Proper Golf Chipping Setup (Video) - by Pete Styles
Proper Golf Chipping Setup (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now because when we hit a chip shot, we do want the ball to do something different to how it would be when we're hitting a full shot. We actually mirror that in our setup. We change our setup for a chip or a pitch shot as opposed to a full swing. Now, we copy what we want the ball to do really with our setup. We want the ball to go shorter and we want to have more control. So, we remove the areas in the things from our setup that gave us power and we replace those things with more control.

So, a wide stance, a big grip and standing a long way from the ball is powerful but it's not really that controlled for a chip. So, we go narrow with the feet around about six or eight inches apart in the heels. We grip down at the base of the golf club which naturally gives us a lot more control and less power and then we stand a lot closer to the golf ball.

So, less power but a lot more control. Now, I'd also encourage you when you're chipping the golf ball to position the ball around about the center of your narrow stance, that's good there. Now, I'd also encourage you to open your feet up a little bit. Now, this can feel a bit strange because I'm not going to be aiming straight in my target direction. I'm actually going to be aiming quite a long way, left of my target direction as a right handed golfer.

Now the way I'd encourage you to achieve this is to make your toe to about where your bottom shoe lace is, so just drop the toe back, those four inches there to stand quite open and then I'm just going to flare that toe out a little bit as well because that feels a bit more comfortable to stand there, slightly open position.

With the ball still roughly evenly between the heels, leaning my body weight onto my left hand side pointing the shaft of the golf club towards my left hip and taking my hands quite a long way in front of the ball. Now, you can see there's a lot going on there, very, very different from the normal stance position here. So, I'm in and in and down and open and flared and leaning. Now, if you're going to follow that as a routine to get into a good chipping position, that should encourage you to be in a good position to be able to strike the ball nice and evenly and nice and cleanly because effectively my setup position is a mirror image of my impact position.

So, I wouldn't want to have to make too many adjustments from the bad setup position to try and get into a good impact position, a pretty much already stand and a good impact position, that just allows me to deliver the golf club nicely down, chipping the ball nice and cleanly.

So try and alter your chipping setup to something of that nature there and see how that affects the strike that you get when you're hitting the short shots.

 2012-05-31

Now because when we hit a chip shot, we do want the ball to do something different to how it would be when we're hitting a full shot. We actually mirror that in our setup. We change our setup for a chip or a pitch shot as opposed to a full swing. Now, we copy what we want the ball to do really with our setup. We want the ball to go shorter and we want to have more control. So, we remove the areas in the things from our setup that gave us power and we replace those things with more control.

So, a wide stance, a big grip and standing a long way from the ball is powerful but it's not really that controlled for a chip. So, we go narrow with the feet around about six or eight inches apart in the heels. We grip down at the base of the golf club which naturally gives us a lot more control and less power and then we stand a lot closer to the golf ball.

So, less power but a lot more control. Now, I'd also encourage you when you're chipping the golf ball to position the ball around about the center of your narrow stance, that's good there. Now, I'd also encourage you to open your feet up a little bit. Now, this can feel a bit strange because I'm not going to be aiming straight in my target direction. I'm actually going to be aiming quite a long way, left of my target direction as a right handed golfer.

Now the way I'd encourage you to achieve this is to make your toe to about where your bottom shoe lace is, so just drop the toe back, those four inches there to stand quite open and then I'm just going to flare that toe out a little bit as well because that feels a bit more comfortable to stand there, slightly open position.

With the ball still roughly evenly between the heels, leaning my body weight onto my left hand side pointing the shaft of the golf club towards my left hip and taking my hands quite a long way in front of the ball. Now, you can see there's a lot going on there, very, very different from the normal stance position here. So, I'm in and in and down and open and flared and leaning. Now, if you're going to follow that as a routine to get into a good chipping position, that should encourage you to be in a good position to be able to strike the ball nice and evenly and nice and cleanly because effectively my setup position is a mirror image of my impact position.

So, I wouldn't want to have to make too many adjustments from the bad setup position to try and get into a good impact position, a pretty much already stand and a good impact position, that just allows me to deliver the golf club nicely down, chipping the ball nice and cleanly.

So try and alter your chipping setup to something of that nature there and see how that affects the strike that you get when you're hitting the short shots.