How To Hit Your Chips with Solid Contact
Catching the ball solidly at impact is important when chipping. Many amatuer golfers struggle with hitting chips "fat" or "thin" so here are a few tips to get you hitting the ball well when chipping.
A lot of times fat and thin shots come from the same swing errors. A golfer who hits it fat might also struggle with hitting the ball thin especially when trying to correct the fat shot.
A good setup is a very important when chipping. We want to play the ball more towards the back of our stance and also have a narrower stance than with our full swing. A narrow stance will help to eliminate too much body movement and weight shift.
Playing the ball off the back foot will help you to hit down on the golf ball. It's important to hit down on the golf ball because the loft of the club is what makes the ball go up in the air. Golfers who are trying to help the ball up will often hit fat or thin shots.
At impact, the hands need to be ahead of the golf ball. So, in the setup, make sure that your club shaft is leaning towards your target so your hands are in line with your front or left leg. With the ball off your back foot, this will make it easy to lean the club shaft towards the target.
Setting up in a way that is similar to how you want to look at impact is a big key to hitting good chip shots. It makes sense that there is less you have to do to get into a proper impact position if you are already setting up that way.
Breaking down the wrists in chipping is a big cause for hitting fat and thin shots. The wrists need to stay firm, especially through impact and in the follow through. Golfers who flip their wrists are either trying to help the ball up or are not turning through and facing their target on their follow through.
Also, pay attention to your swing arc near the impact zone. You want to keep the club travelling close the ground through impact instead of lifting the club up too quickly. Make sure you are following through and swinging the club head towards the target and low to the ground just after impact.
The last tip that helps with hitting better chips is to make sure you are accelerating through the shot. Match the backswing and follow through length in your swing and don't stop after you hit the ball, keep going through all the way. You want to swing the club towards your target and then turn and follow your club and face the target.
Hope these tips help your chipping so you can eliminate fat and thin shots around the greens and hit it closer to the hole more often.