Hello, Daily Duffer Nation! Sarah Chen here, your Golf Instruction Editor, and I’m thrilled to dive into one of the most critical aspects of lowering your scores: the short game. As a PGA-certified instructor with over 15 years on the lesson tee, I’ve seen firsthand that whether you’re a burgeoning pro or a dedicated weekend warrior, honing your chipping and pitching is where the real magic happens.
We all know that hitting greens in regulation is crucial. The source article points out a stark reality:
“If you are hitting three or four per round the chances of you being a single-digit handicapper are eerily similar to you scaling Mount Everest.”
But here’s the encouraging part: even Tour players only average 13 to 14 greens per round. What sets them apart? Their unparalleled ability to get up and down. This tells us that mastering the area around the green is your quickest path to shaving strokes off your scorecard. It’s truly the “low hanging fruit” that many instructors, myself included, often emphasize.
Mastering Your Setup: The Foundation of Good Short Game Shots
Let’s start with the absolute basics – your setup. This is where you create the conditions for success, providing the club and your body with the best chance to make solid contact.
For **chip shots**, which are generally shorter, lower-flighted shots designed to roll out to the hole, consistency is key. Keep your feet close together, perhaps with just a clubhead’s width between them. Your weight should be predominantly on your lead foot (60-70%), and the ball positioned slightly back of center. This encourages a descending blow, ensuring ball-first contact.
When it comes to **pitch shots**, which involve a longer swing and more loft to carry the ball further in the air, your stance will be a little wider than for chipping, but still with that 60-70% weight distribution on your lead foot. The ball position will be closer to the center, or even slightly back of center, depending on the shot you’re trying to hit. You’ll typically want your hands slightly ahead of the ball for both types of shots to deloft the club slightly and encourage clean contact.
Here’s a breakdown of the setup basics:
- Feet close together for chips; a little further apart for pitches.
- Have 60-70% of your weight on your lead foot for every short game shot.
- Ball position slightly back of center with chips; pretty much centered with pitches.
- Hands slightly ahead of the ball.
- Shirt buttons vertical with pitch shots and tilted toward target with chips.
That last point about your shirt buttons is incredibly insightful! It emphasizes the importance of your body’s tilt, which directly impacts your angle of attack and ability to make ball-first contact. For short game shots, ensuring your button line is angled slightly toward the target moves the low point of your swing forward, making clean strikes much easier. Think about it: an upward strike on a chip will lead to a topped or bladed shot, while a descending blow ensures you hit the ball first.
The “Y” and “L” Principles: Building Your Swing Shape
The visual cues for short game swings are fantastic for consistency. For chip shots, you want to maintain the “Y” shape created by your arms and the club shaft in your setup throughout the entire swing. This keeps your wrists firm and minimizes independent hand movement, promoting a pendulum-like motion.
For pitch shots, the swing is a bit longer, introducing some wrist hinge. The article wisely suggests focusing on forming an “L” between your lead arm and the shaft at the top of your backswing. And here’s the key: “There is an ‘L’ in the backswing and an ‘L’ in the through swing.” This symmetrical “L” to “L” motion ensures balance and consistent acceleration through impact.
Rotation is Your Friend: Avoiding the Scoop
One of the most frequent mistakes I see high handicappers make, as the source article highlights, is stalling their chest rotation. This leads to a “scooping” motion, where your hands flip at the ball in an attempt to lift it, often sending it flying over the green or right into the turf.
“A frequent mistake that many higher handicappers make is for their chest rotation to stall in the downswing. When that happens, there is a much greater tendency to scoop.”
Even on a tiny chip shot, your chest needs to continue rotating through the impact zone. This allows the clubface to stay square to your path and deliver a clean, descending strike.
Actionable Drills for Your Practice Routine
Ready to put these principles into practice? Here are a couple of drills I use with my students:
Drill 1: The “Lead Weight, Chest Rotate” Chip Drill
This drill reinforces proper weight distribution and body rotation.
- Take your chipping setup with 60-70% of your weight on your lead foot.
- Place your trail foot’s toes slightly off the ground, balancing mostly on your lead foot.
- Make small chip swings, focusing on keeping your weight forward and rotating your chest through impact so your buttons finish pointing towards the target.
- Don’t allow your trail heel to come down significantly during the swing.
This drill helps prevent swaying and encourages true rotation, eliminating the scoop.
Drill 2: The “L-to-L” Pitch Practice
This will help you develop consistent pitch shots and distance control.
- Set up for a pitch shot.
- Focus intently on forming an “L” shape with your lead arm and club shaft at the top of your backswing.
- As you swing through, watch to ensure you recreate that same “L” shape in your follow-through. The club shaft should be roughly parallel to the ground during both “L” positions.
- Start with small swings and gradually increase the length, concentrating on maintaining the “L-to-L” rhythm.
This visual benchmark will greatly improve your swing shape and consistency.
Assessing the Lie and Club Selection
Before you even step up to the ball, understanding your lie is paramount. A golfer who can accurately assess a lie has a huge advantage. As the article points out,
“A 30-yard shot where the ball is sitting up in 2-3 inch rough actually gives you more options than if you’re on an ultra-tight fairway.”
Practice hitting shots from all kinds of lies – not just perfect ones. This builds experience and confidence. In my experience, the more comfortable you are with challenging lies, the less daunting they feel on the course.
Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment with club selection. While wedges are standard, don’t overlook using a hybrid for chipping. For very short shots where you want maximal roll and minimal airtime, “chipping with a hybrid (try it and I bet you’ll like it) is pretty much risk proof,” offers a great alternative to the high-risk lob wedge from a tight lie.
Your golf journey is a continuous one of learning and improvement. Embrace these principles, commit to challenging practice, and you’ll undoubtedly see remarkable improvements in your short game and, most importantly, your scores. Keep swinging with confidence!
