As a teaching professional with over 15 years of experience, I’ve had the privilege of working with golfers at every level, from aspiring tour players to weekend warriors. What I’ve learned is this: regardless of your current skill, improvement is always within reach – especially when it comes to your short game. My approach is simple: understand the fundamentals, practice with purpose, and build confidence with every swing.
You often hear instructors talk about “low-hanging fruit” when it comes to shaving strokes off your score quickly. And for most golfers, that fruit is definitely found around the green. Mastering your chipping and pitching is a fantastic way to transform bogeys into pars, and pars into birdies.
Mastering the Setup: Your Foundation for Success
Before you even think about swinging, a proper setup is crucial for quality short game shots. It’s the stable platform from which all good things flow. Let’s break it down:
- Footwork: For chip shots, keep your feet close – think about a clubhead’s width between them. This helps restrict lower body movement, promoting a more arm and shoulder-driven swing. For pitch shots, you can widen your stance just a little bit to allow for slightly more rotation and power.
- Weight Distribution: This is a big one! For virtually all short game shots, I want you to feel 60-70% of your weight on your lead foot (your left foot for right-handed golfers). This helps ensure you hit down and through the ball, promoting clean contact.
- Ball Position: With chips, position the ball slightly back of center in your stance. For pitches, aim for a more centered ball position. This slight adjustment helps control trajectory and contact.
- Hands Ahead: Your hands should be slightly ahead of the ball. This encourages a downward strike and helps deloft the club slightly for better control.
As the original article emphasizes:
“In the set up for full swing iron shots the buttons might be stacked on top of each other. But with short game shots, if the button line is angled slightly toward the target, it becomes much easier to make ball first contact as we have moved the low point of the abbreviated swing to the target side of the ball.”
This “button line” thought is a fantastic checkpoint. When your shirt buttons (imagine a vertical line down your chest) are angled slightly toward the target, it naturally positions your low point correctly for clean, ball-first contact in your short game.
The “Y” and “L” Shapes: Visualizing Your Swing
Visualizing shapes with your arms and club can be incredibly helpful for proper short game technique. For shorter chip shots, we talk about maintaining the “Y” shape:
“In the setup we are creating the letter “Y” with our arms and the shaft. We maintain that “Y” throughout a chip shot.”
This means minimal wrist hinge. Your arms, hands, and the club move as one unit, like a pendulum. For pitching, we allow for a bit more hinge, forming an “L”.
For pitching, think “small L” in your backswing between your lead arm and the shaft, and then make another “L” in your through-swing. This allows for more clubhead speed and height.
Rotation is Key: Avoiding the Scoop
One of the most common mistakes I see, especially with higher handicappers, is stalling the chest rotation in the downswing. This often leads to a “scooping” motion, where you try to lift the ball into the air with your hands instead of making clean, ball-first contact. It’s like casting in a full swing, but on a smaller scale.
Even on the smallest chip, some chest rotation is essential. Your body should turn through the shot, allowing the club to naturally work down and through the ball. This ensures consistent contact and prevents those dreaded fat or thin shots.
Actionable Drills to Supercharge Your Short Game
Ready to put these concepts into practice? Here are a few drills I use with my students:
1. The “One-Legged Weight Forward” Drill (Setup & Contact):
Try this: Set up for a chip shot, but lift your trail foot (right foot for right-handed golfers) slightly off the ground, balancing mostly on your lead foot. You can lightly touch the ground with your trail toe for balance if needed. Now, hit some chips. This drill forces you to maintain that crucial 60-70% weight on your lead side throughout the swing, preventing swaying and promoting a downward strike. It’s excellent for feeling that ball-first contact.
2. The “Y-Maintain” Chip Drill (Chip Shot Motion):
Try this: Take your chip setup. Place an alignment stick or even another golf club lightly across your forearms, just above your wrists. Make small chip swings, focusing on keeping the “Y” shape formed by your arms and the club shaft. The alignment stick will help you feel if you’re breaking your wrists too much or scooping. You want the stick to move in unison with your arms, not separate from them. This drill trains a connected, pendulum-like motion.
3. The “Lead Arm Clock” Pitch Drill (Distance Control):
Try this: Head to the practice green and find an open area. Focus on your pitch shots. Use your lead arm as a “clock hand” to gauge your backswing length.
“When your lead arm is parallel to the ground, call that 9 o’clock and determine how far you hit the golf ball from that position.”
Hit several shots where your lead arm reaches 9 o’clock on the backswing. Note the average distance. Then, try 9:30, 10:00, and 10:30. This helps you build a personal pitching “chart” and develop a feel for how different backswing lengths translate into distance. Remember to maintain consistent tempo and contact for this to be effective. This is a game-changer for dialling in your approach shots around the green!
Practice with Purpose – Not Perfection
One final piece of advice that resonates with me, as it does with all great coaches:
“Always make practice challenging so that shots on the golf course are easier.”
Don’t just hit the same shot over and over. Throw down some balls in varying lies – uphill, downhill, shaggy rough, tight lies. Make practice simulate the actual conditions you face on the course. This builds versatility and confidence.
Your short game holds immense potential for lowering your scores, and I know you can unlock it. With these foundational principles and targeted drills, you’ll be chipping and pitching with more precision and confidence in no time!
