Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

Here we are going to look at how to play a really effective alternatives to hitting the chip shots, so if you are struggling with your chipping, you don’t have the confidence to play out in the golf course, it’s not avoiding playing that shot, it’s playing to your strengths. If you know there is a weakness there, then work on it off the course, build your confidence and when you are out on the course, don’t put yourself in that situation and go for an alternative. So the first thing you want to look for is if the conditions are suitable, if the grass isn’t too long, think about putting. Okay, when you go to play the putt, set up the ball in the middle of the feet, get your eyes directly over the top of the ball. The best way to do this is when you set up, just place the ball directly between your eyes and allow the ball to just drop on where its first bounce is really wherever the ball lands, is where you are going to putt from.

Get your eyes over the ball and then once you have achieved that position, allow the arms to dangle. And then hold the putter in that position creating this really nice Y shape with the arms, and the golf club. We are just going to swing that Y shape back and swing it through, so just back and through an equal distance to the right and to the left. Now if you work on that as a putting stroke, what I then suggest to do is just go into different areas around the green, throw balls down at different distances and get a feel for how much swing and how firm you have got to hit the ball, because obviously, you are putting from off the green, you are going to have to hit it firmer. So just go to various distances and get a feel for how much you need to swing the club and how much force you need to hit the ball with, to achieve the distance. But if the grass is a little bit longer than the ball is in, and you are having to play into the green, what I would recommend or if it’s a slightly longer shot, is to try playing a little hybrid or your utility shot.

I do exactly the same thing with the set up, keep the ball in the middle and this time, your eyes aren’t going to over the ball, because obviously, the club is a little longer. But we will hold down the handle to get close to the club as you can, but we still want to work on creating that nice Y shape position with the arms and the club. So pull your left foot back slightly, so that will allow you to follow through really well and then work on taking that Y shape back in through, just bump in the ground, just taking a little brush noise as you make that practice swing. If you play that shot, because the hybrids has got clubface which is much harder than the putter, the putter is much softer, the ball will come up with more speed, so you will find, you will get more distance and also, because you got a little bit more loft on that clubface, you will just a little bit of lift whereas the putter won’t lift the ball over any longer grass. So have a go with those two shots and the next time you are in a situation faced with a chip where you don’t want to have to play the chip, go for those alternatives.