My New Idea on Chipping

[tallathlete]

A couple days ago I started thinking about the chipping stroke. I have always been a very good chipper but I have a friend who struggles awfully. In an effort to help him my mind started churning. I came up with the following and I would like your thoughts...........

We all know how we have been told for 100 years to play the ball back and open our stance. However, it seems to me that could potentially cause major problems for some people. With the stance that open, one might swing the club too far left which obviously would cause a missed chip. Or, and this is where the problem lies, one might swing out to the right or back his axis up to keep from swinging to the left. When one swings out to the right or backs up the pivotal axis all hell breaks loose. Fats, tops, flubs, and even the clank. So..........i theorized that on a square faced chip...not a lob or open faced cut....if my friend aimed his body to the right of the flag...and aimed his face slightly right of the flag....he could then swing left aggresively. He would reap the benefits of moving the swing bottom forward....and would virtually eliminate the dreaded clank. Basically he would be skewing his D plane to the left. The result were phenomenal! He chipped like a tour player. He played the ball middlish in his stance....aimed body right.....aimed face slightly right....and swung left. It seems to work for him and I would like your input on my idea of having him do this. I have not read about nor heard anyone closing down their body on a simple chip shot and I am curious if my method holds water.

 

[Dan44GT]

I definitely feel that ball back is somewhat overtaught, especially to middle and high cappers because they often times hang back to get loft on the shot. I feel that left foot flare does not help either because that will also back up your pivot. But I do like an open toe line as long as the feet are perpendicular to the TL. I just feel the main reason you are taught to open up is to pre-set an impact condition with the hips, I think it also helps or promotes the proper hand path for a chip. That being said, a good drill is to take right foot back (closed stance) and train the left hip to take the pivot.

 

[birly-shirly]

Just about all that John Jacobs has to say about the chipping stroke is that you should guard against opening the stance too much. His recommendation was to open the line of the feet a little, but to keep knees, hips and shoulders more or less square.

I think Utley likes a square to slightly closed stance for both chipping and pitching.

Tommy Armour taught chipping from a square alignment. Maybe Pelz too?

Sounds to me like your method has some precedent.

 

[mjstrong]

Personally, I like an open stance (not too open, but not square) with feet and/or hips, but square-ish for shoulders. The plane needs to be set a little left for a standard chip, but the path doesn't. The open feet (and resulting hips) help the body pivot through a little more than a dead-square stance would (in my experience).

 

[savydan]

If the path does not lie on the plane, then how do you define the plane?

 

[Dan44GT]

Tommy Armour taught chipping from a square alignment. Maybe Pelz too?

From my understanding Pelz is a very open stance, ball way back teacher, with both feet flared left. I think squared or closed setup is fine, especially to train the pivot, but I dont think it will promote a more forward low point.

 

[tallathlete]

From my understanding Pelz is a very open stance, ball way back teacher, with both feet flared left. I think squared or closed setup is fine, especially to train the pivot, but I dont think it will promote a more forward low point.

Dan, you are correct that a closed stance will not move low point forward. However I assure you that swinging left will. Thats why I prescribe setting up closed to start with.

 

[ej20]

This method is what you would do if you needed a low running shot with a bit of run to it.Nothing new.

What if you needed to flop one high and stop it quickly?

 

[Dan44GT]

Different strokes for different folks I guess... No pun intended.

All depends on your issue, the shot, and if it is a way to train or play.

 

[tallathlete]

This method is what you would do if you needed a low running shot with a bit of run to it.Nothing new.

What if you needed to flop one high and stop it quickly?

Open stance as wide as needed....open face accordingly....lower handle considerably....lean shaft backward....place ball off left toe....swing freely and release all angles leftward. Voila...........

 

[mjstrong]

If the path does not lie on the plane, then how do you define the plane?

Since you're hitting down on the ball, the path will be right of the planeline. Your plane can be left, while your path is square.

 

[ej20]

Open stance as wide as needed....open face accordingly....lower handle considerably....lean shaft backward....place ball off left toe....swing freely and release all angles leftward. Voila...........

That's exactly my point.You can't use one procedure for all shots.There is a lot of improvisation needed when it comes to the short game.

But yes,it does seem harder to chunk shots by aligning everything right of target and then "pull" the shot.You tend to get a lower trajectory though and you put topspin on the ball.

P.S the topspin part was a joke in case you didn't get it.

 

[SJO]

I think this chipping method is a good idea. You could flop it from a closed stance by just throwing the club while swinging left. Try and have negative shaft lean. Good thinking Athlete, I'll get my Dad to try this.