Filed under: Golf Training
If you want to improve your golf score then one part of your game that you have to improve on is making better chip shots around the green and better pitch shots from 100 yards in. Too many people focus solely on improving their drives or tee shots and neglect to work on their short game. When you think about it, you are only hitting off the tee 18 times per round and using your driver maybe fourteen times per round. Think about how many times in a game of golf that you use a pitching wedge or sand wedge approaching the green or chipping onto the green. If you want to lower your handicap and score better in golf then you have to improve your short game.
High handicap golfers make two fatal mistakes when hitting their approach shots or when chipping. They have a tendency to take a full or three quarter back swing and then stop swinging when they make contact with the golf ball. This leads to errant shots, duffs and skulled shots. As soon as you stop your swing when you make contact with the ball you are going to hit it about two yards or you are going to send it flying low across the green at a thousand miles an hour.
The goal of a chip or approach shot in the game of golf is getting the ball up in the air and having the right distance to land on the green and roll up to the hole. You will never obtain this unless you make the proper swing and this means following through on your swing. Take a nice follow through swing just like you do when hitting off of the tee.
The closer you get to the green the more you want to choke up on the club. This is a way that you take distance off of your shot. When you are close to or beside the green you want to be fully choked up the club. You will be able to control your distance and speed much better. When you are 100 yards out or more you will want to slightly choke up on the club so you can get more distance out of your shot.
The key to making that shot is how much backswing to use. Take your backswing only as far back as you think you have to. This might sound confusing but it makes sense. If you have half a pitching wedge shot to make then take your backswing halfway back. If you have a 30 yard pitch shot to make then take a backswing thirty per cent of the way back. You obviously don’t want to take a full backswing because you will hit the ball 100 yards.
The final step to making a great chip or approach shot is the follow through. If you stop your swing when your club makes contact with the ball then that ball is going nowhere. Take your backswing as far back as you think you have to and then make smooth follow through swing. You will be surprised how easy it is to get that ball up in the air. It is that follow through that pops the ball up in the air. This is what you want to do.
Once you combine these two methods into your shot and get a feel for distance and speed you will start making better shots. I was taught this concept a few games ago by a good golfer and already I am getting the ball up on the air and making more consistent accurate chips and pitch shots. Go out to the driving range and practice this method. Your game will improve.
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