Why Tour Pros Chip Like This (And You Should Too) PART 1. #golf #chipping #golftips

Most golfers they try to lift it, scoop it, or spin it and end up chunking or blading it.
I’m Ben Wharton a PGA Tour of Australasia Professional and this is exactly how I chip even round.
predictable.
No fancy technique. Just a simple, tour-level move that keeps contact pure and rollout
What You’ll Learn:
* The one move that makes every chip strike pure
* How to control distance without “forcing” it
* My setup & feel for consistent strike
* The biggest amateur mistake (and how to fix it fast)
Part 2 out later this week.

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#golf #golftechnique #golftips #golfswing #chipping #pgatour

[Music] Hey guys, I’m Betty Wharton from Wharton Studio. I’m out here practicing my chipping cuz I need it. We’re going to start off with the lob wedge. 60° lob wedge is the most important I think to get uh basically used to as an amateur golfer. A lot of people there’s a lot of knowledge, well there’s a lot of knowledge out there saying to avoid the 60deree wedge. I think myself personally the 60deree wedge is somewhat the easiest club to hit in the bag. Um obviously the drivers got the biggest head but as far as irons are concerned the 60° wedge is the biggest head most loft and shortest shaft. So it should be easier to hit than a fix 56° 50°ree or a pitching wedge which a lot of you kind of resort to. And if you’re some of my clients out there that love a um that little chipping wedge, um give it back to your wife, please. We don’t we don’t need that out there. So, basically, um how I go around hitting a chip shot is I get my stance nice and narrow. So, we want to kind of restrict hip turn here. Um, basically if you create too much hip turn, the golf club, I believe, gets too shallow to the to the plane or path, and then it’s going to be hard to kind of collect the ball nicely and create spin. Basically, we’re going to put our feet nice and close together. So, our heels are kind of like somewhat over our hips. It’s going to be well, so basically, so you’re not stood too far away like a normal golf shot. We’re going to get nice and close, handle a little bit higher, and you’re gonna shaft lean just a fraction. So your your handle of your shaft is going to be somewhat near your front quad or just on the left side of your zipper. We don’t want to kind of like lean too far ahead. That’s going to deloft the club and uh cause the ball to come out too low with not not enough spin. So we’re going to give it a little bit of shaft lean. That narrow stance. I’m then going to work my club a slightly more vertical plane. So as we go vertical, you think about like a I talk a lot about tennis. Give back to tennis like a normal golf swing. We’re going to go top spin forehander. Your hand goes low to high which creates a draw if you’re looking after that draw effect uh in your normal golf shot. But basically with chipping, we’re trying to create that nice soft landing and a little bit of height and a little bit of spin. So we’re going to talk about the club going more vertical and then coming down steep across the ball. You imagine you’re playing table tennis against your buddies and you’re trying to create that kind of like chop shot basically. Um I kind of try to relate back to other sports. So, I think it makes it easier to to understand, but so we’re going to again, we’re going to get our stance uh nice and narrow. We’re going to stand nice and close to it. We’re also going to have our uh ball kind of situated forward to middle of our stance. You don’t want to get too far forward off your front toe cuz then you’re going to uh you’re basically going to hit the equator of the ball. Um or nor do you want to have it too far back cuz it’s going to be come out way too low and not enough spin. Especially for this shot that we’ve got here. Got a little bit of height. um couple of meters uh of hill to get over. So, basically what I do, very important. I generally have three practice swings when I’m on tour as part of my pre-shot routine. Um you’ll see uh two techniques I’m going to show you today. One is kind of like the I suppose the wristy hinge and hold move and another one’s uh more like a Jason Day. Um another great Australian shout out to the lads boys. It’s going to be a more of a kind of like a simple towel under the arm drill that I’ll show you uh in a little bit. But first and foremost, this is going to be the kind of steep um spinning shot. The ball will then spin left to right. But like I said before, middle of the stance or slightly further forward, you’re going to make sure your weight is leaned left on your front foot. So, you’re going to have 60 to 70% of your weight on your lead foot. And you’re going to have your sternum or chest over the ball. If your sternum’s back of the ball, you’re going to fall backwards and and and probably most likely chunk it. And uh especially in Melbourne, Australia, where we where we’re playing, we get a lot of tight lies. And if you fall back, you’re going to you’re going to blade it as well. So, uh let’s hit a couple. Again, forward in your stance, leaning left. I