A chili-dip golf shot is a short golf shot that is mis-hit, where the club head strikes the ground before it strikes the ball.
As the club head strikes the ground, the speed of the club head is transferred into the turf rather than the ball, so if the club head does make contact with the ball, the ball does not travel very far at all. It is particularly common on short pitch and chip shots.
A chili-dip golf shot is caused when the lowest point of your golf swing is too much to the right of the golf ball, rather than being where the golf ball is. There are many different reasons why the lowest point of a golfer's swing arc is reached before the club head strikes the golf ball, but no matter what the reason for this problem, work on the following drill to correct it.
Place a head cover to the right of the golf ball (for right handed golfers) and on the target line. Place the cover just outside your right foot when you have taken up your stance with your feet shoulder width apart. As you address the ball with your golf club, hover the club head above the ground so that you can swing over the head cover without hitting it. Swing back to the top of your backswing for your pitch or chip and then swing the club head back down, so that you do not strike the head cover, but you strike the ground to the left of the head cover, where the ball would be, with your club head.
Do this slowly at first without the golf ball and once you have become more proficient and confident at it, gradually increase the speed that you are swinging your golf club at, but still maintain striking the ground to the left of the head cover and not the head cover itself. Once you feel you are swinging your golf club at a fuller speed, then introduce a golf ball and complete the drill hitting a ball.
This will ensure that you have the bottom of your swing arc where the golf ball is, rather than to the right of the ball and as a result, you will strike the ball crisply and cleanly, with the correct club head speed for better distance control on your pitch and chip shots.
