When to Chip When to Pitch Near Green, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
When to Chip When to Pitch Near Green, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

So when you are near the green, you might have a little thought in your head about well, how am I going to play this shot? Do I play it as chip? Do I play it as a pitch?

Now, a lot of people get a bit confused between the terminology here. Now, let us not get too bugged down in what is the difference between a chip and a pitch and whether it is necessarily important to play one or the another but a chip shot is generally going to be played without too much wrist hinge, quite low to the floor and a pitch shot would be played with a little bit more wrist hinge, spending a little bit more time up in the air. But there is a massive transition between whether a ball is a chip or a pitch. So don’t think that is 2 separate shots. They are basically at 2 opposite ends of the spectrum and you can play any shot along that spectrum between the 2; the chip as the low one; the pitch is the high one.

Now, the course management decision you need to make before you assess the shot or as you are assessing the shot before you play it is which shot is going to give me the most positive result most of the time. The nice high, floaty lab wedge shot might give you the best result 1 in 10 but it might also give you the worst shot when you thin through the green and it kills walking around the other side of the green and you have to shout for. The chip shot might not be the glamorous shot but it might be the shot that works out more regularly. Your best shot might not be a chip but I doubt that your worst shot would a chip either, probably the average would actually be a bit closer. So when you are setting up to the ball, a couple of things you need to look at. What is the lie like, if it is a good lie, I can play the high cut under shot; if it is a bad lie, you are probably better off playing a little bump and roll. If the green is surrounded by water and water bunkers, it is more beneficial to hit the high shot. If there is nothing in the way, I can just roll it up there, maybe the chip shot works out better for you. Also have the consideration of what is over the back of the green. If I have water around the back, the thin high shot, and the thin pitch shop might reach the water but I doubt the thin chip shot as long as it is played nice and delicately would reach the water.

So again, balance of the risk and reward, balance of which one you are most confident with. Then when you pick the right shot, pick the right club, the right setup, and be nice and confident that with both of those shots we are trying down into the golf ball, using the confidence to hit down will encourage the ball to go up and play the right shot. If you are still trying to second guess yourself, you are still not sure which one you hit, you start about it nervously and watch it go, you will probably going to have a bad shot anyway. So don’t worry too much whether it is a pitch or a chip as long as you take one of them and you take it really confidently and really committed, you should get some nice results from those techniques.

 2012-05-11

So when you are near the green, you might have a little thought in your head about well, how am I going to play this shot? Do I play it as chip? Do I play it as a pitch?

Now, a lot of people get a bit confused between the terminology here. Now, let us not get too bugged down in what is the difference between a chip and a pitch and whether it is necessarily important to play one or the another but a chip shot is generally going to be played without too much wrist hinge, quite low to the floor and a pitch shot would be played with a little bit more wrist hinge, spending a little bit more time up in the air. But there is a massive transition between whether a ball is a chip or a pitch. So don’t think that is 2 separate shots. They are basically at 2 opposite ends of the spectrum and you can play any shot along that spectrum between the 2; the chip as the low one; the pitch is the high one.

Now, the course management decision you need to make before you assess the shot or as you are assessing the shot before you play it is which shot is going to give me the most positive result most of the time. The nice high, floaty lab wedge shot might give you the best result 1 in 10 but it might also give you the worst shot when you thin through the green and it kills walking around the other side of the green and you have to shout for. The chip shot might not be the glamorous shot but it might be the shot that works out more regularly. Your best shot might not be a chip but I doubt that your worst shot would a chip either, probably the average would actually be a bit closer. So when you are setting up to the ball, a couple of things you need to look at. What is the lie like, if it is a good lie, I can play the high cut under shot; if it is a bad lie, you are probably better off playing a little bump and roll. If the green is surrounded by water and water bunkers, it is more beneficial to hit the high shot. If there is nothing in the way, I can just roll it up there, maybe the chip shot works out better for you. Also have the consideration of what is over the back of the green. If I have water around the back, the thin high shot, and the thin pitch shop might reach the water but I doubt the thin chip shot as long as it is played nice and delicately would reach the water.

So again, balance of the risk and reward, balance of which one you are most confident with. Then when you pick the right shot, pick the right club, the right setup, and be nice and confident that with both of those shots we are trying down into the golf ball, using the confidence to hit down will encourage the ball to go up and play the right shot. If you are still trying to second guess yourself, you are still not sure which one you hit, you start about it nervously and watch it go, you will probably going to have a bad shot anyway. So don’t worry too much whether it is a pitch or a chip as long as you take one of them and you take it really confidently and really committed, you should get some nice results from those techniques.