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Golf Chipping Tips: Master Your Short Game in 30 Days

The average amateur misses 10-12 greens per round. These golf chipping tips turn wasted strokes into tap-in pars with a 30-day practice plan.

Quick Summary

  • Short game makes up 60% of your total strokes — yet most amateurs spend 80% of practice time hitting full shots
  • The Rule of 12 simplifies club selection — divide 12 by the club's loft number to find the carry-to-roll ratio for any chip
  • 5 specific drills with reps and targets — each takes under 10 minutes and three work in your garden or living room
  • Track your progress — log your practice sessions in the free Green Streak app to build consistency

You just missed the green by four feet. The pin is 30 feet away. You grab your 60-degree wedge, skull it across the green, chip back, and walk off with a double bogey. A shot that started four feet from the putting surface cost you three strokes.

Quick Answer: The average amateur misses 10-12 greens per round, according to Arccos Golf data, making chipping the single fastest way to lower your scores. The fix involves three things: a simplified setup with weight on your lead foot, the right club for each situation using the Rule of 12, and deliberate daily practice. A basic "putting stroke" chip technique gets most golfers up and down more often within 2-3 weeks. Start with 15 minutes of chipping practice daily and track every session in Green Streak to build the habit.

Table of Contents

Why Is Chipping the Fastest Way to Drop Strokes?

Here is a stat that should change how you practise forever. The average amateur misses 10-12 greens per round. Tour pros miss 5-6. That means you are chipping at least twice as often as the best golfers on the planet.

Now here is the painful part. When a tour pro misses the green, they get up and down (chipping on and one-putting) roughly 60% of the time. The average amateur? About 10-15%.

That gap is enormous. And it is entirely fixable.

Think about what happens when you improve your chipping from 10% up and down to even 30%. On 10 missed greens, you are saving yourself 2 extra strokes per round. That is 2 strokes without changing your driver, your irons, or your swing speed. Just getting the ball closer to the hole from 30 feet off the green.

I spent years ignoring my short game. I would hammer balls on the range for an hour and then spend five minutes chipping before my round. My scores reflected that. The week I flipped the ratio and started practising chipping for 15 minutes a day, my handicap dropped faster than any other period in my golf life.

The reason is simple. Full shots are hard to change quickly. Your driver swing involves a dozen moving parts. But a chip shot is a small, controlled movement. You can improve it in days, not months. If you are trying to break 100, chipping is where you start.

The Basic Chip Setup

Every good chip starts with the setup. Get this right and the motion almost takes care of itself. Get it wrong and you are fighting your body the entire time.

Ball Position

Place the ball in the centre of your stance or slightly back of centre. Not dramatically back. Just an inch or two behind middle. This ensures the club strikes the ball with a slight descending blow, catching ball first and turf second.

A common mistake is shoving the ball way back toward your trail foot. This de-lofts the club too much, produces a low, running shot with no control, and increases the chance of hitting the ground before the ball.

Weight Distribution

Put 60-70% of your weight on your lead foot (left foot for right-handed golfers) at address. Keep it there throughout the swing. This is non-negotiable.

When your weight is forward, the low point of the swing moves forward too. That means you hit the ball cleanly. When your weight stays centred or drifts back, the club bottoms out behind the ball. That is where fat chips and skulled chips come from.

Hands and Shaft

At address, your hands should be slightly ahead of the ball. The shaft of the club should lean slightly toward the target. This is not a dramatic press. Think of it as a gentle lean, maybe 2-3 inches of shaft lean.

This forward lean does two things. First, it reduces the effective loft of the club, giving you a lower launch with more roll. Second, it positions your wrists so that they do not flip at impact.

Stance Width and Grip

Narrow your stance to about hip width. A wide stance restricts rotation and encourages swaying. You want your body to turn through the shot, not slide.

