Ball Position:
If your just starting out or just have trouble with your chip shots getting consistent contact on the face, chances are your putting the ball in the wrong position from the start. Try putting the ball more in the middle of your stance to allow the club to strike the ball on a descending blow just before it reaches the lowest point of the arc.
Flat Left Wrist:
Uneducated golfers see the ball sitting on the ground and the instinct tell them to ”lift” or help the ball into the air resulting in a breakdown of the hands and the club reaching its low point to early. This will result in the club hitting the ground first and leaving the ball a few feet in front of you to repeat the shot or getting lucky to miss the ground and hitting the ball across the green. What we want is the have the shaft angle to lean forward (toward the target) to use the true loft of the face angle which will keep your left wrist flat and the right wrist cupped.
Weight Distribution Forward:
Having your weight evenly balance between your feet with a large separation will encourage you to fall back (away from the target) resulting in that lifting or helping motion from which I talked about with the Flat Left Wrist portion. This is not a power shot so lets setup with our feet closer together and put more weight on our left side to encourage that descending blow.
Finish Your Stroke:
A common thing I see in clinics and private lessons is the club stopping once we have attempted to hit the ball. The motion is jerky, rigid and robotic. This makes it extremely difficult to judge distance from a 15 foot chip to a 30 foot chip. We like to say backswing equals follow through. Which means keep the length of your swing consistent on both sides of the ball. This is essential to create good fee and muscle memory.
Implement a few of these key points little by little and have confidence around the greens!
