6 Chipping Distance Control Drills to Dial in Your Short Game
At some point in your golf career, you will learn how to chip. You’ll know the technique required and the motions you should take to chip properly.
However, if you can’t control the distances of these chips, you may as well give up on scoring. Chipping distance control allows you to zero in on the pin and hit it close.
The best part about some of these drills is that they can make practice more fun.
Key Takeaways
If you don’t have time to read our entire guide on the best chipping distance control drills, here are a few of the things you can take away and work with right now.
- The key to getting good at chipping is to practice with more than one club; use your wedge and your short irons so you have plenty of options on the course.
- Be a little more calculated in your practice, and pace out yardages so you know if you are hitting your goals.
- Keep in mind that alignment and technique are just as important as club selection when it comes to distance control.
- Control the distance of your chips with the length of your backswing and also the speed of the swing. Knowing how to do both will make you better at controlling distance.
- Keep your lead wrist in a more flexed position at impact on your chip shots; continuing to do this will make your shots more consistent.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
6 Great Chipping Distance Control Drills
Reverse Leap Frog Drill
This reverse leapfrog drill from US Golf TV is a great option when you want to narrow down how far your golf ball goes on the green. With this drill, you will need about 5 or 6 golf balls.
Hit your first chip so that it goes across the green and lands near the fringe. The next shot should be 2-4 feet short of this. The next shot 2 to 4 feet short of that.
Continue this way until you are just a few feet in front of where you are standing.
When you hit a shot that gets too close to the previous one or miss hit it, go pick that golf ball up and try again. When you get good at this game, you can also try it with pitching, putting, and sand shots.
Chipping Speed Drill
When you increase the speed at which you approach the golf ball, it goes further. Many players struggle with this concept in their chipping. They try to take larger swings and different clubs and never learn how speed impacts their chipping distances.
This is a unique chipping distance drill where you start about 25 yards from the hole with five golf balls. For your first five shots, hit the ball five yards, the next five to ten yards, the next five 15 yards, etc.
The key is with each shot you hit just increase the speed of your swing, but take the same length backswing. Try this for shots all the way to the hole and then work backwards to that 5 yard distance.
You’ll be surprised how much you learn about feel.
Bicep Chipping Drill
One of the mistakes golfers make in their chipping is using too much of their hands and wrists when trying to hit shots. It’s best to use the upper body shoulders and even a little lower body pivot instead of the smaller muscles.
For this drill, you hold the club with your trail hand and hold your bicep of the trail arm with your lead hand.
As you swing back, the only way to really hit good shots and get that crisp impact is to use the correct muscles.
The reason this drill works for distance control is it lets you focus on the parts of your swing that should be moving and helps you avoid twitchy small muscle chip shots with the hands and wrists.
1-2-3 Wedge Distance Control Drill
Setting up a wedge distance control matrix for yourself takes a bit of time but it will be well worth the effort you put in.
The first step here is to gather all of your wedges, pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge, and lob. Next, you will learn the three different positions of a golf swing.
First is about waist high with the lead arm, next is when the lead arm gets closer to the buttons on your shirt and then the third is a full swing. In this video you can watch how using these three different positions will help you narrow down your exact distances on all of your wedges.
You should find a lot of those 65, 75 and 85 yard shots when you do this. Many golfers feel like these distances can be trouble and cause some inconsistency in their game. Set this wedge drill up and then use it to become a more accurate player.
Chip It in The Hole Drill
This drill from Peter Finch will help you narrow down an exact landing spot for your golf shots. In this case, you’ll try to hit the ball directly into the hole.
On the course, you will leave the chip shot short of this, but if you can control your distance and get it to land exactly where you want, you will have much better success on the course.
If you have never tried this drill, you’ll also notice how you must work on your alignment and stance to get the best results.
When you chip one directly into the hole, it’s a great feeling and lets you know you really have distance control down.
Four Club Drill
For this drill from Golf University you will need 8, 9, pitching wedge and sand wedge. Take the same basic chip shot with each club. Make a small pivot around the lead leg and really zero in on keeping the movement compact.
Hit four golf balls with each of the four clubs you have picked out.
You may find that the sand wedge shot is great when the pin is near the front of the green, and the nine iron is better when the pin is in the back.
Either way, you can play around with what makes you feel the most comfortable and which clubs are the best for you to chip with.
Final Thoughts
If you feel confident about your chipping stroke, start practicing distance control more than the technique.
To improve your strokes gained percentages around the green, you need to chip it closer. You’ll end up with fewer putts and feel more confident about your approach shots to the green.
Incorporate the HackMotion wrist sensor into your distance control drills to help ensure your technique is always spot on.
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