HOW to chip

As a junior, I grew up playing at Peak Hill, a sand green course. While I became a very good chip and run specialist, I did not have a lot of opportunity to play pitch and bunker shots. However, if you can learn the fundamentals of how to play a chip shot it really can set you up to improve your swing angles for those more lofted shots.
I recently headed west to deliver golf to local schools and clubs at some sand green courses including Tambo, Blackall and Barcaldine, and found a lot of the players out there struggle with basic chipping fundamentals. The variety of lies, bounces and sand thickness really makes the short game a true test of technique and club selection on these courses. There are a variety of different approaches facing sand green players.
Whether you play to a sand or a grass green you need to assess the same issues prior to playing your chip shot: the lie you have, course conditions of bounces, slope and green speed and then the club that will best suit the shot you see that you wish to play.
A big issue I see is a lot of players trying to scoop the ball so that they try and get it into the air. One of the main causes of people chipping badly is they tend to flick their wrist or try to scoop the ball into the air. The one thing that I tell all of my students is DOWN = UP! If we try and keep a firm left wrist and hit down on the back of the ball the loft of the golf club will lift the ball into the air. The method I like to use with my students in particular is called the HOW method, and we use the letters H.O.W to help them remember the chipping technique.



First of all you can chip with any club you like, but make sure you practice with the technique and clubs before you take it onto the golf course. So, first of all, choose a club that you feel comfortable with and start chipping with that, normally a 7, 8 or 9-iron. Now, because we are chipping you can stand with your feet a little closer together, they don't need to be shoulder width apart. Place the ball in the middle of your stance and now we are ready to begin.

H - Hands forward: your hands need to be forward of the ball, over your knee.

O - Open stance: you should open your stance and body to the target just a little so you can see down your target line a little bit better. This also will give you a better feel for the chip shot.

W - Weight forward: for right-handed players you should have about 60% of your body weight on your left leg, so feel like you're leaning towards your target just a little bit.

Once you have done this, your arms and your golf club will create the letter "Y" and, without moving your wrist, rock your letter Y backwards and forwards. Remember we are only chipping, so the golf club should not go backwards or forwards any more than hip height. As I said earlier you can chip with any golf club you like, each club will just give you a different height and run result. For example a 7-iron will make the ball not go so high in the air and will run along the ground a lot more, perfect for the chip and run. Using a sand wedge will make the ball go higher in the air and won't run as much—perfect for pitching the ball over a bunker.
Practice the chipping method above and then experiment with different clubs to see what they all do. If you practice this method it will allow you to take an easy but effective chipping method out on to the golf course and will help you lower your scores.