Stable Wrists Let Chips Fall Where They Should

The proper chipping technique for the average player is a coordinated movement of the shoulders, arms and hands that ensures that the butt of the club moves in the same direction as the face of the club until after the golf ball is hit.

The most common error in chipping is allowing the target wrist to break down before impact, creating a situation where the butt of the club is moving in the opposite direction of the clubface. This causes the clubhead to reach the bottom of the arc too soon before impact and results in either hitting behind the ball or topped chips that roll much too far.

Image words create pictures on your mental screen, and since images cue motor responses, your golf vocabulary should have the appropriate image words to help you execute. The image word for the chip is "staccato," which describes the firm, chipping action.

Most good chippers hold the club more firmly than in their regular swing, since they do not want their wrists to hinge very much during the stroke. Think of your hands as clamps not for squeezing the club but for anchoring it so your hands don't flop around.

As you can see in the photo at left above, start by positioning the ball behind your trail foot with about 90 percent of your weight on your target foot. Your clubface should sit square to the target with the leading edge on the ground and your hands well ahead of the ball.

The execution is a one-piece back-and-through stroke using only your arms and shoulders with a bit of chest turn for fluidity. There is no weight transfer. Most important, your wrists should remain firm so that your hands do not hinge or unhinge until after the ball is gone.

  Choose the lowest-lofted iron that will carry onto the green about a yard or so and then roll the rest of the way like a putt. Before you actually hit the shot, take several practice swings and actually clip the grass. This will help you measure your distance to the ball.

While not the only way to chip, I think the "no wrists" method is the most forgiving because it has fewer moving parts --it's simply straight back and through to the target.

The triangle formed by my hands, arms and shoulders at address (photo above) will simply tilt down a bit on the backswing and then up during the downswing. Note that my target shoulder is higher during my follow-through (photo below) due to this seesaw motion.