The opposite is also true, if you hit a putt that is approaching the hole at a slow pace, you would have needed to choose a direction that takes more break into account. With all this information in mind, it has been determined through research and experimentation that if a putt were to miss the hole, the ideal speed would leave the ball 18 inches past the hole. This amount of speed is considered the optimum speed for all putts.

Now that we know the proper distance to hit a putt, and how you need to adjust the amount of break you play depending on how fast or slow you hit a putt, we can talk about how to control distance with your putting stroke. Most amateurs control the distance that they hit a putt by how hard they hit the ball. They take a relatively similar length backstroke for all putts and control the distance by either accelerating into the ball slowly or quickly. This method of putting makes achieving the proper distance and speed on putts very difficult.

What I teach my students is to control the distance of their putts by varying the length of their stroke, but keeping the same rhythm and tempo. It is very important to find your tempo. Some people, outside of golf, are always on the run and are very active, which usually translates into their golf swing and putting stoke as a quick tempo. Some people live life a little slower, which translates into their golf game as a slow tempo and rhythm. Whatever your tempo is, you can find it rather easily by hitting a 10-foot putt. When you start your putter back count “1”, then when you reach the end of your backswing and transition forward count “2.” The length of time in between your “1” and “2” is your individual tempo. You want to remember this timing of counting “1” and “2” so that you can repeat it through all putts, whether it is a 3-footer or a 30-footer. They key is to make sure that count and tempo is comfortable to you. If it is not comfortable, try experimenting with slower or faster tempos until you find the one that is best and most comfortable for you.

After finding your tempo, practice controlling the distance of your putts with the length of your stroke, not how fast you accelerate through impact. Be sure to stay consistent with your tempo. I would recommend continuing to think or say “1”, “2” as you hit each putt. Vary the distance of the putts that you are practicing to test yourself at different distances.

Controlling the speed of your putts through varying the length of your backswing and forward swing makes controlling distance much easier and allows for more consistency. Making this little change in your putting stroke should help you turn all of those dreaded three putts into two putts or better!

Hitting A Chip Shot

A chip shot is best used when your ball is very near the green, but not close enough to putt the ball, or there is some sort of obstacle between you and the green. The goal of this chip shot is the use a small and controlled swing to pop the ball in the air just enough to get it onto the putting surface. Once the ball is onto the putting surface it will roll like a putt toward the hole. The goal of this shot is to get the ball rolling on the green as soon as possible because a shot most similar to a putt is easier to control than one that is hit high in the air and landed near the hole.

The best way to hit a chip shot is to play the ball back in your stance, or more toward your back foot. Angle your feet slightly left of the target and put your feet close together, less than shoulder width apart. Lean the shaft of the club forward toward the target slightly and put about 70 percent of your weight on your front foot. This will cause you to lean forward just slightly, which will help you strike the ball with a descending swing. I recommend gripping down on the club because it gives you more control of your swing. Once you have achieved a good setup you will take the club in your backswing to less than waist height. You can adjust the club that you are swinging with to control the distance and trajectory of the ball that will best suit the particular shot you are trying to play. A chip shot involves very little or no wrist break because you are trying to hit the ball in the air just enough to get it over the grass in front of you and onto the green rolling like a putt. Once you have taken the club back the appropriate length, swing through the ball and make sure you are hitting the ball with a descending blow. You want to hit the golf ball first with your club and then scrape the grass. This concept is very important because it leads to solid contact and easier distance control. When following through, be sure to keep your lead wrist straight. Do not let your lead wrist break down and flip through impact. This will lead to shots that are thin or fat and hard to control.

Once you have learned how to correctly hit a chip shot, experiment with different clubs to see how high the ball flies and how far each shot goes. You will need to use different clubs for varying situations you are confronted with on the golf course. Hopefully this information and advice will help your short game and lower your scores!

How To Hit A Flop Shot

First of all, do not ever hit a flop shot unless it is your last and only option to get the ball near the hole. The flop shot is an extremely difficult shot to pull off and control, so I recommend exploring all options before settling on a flop shot from around the green. If there is any way to run the ball up to and on the green I would suggest hitting a chip or pitch shot. The only times when a flop shot is advisable is when you have an obstacle between your ball and the hole, such as a bunker, water hazard, tree, etc. and you have little green to land on and let your ball roll towards the hole.

To execute a flop shot you need to take into consideration many variables. First, you are going to need to examine the lie of your golf ball. This is very important because you are going to play the shot differently if you are in short grass, long grass, buried in rough, etc. If you have a clean lie in short grass you will be able to put more spin on the ball which will help the ball stop once it hits the green. If you have a buried lie in the rough you won’t be able to impart spin on the ball and will have to allow for your ball to roll out once it hits the green. Once you have figured out what kind of lie you have, you will want to walk up to the green to see how much putting surface there is between the edge of the green and the hole, you will also want to look at the contours of the green to see where your ball will roll once it lands on the green. Lastly, take a look at what is in between you and the green. If there is a water hazard or bunker there, you may want to think about erring on the side of hitting the ball too far to make sure you get over the hazard. The last thing you want to do when you short-side yourself near the green is compound a mistake and throw away more shots.

After surveying the situation and determining what severity of flop shot that is needed, it is time to setup to the ball and execute. To set up for a flop shot you are going to want to open your body so that everything aligns to the left of the target. You will play the ball just ahead of the middle of your stance and take a fairly wide stance because you want a solid base for the swing and it helps get you lower to the ground which will help open the clubface. Turn the toe of the club towards your back foot (to the right for a right handed golfer) so that the club face is in an open position, this adds loft to the club so that you can hit a high and soft shot. The next two adjustments are the key to hitting good flop shots. The first is when you turn that clubface open, make sure to take your hands off the grip and re-position them as if you were normally gripping the club. If you fail to do this you will essentially be gripping the club as if it were square because you haven’t moved your hands at all. The second adjustment is to pull your hands back toward your back hip. This again adds loft to the clubface and helps you hit the ball high. Your hands will be behind the ball after this adjustment, which goes against almost everything taught in golf but it is allowed for only flop shots. The key, though, is that your hands will be back in front of the clubhead and ball when you are at impact because you want to strike the ball with a descending blow.

Now that we are setup, it’s time to make a swing. You will need to vary the length of the swing depending on how far and high you want to hit the ball. Always make sure you are accelerating through impact. It also helps to take the club back to the outside of your hands because that will again add loft to the clubface. You are going to need to break your wrists and hinge them quite a bit to get clubhead speed and hold the clubface open through impact to send the ball high in the air. Swing the clubhead along your body line, which is aimed left of the target because the open clubface will send the ball off to the right of where you are swinging (for right handed golfers). At impact you will want to feel like you are sliding under the ball with an open clubface. Be sure to finish your swing and hopefully, if everything goes well you will be watching your ball fly high in the air towards the hole over all the hazards in front of you.