Left Hand Golf Tip: You Should Hit Down to Prevent Scooping Chip Shots (Video)
Left Hand Golf Tip: You Should Hit Down to Prevent Scooping Chip Shots (Video)

A massive issue many left handed golfers face around the green is the tendency to scoop at the chip shot. So that means, the right wrist as you coming through the ball, breaks down and starts to scoop up the ball in this direction and obviously, the left hand underneath as well kind of helps that action. It’s when both the wrists break down, the club overtakes the hands and you get into this position here, where you’ve scooped up the ball. The reason many golfers do this and the reason why it’s so tempting is because around the greens, especially when the pressure is on, it can become very tempting just to try and help the ball up into the air. But for a standard basic chip shot, this is not the way you want to be going. You want to be striking down and through the ball creating some back spin and actually gaining a little bit more control over the flight and the distance where you are hitting your chip shots.

Now the first thing you need to get right is the basic set up, which is feet close together, hip slightly open to the target because you don’t have time to turn them in a little chip shot. So feet and hips slightly open to the target, the hands set slightly ahead kind of opposite that front thigh there—front thigh there and with the hands pressed just slightly ahead as well. And for this kind of tipping as you go out to the chipping grid, is the relationship between the right wrist and the club that needs to remain constant. So it needs to remain, nice and firm, back and through the ball. The moment it breaks down, if you actually kind of have a practice shot and you see this position here, where the wrists have broke down and you try to lift the ball into the air, that’s when you will know that the wrists have broken down and you’ve tried to scoop up the ball. What I want you to try and do is as you are hitting the shot, keep that left wrist nice and firm and keep it firm all the way up into this position here. So you don’t want it breaking down at all. A couple of tips you can use to actually do that if you wear a watch or just an elastic band on this hand, you can slip a ruler or a pen just down the back, and then if you do kind of break that wrist down, the ruler will bend or the pen will bend and you’ll feel the pressure. If you can keep it sitting there, just like that, keeping it flat against the back f the hand and the back of the arm, you’ll know that it’s not breaking down and it’s not scooping up the ball. Give it a go, apply that to your game and I’m sure that you’ll find your chips are a lot more consistent and your sure game is a lot sharper. 2014-03-04




A massive issue many left handed golfers face around the green is the tendency to scoop at the chip shot. So that means, the right wrist as you coming through the ball, breaks down and starts to scoop up the ball in this direction and obviously, the left hand underneath as well kind of helps that action. It’s when both the wrists break down, the club overtakes the hands and you get into this position here, where you’ve scooped up the ball. The reason many golfers do this and the reason why it’s so tempting is because around the greens, especially when the pressure is on, it can become very tempting just to try and help the ball up into the air. But for a standard basic chip shot, this is not the way you want to be going. You want to be striking down and through the ball creating some back spin and actually gaining a little bit more control over the flight and the distance where you are hitting your chip shots.

Now the first thing you need to get right is the basic set up, which is feet close together, hip slightly open to the target because you don’t have time to turn them in a little chip shot. So feet and hips slightly open to the target, the hands set slightly ahead kind of opposite that front thigh there—front thigh there and with the hands pressed just slightly ahead as well. And for this kind of tipping as you go out to the chipping grid, is the relationship between the right wrist and the club that needs to remain constant. So it needs to remain, nice and firm, back and through the ball. The moment it breaks down, if you actually kind of have a practice shot and you see this position here, where the wrists have broke down and you try to lift the ball into the air, that’s when you will know that the wrists have broken down and you’ve tried to scoop up the ball.

What I want you to try and do is as you are hitting the shot, keep that left wrist nice and firm and keep it firm all the way up into this position here. So you don’t want it breaking down at all. A couple of tips you can use to actually do that if you wear a watch or just an elastic band on this hand, you can slip a ruler or a pen just down the back, and then if you do kind of break that wrist down, the ruler will bend or the pen will bend and you’ll feel the pressure. If you can keep it sitting there, just like that, keeping it flat against the back f the hand and the back of the arm, you’ll know that it’s not breaking down and it’s not scooping up the ball. Give it a go, apply that to your game and I’m sure that you’ll find your chips are a lot more consistent and your sure game is a lot sharper.