How to Chip and Pitch in Golf

Getting the ball close to the hole from 50 yards and in is what separates good scores from bad ones. It’s not about overpowering strength, it’s about control and understanding two fundamental shots that can save you strokes every single round. This guide will walk you through the simple, repeatable techniques for a confident chip shot and a solid pitch shot, helping you turn frustrating moments into easy tap-ins.

Chipping vs. Pitching: What’s the Real Difference?

Before we touch a club, let’s clear something up. People often use "chip" and "pitch" interchangeably, but they are two very different shots with different purposes. Knowing which to use and when is the first step toward a great short game.

Think about it like this:

• A chip shot is a ground-based shot. It spends minimal time in the air and a majority of its time rolling on the green like a putt. Think of it as an "underhand toss" that just needs to clear the rough and then run out to the hole.
• A pitch shot is an air-based shot. It flies higher, travels farther in the air, and stops much faster on the green. This is your "soft overhand throw" that you use when you need to fly over a bunker or stop the ball quickly.

In short: Choose to chip when you have a lot of green to work with and no trouble to carry. Choose to pitch when you need to carry the ball over an obstacle (like a bunker, rough, or water) or have very little green between you and the hole.

How to Hit a Confident Chip Shot: Your Step-by-Step Guide

The chip shot should feel like a simple, low-maintenance motion. The goal is consistency and predictability. It’s all in the setup. If you can get that right, the swing becomes almost automatic.

The Setup: Ball-First Contact by Design

The setup for a chip shot is designed to produce a slightly downward strike on the ball, ensuring you hit the ball before the turf every time. This is how you avoid those dreaded "fat" or "thin" shots.

• Stance Width: Your feet should be very close together, perhaps only one or two clubheads apart. A narrow base prevents your body from swaying and keeps the motion simple and controlled.
• Ball Position: Place the ball off the big toe of your back foot. Playing the ball back in your stance makes it easier to hit down on it.
• Weight Distribution: Lean toward the target. You should feel about 70-80% of your weight on your front foot. This is not a subtle lean, it should feel very deliberate. Once you set that weight, keep it there throughout the swing.
• Hand Position: With your weight forward, your hands will naturally be ahead of the clubhead. This is called "forward press," and it helps reduce the effective loft of the club, promoting that low, running shot you want. Your hands and arms should form a small lowercase "y" with the club shaft.

The Swing: A Pendulum Motion

This is the easy part. The perfect chipping motion is not a swing at all, it’s a stroke. It's built on the same principles as your putting stroke, just with a lofted club.

Forget about using your wrists. The power and motion should come from the rotation of your chest and shoulders. Think ofyour arms and the club as a single unit or a triangle formed by your shoulders and hands. To start the swing, simply rock thattriangle back and then through using your big muscles - your core and chest. The wrists stay passive, and the lower body stays completely quiet.

The stroke itself should be short and controlled. Rock your shoulders back and rock them through. Feel like your chest is facing the ball at impact and finishing by facing the target. This simple turning motion will allow the club to do the work. Don't try to help the ball get in the air. The loft on the club will take care of it automatically.

Club Selection for Chipping

You can chip with almost any club, from a sand wedge to a 7-iron. The key is to pick the club that will land the ball just onto the green and let it roll out the rest of the way.

• Sand Wedge/Gap Wedge: Use this for very short chips where you have little green to work with. It will fly higher and roll less.
• Pitching Wedge: Your workhorse. A great mix of carry and roll for most greenside situations.
• 9-iron or 8-iron: Use these when you are farther from the pin and have a lot of green between your ball and the hole. The ball will come out lower and roll much more, like a putt. This is often called a "bump and run."

Pro Tip: Use the same chipping motion for every club. Only change the club to change the distance the ball rolls. This simplification is a game-changer for consistency.

Mastering the Pitch Shot: Flying it Close

When you need more air time to carry a hazard or stop the ball quickly, you need to turn your chip into a pitch. This involves a slightly bigger motion that creates more speed and uses the loft of your club more effectively. A sand or lob wedge is almost always your club of choice here.

Setup: A “Mini Full Swing” Foundation

The pitch setup is a scaled-down version of your full iron shot setup. It’s still compact, but it gives your body more freedom to rotate.

• Stance Width: Widen your stance slightly to about shoulder-width. This will provide a more stable base for the slightly longer swing.
• Ball Position: Move the ball to the center of your stance. This will allow the club to strike the ball at the very bottom of the swing arc, using the full loft of the wedge.
• Weight Distribution: Aim for a more balanced 50/50 weight distribution, or with just a slight favor toward your front foot (60/40). We still want to guarantee that ball-first contact.
• Hands: Your hands should be in a neutral position, directly in line with the ball or just slightly ahead. We aren't trying to take loft off the club like we do with a chip.

The Swing: Introducing Your Body and Wrists

A Pitch shot feels like a miniature version of a full golf swing. Unlike the "arms-and-shoulders-only" chip, pitching involves a bit more body turn and a modest amount of wrist hinge.

As you take the club back, allow your hips and shoulders to rotate away from the target, and let your wrists hinge naturally. This wrist hinge is what creates the necessary clubhead speed and height for a pitch shot. On the downswing, you simply unwind your body toward the target. The key is to let the body lead the way - your chest and hips rotate through, pulling the arms and club through impact. This sequence ensures you accelerate through the ball and don't "flip" your wrists at it, which is a common cause of poor contact.

Distance Control: The Clock System

The single best way to control the distance of your pitch shots is to control the length of your backswing. This is where the Clock System comes in. Imagine you're standing in the center of a giant clock face, with the ball at 6 o'clock.

• A short pitch (e.g., 20 yards) might only require you to take your lead arm back to 8 o'clock.
• A medium pitch (e.g., 40 yards) might be a swing back to 9 o'clock (lead arm parallel to the ground).
• A longer pitch (e.g., 60-70 yards) could be a swing to 10 o'clock.

The key to the clock system is to find your personal distances. Go to a practice green or a range, and hit shots with your sand wedge, taking the club back to these various "times." Note how far the ball goes for each one. Once you learn your 8, 9, and 10 o'clock yardages, you can precisely dial in your pitch shots on the course just by adjusting your backswing length. Always remember to maintain a smooth tempo and accelerate through to a full, balanced finish.

Final Thoughts

Improving around the greens really comes down to mastering these two shots. Understand that chipping is your low-risk, ground game and that pitching is your high-flying aerial attack. By mastering the fundamentals of setup and understanding the simple, body-led movements for each, you'll replace indecision and fear with confidence on every shot inside 50 yards.

At times, choosing the right shot on the course can be tough, especially with a tricky lie or awkward pin position. For those moments when you need a trusted caddie's advice, we developed Caddie AI. It's designed to give you instant, on-demand guidance. You can even take a photo of your ball's lie, and it will analyze the situation and suggest the best way to play the shot, taking all the guesswork out of the equation so you can step up and swing with full commitment.