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Having the ability to chip the ball close when you’ve missed a green will dramatically reduce scores.

To build a solid chipping technique use the following guide.

How to chip the ball closer

• Hold the club slightly further down the grip for more control.
• The club face should be square to the ball-to-target line and the shoulders parallel to this line.
• The feet and hips, however, should be slightly open to the target line. This is because the golfer doesn’t have time to build up enough momentum to turn the hips through impact.
• The ball should be positioned just back of center in the stance with 60% of body weight on the front foot. The hands should also be opposite the front thigh.
• By leaning the shaft towards the target slightly it will be easier to create a clean contact and descending blow on the ball.
• After taking the correct set up, the swing is mostly controlled with the shoulders rocking back and through. The grip should be kept as light as possible to increase feel. The shoulders, arms and club shaft lean towards the target to create a ‘y’ shape.
• Golfers should focus on where they want to land the ball and where they want it to roll to.
• As the shoulders rock back, the arms, wrists and hands stay connected with each other, this means the arms move back under control of the shoulders, the wrists move back under control of the arms and hands rock back and through.
• At impact the left arm and back of the left wrist should be held firm to ensure there is no flicking of the club head at the ball.
• The hands return ahead of the club head at impact and the shoulders, arms, and club shaft maintain the y shape.
• Accelerate through striking down on the ball to generate back spin. To control distance swing the club the same length back and through.

Good chipping is essential to how well players can score during a game. Practice the above technique and build some feel into your short game.

Using the technique above will only get players so far. Practicing chipping is extremely important because of its delicate nature. Golfers need to spend time around the practice green chipping to improve touch and feel.

Take more time to visualize where you want the ball to land. This will improve touch and your results. Focusing on where the ball should land and visualizing where it will run out to is a great way of improving feel.

The easiest way to improve feel is to let the hands relax on the grip. Holding on tightly will cause tension to spread from the hands into the arms and then the upper body.