Two Ways to Play a Fast, Downhill Chip, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Two Ways to Play a Fast, Downhill Chip, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

Let’s picture a position where you got yourself a little bit in the wrong place on the chipping green. You've landed yourself above the hole on a nice, big down slope all the way down on a fast green. You're not on the green but you're on the fringe and you've got to chip the ball back up. This is not an easy shot. You've kind of got to get the ball down on the green, get it going slowly enough that it doesn't race on. If you land this ball and it's bouncing and it's skipping, it just gains momentum and shoots off the other side of the green. So if you're on the fringe and there’s not a lot in the way, I would advocate a sort of putting stroke, chipping style so you putt but with a chipping club, taking something like a pitching wedge or a gap wedge and just having a little putting stroke, just nudge it forwards, get in the on the surface and get it releasing down to the hole. Try and avoid flying it over the green. Try and land it on the green as soon as you can and get it releasing down to the hole. That works nicely if you're on the fringe.

But if you're a little bit further back into the semi or it's a little bit claggy around the green you're more in the longer grass, you need to play that ball with a little bit more aggression and therefore a bit more loft. You take your most lofted clubs, something like a lob wedge, have the face nice and open on your lob wedge but just play it back in your stance so you can still get quite steeply down into the back of the golf ball and then just make a really committed acceleration through. We desperately want to avoid decelerating into the golf ball. I would just nudge it forwards and it might not reach the green but a nice, short backswing and a little bit of a sort of a pop underneath the ball and if we have the ball back, put the face open, a little bit of a pop underneath the golf ball. Try and get the ball to land as softly as soon as you can on the green and then release gently down to the hole. Plenty of loft, a good firm pop underneath the ball and try and spot your landing area and that should lead to the fact that the ball when it lands it lands softly and release it gently down to the hole from that difficult downhill chip shot.

 2012-09-18

Let’s picture a position where you got yourself a little bit in the wrong place on the chipping green. You've landed yourself above the hole on a nice, big down slope all the way down on a fast green. You're not on the green but you're on the fringe and you've got to chip the ball back up. This is not an easy shot. You've kind of got to get the ball down on the green, get it going slowly enough that it doesn't race on. If you land this ball and it's bouncing and it's skipping, it just gains momentum and shoots off the other side of the green. So if you're on the fringe and there’s not a lot in the way, I would advocate a sort of putting stroke, chipping style so you putt but with a chipping club, taking something like a pitching wedge or a gap wedge and just having a little putting stroke, just nudge it forwards, get in the on the surface and get it releasing down to the hole. Try and avoid flying it over the green. Try and land it on the green as soon as you can and get it releasing down to the hole. That works nicely if you're on the fringe.

But if you're a little bit further back into the semi or it's a little bit claggy around the green you're more in the longer grass, you need to play that ball with a little bit more aggression and therefore a bit more loft. You take your most lofted clubs, something like a lob wedge, have the face nice and open on your lob wedge but just play it back in your stance so you can still get quite steeply down into the back of the golf ball and then just make a really committed acceleration through. We desperately want to avoid decelerating into the golf ball. I would just nudge it forwards and it might not reach the green but a nice, short backswing and a little bit of a sort of a pop underneath the ball and if we have the ball back, put the face open, a little bit of a pop underneath the golf ball. Try and get the ball to land as softly as soon as you can on the green and then release gently down to the hole. Plenty of loft, a good firm pop underneath the ball and try and spot your landing area and that should lead to the fact that the ball when it lands it lands softly and release it gently down to the hole from that difficult downhill chip shot.