I am usually shooting in the 90's and take alot of shots right around the green. Any chipping and pitching advice or tips on how to improve? (short of taking lessons)

Thanks in advance.

slimpks1850 wrote:

I am usually shooting in the 90's and take alot of shots right around the green. Any chipping and pitching advice or tips on how to improve?

1. Practice a lot on your short game
2. Shorter backswing and accelerate through the ball - avoid the longer swing and decelleration.
3. Whenever possible, hit the ball lower and roll it to the hole rather than hit it high and hope to stop it.

4. Get some lessons - oops, couldn't help myself.

Very sound advice. http://youtu.be/OTCpkYqF8Ig

Thank you both. Not sure if anyone is familiar with Clemshaw from youtube. I was going to check out some of his videos for techniques.

bkuehn1952 wrote:

slimpks1850 wrote: I am usually shooting in the 90's and take alot of shots right around the green. Any chipping and pitching advice or tips on how to improve? 3. Whenever possible, hit the ball lower and roll it to the hole rather than hit it high and hope to stop it.

This X 1000

Seriously even from 40 yards in the fairway I would recomend this most of the time (assuming nothing between you and the hole and the green isn't elevated).

If you have any places near you with short game practice areas try using a 7i from 40 yards and in and see how you do compared to hitting lob wedge or SW from the same possitions.

Listen to Brian and Jason. They know what they are talking about. Unless you have hours to practice using a wedge the chip and run is about as foolproof a method you can use. If the surface is reasonably flat and mowed I can get up and down from 40 yards more often than not.I play with several friends that have a superior wedge game and it drives them nuts when I bump and run a 7 iron to within a few feet. Once you have mastered that shot you can experiment with the wedges. It annoys me when I see players automatically reach for the wedge regardless of whether it is needed or not.

i'm in the same boat as you. i always thought that I was chipping correctly, then learned a couple of things that made big improvements in the consistency of my chipping stroke:

move closer to the ball when chipping so that the club shaft is more vertical

play the ball further back in your stance. depending on the lie, can be anywhere from just in front of right foot to a couple of inches behind the right foot

of course, there's the other stuff (grip down, weight forward, accelerate, etc), but these 2 adjustments were huge.

slimpks1850 wrote:

Not sure if anyone is familiar with Clemshaw from youtube. I was going to check out some of his videos for techniques.

I used to be obsessed with his videos, but after a while I got overloaded and haven't tuned in for a while. He has a neat way of explaining things.