Chipping, Two-Tiered Golf Green (Video) - by Pete Styles
Chipping, Two-Tiered Golf Green (Video) - by Pete Styles

There maybe a lots of factors that you need to weigh before you play your chip shot not just the distance from you to the hole, but also what’s in-between you and the hole but even when you get up on to the green, you might have to weigh well what are the contour of the green like and how will that effect my ball. Particularly if you are in a position where, let’s say there is a bit contour in the middle of the green almost a big shelf and the bottom level of the shelf and then a top level where the pin is. So it might turn a nice sort of little 30 yard chip and run into a little bit more of a difficult shot with the self in the middle. Generally there is two options that you could choose here. You could either have the lower option of landing the ball at the front of the self rolling up the tier and then finishing on the top level or take the bottom tier out of play completely, fly it all the way up to the top level, land it on the top shelf and get it to sit down and spin.

And I think the real thing you got to consider here is that they have 2 very distinctly different landing areas. Landing at the front of the green and it runs out and landing at the back of the green it needs to spin. And really you got to be careful, you don’t confuse yourself and pick the wrong club and the wrong landing area. So the club choice might be between a 7 9 landing at the front and a low wedge or sun wedge landing at the back, is then important that when you pick that club you kind of drill in the right type of swing you load in the right swing. So if have got my low wedge I am going to fly all the area on the front, I am going to land it up on the top. So I almost imagine the front of the green is now a bunker, I don’t want my ball to land on the front of the green because the ball would land, spin and it wouldn’t clear the hill then I have got to putter there which makes my putt a lot more difficult. So I imagine the front of the green in bunker, I am taking quite an assertive, aggressive little practice swing trying to fly the ball 30 or 40 yards on to the top level and as long as the top level is big enough and has a big enough landing area I should be able to get the ball to spin and stop up on that top level and make my put easier.

If I then change and said well I have gotten to land the ball short and run it up, I might take something like a 7 or an 8 time but this time I am looking at a different place, I am looking at the front edge of the green, I am going to try and chip the ball down with a little bit of a shorter less wrist hinge, less power type of chipping stroke get the ball down to the front edge then get it rolling and releasing up to the top of the bank. So 2 very different shots, 2 very different clubs and 2 very different approaches to playing them. I think the lower shot is generally better and safer for the less confident golfer. The high flick up in the air may often produce you better results but it will produce your worst results as well. So any time you are hitting the high sun wedge or low wedge short it’s quite a high tariff shot, good ones will be good, bad ones will be very bad. The key to this shot is practicing it and finding which one you are most comfortable with.

 2012-07-16

There maybe a lots of factors that you need to weigh before you play your chip shot not just the distance from you to the hole, but also what’s in-between you and the hole but even when you get up on to the green, you might have to weigh well what are the contour of the green like and how will that effect my ball. Particularly if you are in a position where, let’s say there is a bit contour in the middle of the green almost a big shelf and the bottom level of the shelf and then a top level where the pin is. So it might turn a nice sort of little 30 yard chip and run into a little bit more of a difficult shot with the self in the middle. Generally there is two options that you could choose here. You could either have the lower option of landing the ball at the front of the self rolling up the tier and then finishing on the top level or take the bottom tier out of play completely, fly it all the way up to the top level, land it on the top shelf and get it to sit down and spin.

And I think the real thing you got to consider here is that they have 2 very distinctly different landing areas. Landing at the front of the green and it runs out and landing at the back of the green it needs to spin. And really you got to be careful, you don’t confuse yourself and pick the wrong club and the wrong landing area. So the club choice might be between a 7 9 landing at the front and a low wedge or sun wedge landing at the back, is then important that when you pick that club you kind of drill in the right type of swing you load in the right swing. So if have got my low wedge I am going to fly all the area on the front, I am going to land it up on the top. So I almost imagine the front of the green is now a bunker, I don’t want my ball to land on the front of the green because the ball would land, spin and it wouldn’t clear the hill then I have got to putter there which makes my putt a lot more difficult. So I imagine the front of the green in bunker, I am taking quite an assertive, aggressive little practice swing trying to fly the ball 30 or 40 yards on to the top level and as long as the top level is big enough and has a big enough landing area I should be able to get the ball to spin and stop up on that top level and make my put easier.

If I then change and said well I have gotten to land the ball short and run it up, I might take something like a 7 or an 8 time but this time I am looking at a different place, I am looking at the front edge of the green, I am going to try and chip the ball down with a little bit of a shorter less wrist hinge, less power type of chipping stroke get the ball down to the front edge then get it rolling and releasing up to the top of the bank. So 2 very different shots, 2 very different clubs and 2 very different approaches to playing them. I think the lower shot is generally better and safer for the less confident golfer. The high flick up in the air may often produce you better results but it will produce your worst results as well. So any time you are hitting the high sun wedge or low wedge short it’s quite a high tariff shot, good ones will be good, bad ones will be very bad. The key to this shot is practicing it and finding which one you are most comfortable with.