The first thing I do to help me get more chip-ins on the golf course is treat the chip more like a putt. The goal is to get the ball rolling quicker on the green so it can track the rest of the way to the hole like a putt.
For this, I rely on more of a bump and run style of chipping. The video above you’ll see how I’m several feet away from the hole to start, but I only chip the ball a foot or so, and let it roll the remaining 7 to 8 feet.
This method is easier to keep control of accuracy. It’s much more difficult to hit chip shots farther distances in the air, and requires a high level of skill and control to land the ball the exact distance far away from you.
It’s much easier to land the ball closer to you and let it roll the remaining distance on the green like a putt. Make sense?
Resource: Foy Golf Academy Practice System (Practice Plans)
Practice Routine for More Chip-Ins
A great way to practice chipping and in return get more chip ins on the golf course is to put aside a few minutes each practice to work solely on trying to chip it in.
Many times, we focus more on chipping the ball close to the hole for our putt and don’t think about actually trying to make the chip. When I start directing my focus to actually making the chip shot, I tend to make more chip-ins.
Weird right?
For this chipping practice routine, I want you to start with sets of 5 golf balls and pick a hole on the green to chip to. Then decide which side of the green you want to be on and set your balls down in the fringe.
As we get better at chipping it in from the fringe, we will move you back into the rough and repeat the same drill to learn how to bump and run the ball onto the green from the rough.
Next, hit your set of 5 golf balls to the hole, trying to make as many chip ins as you can. Sometimes I get 2 out of 5 and other times I might make 4 out of 5.
Starting out, you may make zero chip-ins for awhile but eventually they’ll come.
After you hit the initial set of 5 balls, go pick them up and repeat the drill from the same location again.
Do this for 25 reps (5 sets of 5) before moving to a new location. Move around practicing different holes and different locations to change up how much roll the ball needs once it’s chipped onto the green.
Focus on the ball landing on a spot where you pick out with your eyes. Then watch for how it rolls on the green, adjusting for break in the green so the ball rolls on a targeted line to the cup that you pick out for it.
Overtime, you’ll gain skill reading greens and develop feel for distance control with your hands and wedge swing motion.
Resource: Foy Golf Academy Practice System (Practice Plans)
The Bump and Run Chipping Technique
To chip the ball with a bump and run style of chipping technique, you need to learn how to set up to the ball properly.
Start by positioning the golf ball further back in your stance.
Since our hands holding the grip of the club stay neutral in the center of our stance, this naturally causes the club shaft to have to lean forward when the ball is back in our stance.
This forward shaft lean delofts the wedge’s clubface, which takes backspin off the golf ball, allowing it to roll forward more. It also helps the ball come off the face at a lower trajectory.
When hitting higher chip shots that stop faster, the opposite is needed. More backspin is needed to get the ball to stop quicker upon landing, and higher backspin also helps the ball climb into the air higher, for a taller trajectory through the air.
So when hitting a bump in run, think about these 4 things “forward shaft lean, deloft the club face, lower trajectory chip shot, more roll”
Golf Practice System for Lower Scores
Learn the exact golf practice routines thousands of students at Foy Golf Academy are using to lower their golf scores.
Follow these step by step practice plans and watch video lessons to learn how to improve your golf swing, chipping, and putting fundamentals.
Get access to hundreds of golf drills to practice as well as content on the mental side of golf, fitness plans, worksheets, and many more resources. This is a complete golf practice system.
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Work hard,
Nick Foy, Instructor