The secret to great chipping

I’m oft surprised how complicated we make golf and in particular the short game. I see people using a lob wedge around the green almost exclusively for chipping the golf ball. Spin rates, little checkers, lobs, bump and run, one-hop-and-stop – all too complex. The objective of any golf shot is to get the ball closer to the hole (if not in the hole) than you were. Let’s not make it complicated.

I love to teach the chipping technique used and taught by Paul Runyan. Mr Runyan won the PGA Championship in 1934 and in 1938, beating Sam Snead in the final. It was matchplay then. He won 8 and 7 despite Sam being almost a hundred yards ahead of the tee. But, Little Poison (his nickname) used his short game to beat the great Snead and as a result the techniques for putting and chipping have been used widely since. Teaching this technique gives us success almost immediately.

Chipping was such an asset he laid up on a long par three all four days of a tournament and made par all four days.

He could do this by using a simple putting stroke chipping technique to propel the golf ball. Let’s go through it.

Set Up

Make the club (probably 7, 8 or 9 iron) stand up so that only the toe of the club is touching the ground. You’ll probably have to grip down the shaft a touch and stand closer.

your stance will be like you are putting. The ball will be set on the toe also.

From there simply putt the golf ball to your target. You don’t need to hit the ball hard. You don’t need to flick it in the air. Just bring the golf club back and take it through the same as you would a putt. Remember – always be aggressive – not necessarily hitting it hard, just getting it to the hole.

Check out this vid complete with ciggy:

Thank you to my beautiful model, John and to Chris Moss for the video.