instruction
Chipping drills David Williams david@willowgolf.com.au 0422 276 142
Ensuring your weight is forwards and keeping a steady head when chipping will assist with making a consistent downward strike on the golf ball. Most golfers who are struggling with their chipping fail in these two areas. The following simple drill will help to improve your chipping.
Front Foot Drill Practise chipping the ball while you are balanced on your front foot. This will ensure your head and weight are forward and remain there during the shot. If you lose your balance it means your weight may be shifting backwards when you are striking the ball. Once you have improved your chipping technique it is then important to learn to control the distance that you land the ball. There are 3 things that influence distance: Length of swing: different length swing arcs at the same tempo will produce different length shots. Speed of swing: different speed swings with the same length swing will produce different length shots. Centeredness of contact: miss-hits won’t travel the same distance as properly struck shots.
Landing Zone Drill Place a towel a couple of metres away and practise landing the ball on the towel on the full. Try and feel the length and speed of the swing required to land the ball at the correct distance. If the ball doesn’t land on the towel then identifying if it was the length, speed or contact will help you learn to control your distance better. • David Williams is an AAA Rated PGA Professional at Cardinia Beaconhills Golf Links. He is also a Master Instructor of Medicus Golf Institute. www.willowgolf.com.au
Skip the chipper Anne Rollo
anne@fixmygolfswing.com.au 0404 235 563
I’m not a fan of chipper clubs. If you don’t know what they are, they are that little club that looks like a really lofted putter. It is designed to make chipping around the green easier but it requires a very non orthodox wristy action--rather like a little flick with the wrist, which is unlike any technique you will need elsewhere in golf and has the potential to create habits that may be hard to get out of for the other parts of your short game. (A wristy action is fatal around the green) For this reason the chipper makes me very nervous. And you don’t need it anyway. You will NEVER see a chipper in a golf professional’s bag. If you need to chip and run the ball, i.e. ball close to the edge of the green and the pin towards the back of the green, use an 8-iron. Set up with your weight on your front foot and grip down and then just brush the grass under the ball with a predominantly shoulder type swing. In other words not too much wrist. Bonus tip Choose ONLY one club to chip and run with it. My suggestion would be the 8-iron. This way you get to know exactly how much run you will get with the 8-iron and it keeps it simple. Allow about 1/3 to carry the ball and about 2/3 to roll the ball when chip and running with the 8-iron. This is a rough guide depending upon the speed of the greens and whether it is uphill or downhill. • Anne Rollo is an ALPG Golf Professional and European Tour Tournament winner and record holder. She teaches at Muirfield Golf Club in Sydney’s Northwest and is the author of ‘Passport to great golf’ — a way of taking little golf tips like this onto the course with you. She also will be hosting an upcoming ‘live in’ golf school at the Vintage. Visit www.fixmygolfswing.com.au/?p=627.
www.insidegolf.com.au | April 2012
55