Part III: The Short Game
Lesson #42: Chipmaking

The chip shot is a miniature golf swing, and like the swing it can be altered to play different kinds of shots. By playing the ball back in your stance and using a low takeaway and a horizontal attack on the ball, you can hit sort of a driving chip that rolls a long way; by playing the ball a bit forward in your stance and using more wrist action, you can add trajectory and backspin.

Occasionally, I'll even cut or hook my chips. When I feel my sand wedge will produce a shot with too much height and bite, I'll take a pitching wedge and hit the ball with more of a downward chop than usual; this will impart less loft than on a normal shot with that club but still give me the amount of roll I want. On the other hand, I'll sometimes toe the clubface in and lift the heel of the club off the ground - this will give me a shot that kind of pops out of the ground, still with plenty of loft, but with more roll than I'd get from a traditional chip shot.

There are other sorts of hybrid chips and pitches, but the best way to learn them is through experimentation on your own. Do yourself a big favor and spend an hour or two around the practice green. Put yourself in a bunch of different lies and situations, and then experiment with a variety of ball positions, clubface angles, and degrees of wristiness in your stroke, until you can match each situation with a shot of your own.

Illustration by Jim McQueen

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