like to just say lean left, stay left. Uh kind of nice and steep. And we’re coming in with a little bit of left to right spin. You see that didn’t spin. Obviously, the hills a little bit right to left. And like I said, I need a little bit of chipping practice. First one of the day. But you’ll notice how the club works a slightly more vertical plane and we’re cutting across it. Always maintaining speed through the ball. A lot of people uh which I see um uh more often than not from students is a lot of deceleration through impact. So it’ll look a little bit like that and the balls goes nowhere and chunky. So, we’re going to always make sure the body gets forward and through it like your normal golf shot. Whatever back swing you take, you’re going to take uh the equivalent on the way through to create that nice spin. Um nice crisp contact. Try and hold this one. So, club’s going up and down. Another way to play it, you can get a little bit more wristy on it if you want a little bit more height. I’ve also been known to have quite a strong grip when I chip. Um it’s just personal preference, but you can weaken uh your left hand. I wouldn’t say to do this in the full swing, but if you weaken your left hand, um that can also aid you in keeping that club face open. So the club works a little bit more open and through uh like so. You see how that one went a bit little bit higher, a little bit softer. Another thing I do to create a little bit more spin is to create speed through the impact zone. more speed than normal, but I’ll open the club face just a fraction. So, if that’s square on this shot here, I might open it maybe to 45 degrees. I’m not opening it wide up like a bunker shot, but or a flop shot, but just 45°. And I’m again cutting across it, holding that face open. The club face in itself should be pointing back at me uh post impact. So, it’s that high nice vertical shot. Go in. Nearly nearly got one. Starting to learn the break on this shot. It’s obviously moving a little bit right to left. Now, again, a lot of you out there will back up. So, making sure you’re leaning forward and you’re always getting your weight transferring forward onto your front foot. And you see like that gets that nice little bit of spin and a little bit of check. We’re getting that downward attack angle. So, like I suppose Joe Mayo is pretty become pretty famous. um talking around that uh Victor Hovind and all that guys they talk about like a really steep descent into the ball. Um I like that approach but there’s al also another way to play it. That’s pretty good. Might have held it. There you go. Got one. So there’s also another approach that um my mate Jace. So Jason Day grew up playing with him. He’s obviously, you know, one of the world’s best and I admire him a lot um more for his mental attitude and the way that he practiced, but he works a lot with a towel under his arms to keep his arms slightly more connected. You notice in those previous ones, I had slight bit of wrist hinge. So, this one here, you can work with the the towel, get a lot less wrist hinge, and then that comes out slightly higher. Um, basically what that does is keeps the face open and it gets the ball working in or the club head working in under the ball really nicely. It’s something I would I would say uh for you a lot of you amateur golfers out there to make as part of your routine. Grab a towel, chuck it on your arm, stay connected. You’re then not going to decelerate because you can’t. You have to use your sternum to to create the power in the back swing. Um, a lot of people will become extremely handsy through impact, which again is not a bad thing if you know what you’re doing, but for you amateur golfers out there, it’s way easier to just stay that nice and connected and hit those shots nice and cleanly. Now, the same thing applies if I’m going to now that back pin. You see that’s like I suppose 25 m away. I’m going to do the same things, but I’m going to do it with a little bit of a bigger back swing. So, you’ll notice how the ball comes out a little bit higher. That one was a little bit long. I misjudged it, but the ball’s then going to be coming out a little bit higher and a little bit spinnier. And like we talked about before, getting used to the 60° wedge is very, very important. Um, as a bit of a not technical thing, I’d make sure to head, I suppose, to your nearest golf shop. Um, and get fit for your wedge or ask them and tell them what what course you play or what environment you’re used to. Um, the bounce on the club is very very important. If you’ve got too much bounce, which I see a lot of my clients um especially in Australia having or the the southern parts of Australia having 12 to 14 10° bounce, it’s way too much. And if you get on a tight lie like this, the bounce is going to kick in and you’re going to blade the ball now. No matter no matter how good your technique. So really, really important. I myself here have a have a Vokey uh what’s this one? a it’s called a 8 M A plus which is basically six degrees bounce give or take and then that the club’s able to slide nicely underneath the ball. Wow, that would have been nice to hold.