Wasting a great drive by chunking or blading a chip is one of golf's most common frustrations. You're just yards from the green, but that short distance feels like miles when you lack confidence. This guide will give you a simple, repeatable blueprint for chipping that will help you get the ball onto the green and close to the hole, turning those potential bogeys into easy pars.
First, let's clear up a common point of confusion. While an announcer might use "chip" and "pitch" interchangeably, in coaching, they are two different shots with different purposes. Understanding which one to use is the first step toward better short-game results.
A chip is a low-trajectory shot that gets on the green quickly and rolls out towards the hole like a putt. Think of it as a "bump and run." You a chip use when:
A pitch is a high-trajectory shot that spends more time in the air and stops more quickly upon landing. You a pitch use when:
For this guide, we're focusing on the foundational chip shot - your go-to weapon for cleaning up around the greens.
Too many golfers automatically grab their a sand wedge or lob wedge for every shot around the green. While those clubs have their place, they often add loft and height when what you really need is forward roll. Learning to use a variety of clubs takes the pressure off making a "perfect" strike and lets the club do the work for you.
Think about using a "family" of chipping clubs from your pitching wedge down to your 7-iron. Here's a simple way to decide:
The mental trick is this: your goal is to land the ball on the green as soon as possible and let it roll out. Using less loft (like a 7 or 8-iron) makes the shot simpler and more predictable.
Just like a full swing, a good chip starts with a good setup. But the chipping setup is quite different. It's designed to promote a downward strike on the ball, preventing thin "skulled" shots and thick "chunked" shots. Get these setup fundamentals right, and you’re 80% of the way there.
Forget your normal "shoulder-width" stance. For a chip, we want everything to be much more compact to promote precision.
Where your weight is and how your hands are positioned will determine the quality of your strike.
Once you are in that perfect setup, the stroke itself should feel startlingly simple. The biggest mistake golfers make is trying to use their hands to "lift" the ball into the air. Instead, think of a chip as a putting stroke, just with a club that has a bit more loft.
Your goal is to maintain the "triangle" formed by your shoulders and arms throughout the motion. It’s a rocking of the shoulders, not a flick of the wrists.
This is a low-power, high-feel shot. There’s almost no wrist hinge at all. Your lead wrist, in particular, should feel very firm and flat all the way through impact. If you see your lead wrist "cup" or "break down" after you hit the ball, that's the scooping motion that leads to bladed and chunked shots.
The length of your back-and-through motion dictates the distance. For a very short chip, your clubhead might only travel from your back foot to your front foot. For a longer chip, it might travel hip-to-hip. The tempo, however, should stay consistent - a smooth, steady pace, like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
The best chippers in the world don’t just aim at the hole, they choose a very specific landing spot on the green. Since a chip shot is part air and part ground, you need a plan for both.
Before you get into your setup, walk up to the green and read it just like you would a putt. Find the spot where you want the ball to make its first bounce. Your entire goal shifts from "get it in the hole" to "land it on my spot." This takes a ton of pressure off the shot.
Once you have your spot picked out, figure out which club (PW, 9-iron, 8-iron, etc.) will give you the right amount of roll from that landing spot to the hole. The shot becomes much more manageable when you break it into these two smaller pieces.
Feel is everything in the short game, and dedicated practice is the only way to build it. Try this simple drill to master distance control.
Doing this for just 15-20 minutes a week will give you a tremendous feel for how to control your carry and roll with different clubs, transforming your chipping from guesswork into a reliable skill.
Reducing your scores isn’t about hitting more spectacular shots, it's about eliminating the costly mistakes around the green. By building a reliable chipping game based on a solid setup - narrow stance, weight forward, hands ahead - and a simple, wrist-free motion, you can turn a moment of anxiety into an opportunity to save par.
We know that even with the best technique, some situations around the green are just tricky. An awkward lie in the rough or a tough angle can make choosing the right shot feel like a gamble. That’s why we built Caddie AI to act as your personal course expert. You can even snap a photo of a challenging lie, and we’ll instantly analyze it and give you a simple, smart strategy, removing the uncertainty so you can swing with total confidence.
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