How to Set Up for a Chip Shot in Golf

A great chipping setup feels a little strange, but mastering it is one of the fastest ways to shave strokes off your scorecard. Forget the complex mechanics for now, a solid, repeatable address position is the foundation that makes crisp contact and distance control almost automatic. This guide will walk you through a simple, step-by-step process to build a foolproof chipping setup so you can start getting up and down with confidence.

Why Your Chip Shot Setup Feels So Different

Before we go through the steps, let's understand why a chipping setup is so different from your full swing. With a driver or iron, you're trying to create speed and power with a big body rotation. The goal of a chip shot is the total opposite: we want less power and more control. We're trying to hit the ball a very specific distance with a predictable amount of roll.

Think of it like tossing a ball underhand to a friend. You wouldn't take a big, wild wind-up, you'd stand closer, use a smaller motion, and focus on precision. That's exactly what we're building with our chipping setup. It's a "mini-swing" designed to be simple and repeatable. Everything about the setup - from your stance width to your weight position - is designed to eliminate extra moving parts and promote a descending strike on the ball. This clean contact is what gives you that consistent ball flight and roll that great chippers have.

Step-by-Step Guide to a Perfect Chipping Setup

Building a great setup is like building a house with a solid foundation. Follow these steps in order, and you’ll create a stable, effective position every time you’re just off the green.

Step 1: Choose the Right Club for the Job

Your setup starts before you even stand over the ball, it starts with club selection. The golden rule for chipping is: get the ball on the green and rolling as soon as possible. You want the least amount of airtime and the most amount of ground time because a rolling ball is far more predictable than a flying one.

• Plenty of Green to Work With: If you have a lot of green between you and the hole, don't automatically grab a sand wedge. Try an 8 or 9-iron. A less lofted club will produce a lower shot that pops onto the green and rolls out like a putt.
• Shorter-Sided Chips: If you have to fly the ball over a bunker or you have very little green to work with, a more lofted club like a pitching wedge or sand wedge is a better choice.

For practice, a pitching wedge is a perfect middle-ground club to learn the fundamental setup and motion.

Step 2: Take a Narrow Stance

This might feel the most unusual, but it's tremendously important. Unlike a full swing where you need a wide, stable base, for chipping you want your feet much closer together.

How to do it: Stand with your feet about one to two clubheads apart - some players even feel like their heels are almost touching. This narrow stance does a few wonderful things for you:

• It discourages your lower body from swaying or overly rotating. Remember, this is an arms-and-shoulders motion, not a power move from the hips.
• It makes it easier to get your weight onto your front foot, which we’ll cover next.
• It naturally encourages your sternum (the center of your chest) to be ahead of the golf ball, promoting that all-important downward strike.

Imagine you’re trying to make a simple putting stroke, your feet wouldn't be shoulder-width apart. Apply that same logic to chipping.

Step 3: Settle Your Weight Forward

This is the secret sauce to eliminating those frustrating thin (bladed) and fat (chunky) chip shots. You must get your weight favoring your target-side foot.

How to do it: From your narrow stance, feel like about 60-70% of your body pressure is on your front foot (your left foot for a right-handed golfer). A great way to feel this is to set up normally, and then take your trail foot (your right foot) and place it back on its toe, almost like a kickstand. You couldn't possibly have much weight on it. This forces you to lean your upper and lower body towards the target.

Keeping your weight forward throughout the tiny swing motion makes it much easier to hit the ball first, then the grass. Most chunked chips happen when a player's weight falls back onto their trail foot during the swing, causing the club to bottom out behind the ball.

Step 4: Place the Ball Back in Your Stance

Where the ball is in relation to your feet has a huge influence on your angle of attack. For chipping, we want to hit down on the ball to pop it up cleanly.

How to do it: With your narrow, weight-forward setup, the ball should be positioned in the middle or slightly back of the middle of your stance. For a basic chip, think of it being directly in line with the heel of your trail foot (the right heel for a righty). This rearward ball position, combined with your forward weight, practically guarantees a downward strike.

If the ball is too far forward in your stance (like with a driver), you are more likely to hit the ground first or catch the ball on the upswing, leading to a thin, sculled shot across the green.

Step 5: Press Your Hands Forward and Open Your Stance

The final pieces of the puzzle involve your hands and body alignment. They both work together to create a clear, simple path for the club to swing.

• Hands Forward (Shaft Lean): When you take your grip, allow your hands to be slightly ahead of the clubhead. This means the shaft of the club will be leaning towards the target. This "forward press" delofts the clubface a little and promotes that ball-first contact. Imagine your hands, a little past your zipper.
• Slightly Open Stance: Don't stand square to the target line like you would for a full shot. Instead, pull your front foot back just a couple of inches, so your feet and hips are aimed a little left of your target (for a righty). This subtle change has a big benefit: it pre-clears your hips so they don't get in the way as your arms swing through. It gives you a clear path down the target line.
• Bonus Tip: Choke Down. For added control, grip down an inch or two on the club. This effectively shortens the club, making it even easier to handle and control the distance.

Your Quick Chipping Setup Checklist

Overthinking on the course is a performance killer. Turn the setup into a quick, non-negotiable routine. Think of it as a four-point check before you pull the trigger.

1. Feet Together: Start with a very narrow stance.
2. Ball Back: Position the ball back of center.
3. Weight Forward: Get 70% of your weight on your lead foot and keep it there.
4. Hands Forward: Press your hands ahead of the clubhead.

Once you are set, the swing itself feels much like a putting stroke. Rock your shoulders back and through, keeping your lower body quiet. The correct setup has already done most of the work for you.

Drills to Make the Setup Automatic

The best way to make this setup feel natural is to practice it with a specific purpose. Try this simple drill:

The Flamingo Chip:

1. Set up to a ball following all the steps above.
2. Before you swing, lift your trail foot completely off the ground and balance only on your lead foot (like a flamingo).
3. Hit small chip shots from this one-legged position.

You can't physically hit a good chip from this position unless your weight is properly forward, and you use your shoulders to move the club. इट forces you to feel the correct balance and movements. Hit 10-15 shots like this, and when you go back to your normal chipping stance, it will feel incredibly stable and correctly balanced.

Final Thoughts

A consistent and effective chipping setup is built on a few simple principles: a narrow stance, with the ball back, your weight forward, and your hands slightly ahead. Mastering this address position removes the compensation and guesswork that lead to bad shots, allowing for a much simpler, repeatable motion that produces predictable results around the greens.

Of course, sometimes the perfect setup on a flat lie gets complicated by reality - a bare patch, thick rough, or an awkward sidehill lie all demand small adjustments. When every shot is different, figuring out those subtle changes can be the hardest part. That’s where having an expert in your pocket helps. With an app like Caddie AI, you can snap a photo of your specific tricky lie, and the AI will analyze the situation and give you immediate, practical advice on how to adjust your setup and technique, removing the doubt so you can swing with confidence.