That unnerving feeling when you’ve lined up a delicate chip shot, taken what feels like a perfect practice swing, and then… thud. Your club burrows into the turf a full inch behind the ball, which then hops a few feet forward in protest. This frustrating mis-hit is known as a chili dip, and it’s one of the most confidence-shattering moments in golf. This article will explain exactly what a chili dip is, what causes it, and provide you with actionable drills and a step-by-step plan to eliminate it from your game for good.
A chili dip is a specific, ugly type of fat shot that happens on short game shots like chips and pitches. While any fat shot involves hitting the ground before the ball, the chili dip is characterized by the club’s leading edge digging sharply into the ground. This abrupt stop kills all the momentum and power of your swing.
Imagine your clubhead is a big spoon and the turf behind your ball is a thick bowl of chili. A chili dip is when you plunge that spoon straight down into the chili, getting a huge glob of it and stopping your motion cold. The result? The ball goes virtually nowhere, and you’re left with a deep, ugly gouge in the fairway - often called a "bacon strip" divot. This is different from a slightly "heavy" or "fat" shot where the club might hit the ground early but still has enough momentum to glide through the turf and advance the ball a reasonable distance. The chili dip is a complete swing-stopper.
It’s a shot born out of anxiety and poor technique, but the good news is that with a clear understanding of its causes, it’s entirely correctable. You don’t have to live in fear of these short, seemingly simple shots.
To fix the chili dip, you first have to understand why it’s happening. It’s not just a random mistake, it’s a direct result of a few common technical flaws. Let's break down the most frequent causes.
This is, without a doubt, the number one reason golfers chili dip. You’re close to the green, you see the pin, and your brain screams, “Don’t hit it too far!” In response to this fear, you instinctively slow the club down as it approaches the ball. This is a fatal mistake in chipping.
When you decelerate your arms and body rotation, the momentum of the heavier clubhead causes it to pass your hands prematurely. This leads to a “flipping” motion with your wrists right at the point of impact. This flip adds loft but, more damagingly, it drives the sharp leading edge of your wedge directly into the ground *before* the ball. The result is pure, unadulterated chili dip.
The Fix in a Nutshell: You must learn to accelerate the club through the ball, even on the softest chip shots. A good chip has rhythm and commitment, not hesitation.
Many golfers have a deep-seated misunderstanding of how a golf club works. They think they need to help the ball get into the air by scooping it with their wrists. You’ll see this player hang back on their trail foot and try to flick the ball upwards.
But your clubs are designed with loft precisely so you don’t have to do this! The club's loft is what makes the ball go up. Your job is to strike the ball with a slightly downward angle of attack, a concept often called "hitting down to make the ball go up." When you try to scoop, you reverse this. You disrupt the natural swing arc, lower the club's effective bounce (the forgiving quality of the sole that helps it glide), and introduce that digging leading edge. You are actively creating the perfect conditions for a chili dip.
The Fix in a Nutshell: Trust your club's loft. Focus on striking the "back" of the ball, not the "bottom" of it.
A good golf swing is rotational. A bad golf swing often involves a lot of lateral movement, or "swaying." In chipping, this flaw is magnified. A player who chili dips often sways their weight onto their back foot during the backswing, but then fails to shift it forward onto their front foot on the downswing.
Think about your swing as a circle with a defined low point. If you set up correctly, that low point should be just in front of the ball. If you sway back and "hang back" on your trail leg, you move the low point of your swing arch several inches behind the ball. From that position, it becomes almost impossible *not* to hit the ground first.
The Fix in a Nutshell: Keep your lower body stable and rotate your chest around a fixed point. Your weight should favor your front foot throughout the chip shot.
A fundamentally flawed setup can destine you for a chili dip before you even start the club back. The two biggest culprits are having the ball too far forward in your stance and your hands too far back (or neutral) at address.
Your setup dictates a large part of your swing's success. Starting in a poor position forces you to make complex and unreliable compensations during the swing.
Enough with the problem, let’s get to the solution. Follow these steps and practice the drills below, and you'll build a reliable, chili-dip-proof chipping stroke.
Before you hit any balls, master this anti-chili-dip setup. Great chipping starts here.
With your setup dialed in, the swing thought is simple: make a pendulum motion with your arms and shoulders, and accelerate through impact.
Imagine your arms and the club as a single unit, a triangle formed by your shoulders and hands. The swing should be driven by the rotation of your chest and shoulders, not by an independent wrist or arm action. The length of your backswing should control the distance, not the speed of your release. Think "equal back, equal through," meaning the length of your follow-through should mirror the length of your backswing. This promotes a consistent rhythm and ensures you don't slow down.
Your main feeling should be that your chest, arms, and clubhead all turn together through the ball toward the target.
Reading about it is one thing, feeling it is another. These drills are designed to give you instant feedback and force you to use the correct technique.
This is the classic, can't-fail drill for fixing chili dips. Place a towel on the ground about 6 inches behind your golf ball. Set up to the ball as described above and hit chips. Your goal is simple: miss the towel.
If you scoop or decelerate, you will hit the a towel. There is no escaping the feedback. To successfully chip the ball without touching the towel, you'll be forced to get your weight forward, press your hands forward, and deliver the club on the correct shallow-but-downward angle. Start with small swings and build your confidence.
This is another excellent drill for fixing swaying and promoting correct rotation. Set up to the ball, but then pull your trail foot (right foot for a righty) back so just the toe is on the ground for balance. This automatically puts almost all of your weight on your front leg.
From here, it's physically difficult to sway back or hang back on your trail leg. Your only option is to rotate around your stable front leg. You'll instantly feel how quiet your lower body should be and how your chest rotation drives the swing.
To eliminate overly active arms and hands, take a headcover and tuck it into your lead armpit (left armpit for a righty). Your goal is to hit chip shots without letting the headcover drop.
This simple drill keeps your lead arm connected to your torso, forcing you to use your bigger muscles - your chest and shoulders - to move the club. It prevents the arms from becoming disconnected and "flippy" and instills the proper feeling of a one-piece motion.
The chili dip is a painful, demoralizing shot, but it is not a permanent curse on your game. It stems from fear, deceleration, and a misunderstanding of a basic chipping technique. By building a solid setup with your weight and hands forward, and focusing on a confident, accelerating swing driven by your body's rotation, you can make clean contact the norm.
Practicing these drills is fantastic, but taking that newfound confidence to the course is the final step. For those moments when you're facing a tricky greenside lie and the old anxieties start to creep in, I've designed Caddie AI to be your personal on-demand coach. You can snap a photo of your ball's lie, and we’ll instantly analyze the situation and give you a simple, repeatable strategy to play the shot with confidence. It's about taking the guesswork out, so you can commit to a positive swing every single time.
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