DIY GOLF
Use your hands to take your hands out of the stroke. Wait, what? BY DAVID LEADBETTER O NE OF THE BIGGEST differentiators between pros and average golfers is chipping skill. Last year, the best player on the PGA Tour in scram- bling, which means making par or bet- ter after missing a green, was Xander Schauffele. He did it 302 times (70.7 percent). The worst player in that stat category (I won’t mention his name) still got up and down half the time. There’s no question in my mind that if you got even a little better at chip- ping, it would have a noticeable impact on your handicap. If this is an area of concern for you, there are probably a few things holding you back – and I’ll touch on them all – but I’d bet how you use your hands is a big issue. First, let’s briefly discuss the mental aspects of chipping. Where amateurs often go awry is in their thought pro- cess. They do things like restrict their backswing, in fear of hitting the shot too far, and then jab at the ball when they sense they don’t have enough swing to get it to the hole. Crisp contact is the No 1 goal in chipping – and that sort of stroke won’t produce it. The second problem is at setup. They stand too wide, like they’re about to make a full swing. They then hang back on their trail foot and try to help the ball up. Both mistakes hinder the ability to put the sweet spot on the ball. A narrow stance – feet close together, weight favouring the front foot – is what you need. You also can stand a touch open to help your body pivot. It’s a short shot, so you don’t have a lot of time to rotate. An open stance gives you a head start. Speaking of this notion of help, we’ve arrived at the main issue golf- Make Chipping a Strength
RELAX AND SWING One-handed practice teaches how to release the club. ers have when chip- ping: They get too handsy through the ball. Typically, it’s a flick of the wrists as the clubhead moves through the grass; they’re trying to scoop the ball out of its lie. It looks like this ( top left ). If you hit a lot of fat and thin shots around the green, and generally your contact with the ball doesn’t feel very good, I have a couple of drills for you to help get a better feel for how you should swing through impact. It’s kind of fun- ny, but I’m going to teach you to stop being so handsy with two drills that rely a lot on your hands. Curious? Good chippers blend their arm swing with their body rotation. There’s no fear of hitting the ball too far, because they know the clubhead will glide along the turf and pop the ball up softly ( top right ). They don’t jerk the club down into the ball and either stop short or try to power through it when the backswing doesn’t match the shot they want to hit. In short, the motion is coordinated. You can get a feel for this by alter-
nating between left-hand only and right-hand-only shots ( bottom photos ). Using just one hand prevents you from trying to overcontrol the outcome with your hands. Why? The club is too heavy to manipulate once momentum gets it going. One-handed swings put some flow back into the stroke. They’re more graceful, unhurried and smooth. You’ll especially feel how the club should interact with the ball and turf when you do dominant-hand-only swings. You won’t believe how big a swing you can make on either side of the ball and still not hit it very far. Plus, the ball will have good backspin once it lands, allowing you to get it closer to the hole. Final thought here: You’ve got to keep your body pivoting towards the target, which is why I’m holding my chest with my left hand during my right-hand-only swings. It reminds me to keep my torso turning. The body, arms and club work together in an effective chip shot. – WITH RON KASPRISKE
DAVID LEADBETTER is one of Golf Digest’s Legends of Golf Instruction.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY J D CUBAN
38 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2025
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