Grip down on the club by an inch or two. This shortens the club's effective length, giving you more control. Some golfers use their putting grip for chips. That is perfectly fine and often helps with feel.

| Setup Element | What to Do | Why | |---------------|-----------|-----| | Ball position | Centre or slightly back of centre | Ensures ball-first contact | | Weight | 60-70% on lead foot, stays there | Moves low point forward | | Hands | Slightly ahead of ball | Prevents flipping and scooping | | Stance | Hip width | Allows rotation, limits sway | | Grip | Down 1-2 inches, light pressure | More control and feel |

The Putting Stroke Chip Technique

If you are new to chipping or struggle with consistency, start here. This is the simplest chipping method and it works because it removes almost every variable that causes bad chips.

The concept: treat your chip shot like a long putt. Same motion. Same tempo. Same lack of wrist action.

How It Works

Set up as described above. Weight forward, ball centre, hands ahead. Now swing the club using your shoulders, just like a putting stroke. Your wrists stay firm. Your arms and shoulders form a triangle. That triangle rocks back and through.

There is no wrist hinge. No hit. No acceleration through impact in the traditional sense. The club moves at a consistent pace, like a pendulum.

When to Use It

This technique works best for chips where you have plenty of green to work with. Flat lies. Short grass around the green. Situations where you want the ball to land a few feet onto the green and roll to the hole like a putt.

It does not work as well from thick rough, steep downhill lies, or when you need the ball to stop quickly. For those situations, you need the hinge-and-hold technique below.

Why It Works

The putting stroke chip eliminates the two biggest amateur chipping faults: scooping and deceleration. Because there is no wrist action, you cannot scoop. Because the motion is a simple pendulum, deceleration feels unnatural. The stroke flows through.

I teach this to every golfer who asks me for golf chipping tips. Not because it is fancy. Because it works. Within 20 minutes of practice, most golfers are hitting cleaner chips than they have in months.

Building a short game habit? The free Green Streak app lets you log every chipping session and build a practice streak. Even 10 minutes counts. Track it, and the consistency takes care of itself.

The Hinge-and-Hold Technique

Once you are comfortable with the putting stroke chip, the hinge-and-hold opens up a wider range of shots. This technique allows you to hit higher chips that land softer and stop faster.

The Concept

During the backswing, you allow your wrists to hinge naturally. Then through impact and into the follow-through, you hold that wrist angle. You do not release the club. You do not flip your hands. You hinge going back, and you hold going through.

Step-by-Step

Backswing: Take the club back with a slight wrist hinge. The amount of hinge determines the height and distance. A small hinge for a short chip. A bigger hinge for a longer one.

Downswing: Let your body rotate toward the target. Your hands lead the clubhead through impact. The wrist angle you set on the backswing stays locked.

Follow-through: The clubface should point slightly toward the sky after impact. Your hands finish low, around hip height. The shaft leans forward throughout.

When to Use It

The hinge-and-hold shines when you need the ball to stop quickly. Tight pin positions with little green to work with. Downhill chips where a running ball will fly past the hole. Shots from light rough where you need a bit of extra loft.

Phil Mickelson made this technique famous, and it is the method most PGA professionals recommend for intermediate to advanced players. It requires more timing than the putting stroke chip, which is why I recommend learning the simple method first.

Which Club Should I Use for Chipping?

This is where most amateurs go wrong. They grab the same club for every chip, usually a sand wedge or 60-degree lob wedge. That is like using a driver for every tee shot, including par 3s.

Different clubs produce different launch angles and roll-out distances. The correct club depends on how much green you have between your ball and the hole.

The Club Selection Chart

| Club | Carry-to-Roll Ratio | Best For | |------|---------------------|----------| | 7-iron | 1:4 (short carry, long roll) | Long chips across the green with lots of room | | 8-iron | 1:3 | Medium-long chips with moderate room | | 9-iron | 1:2 | Medium chips, decent green to work with | | PW | 1:1 | Balanced carry and roll, versatile | | SW (56°) | 2:1 | Short chips needing height and quick stop | | LW (60°) | 3:1 | Very short chips over bunkers, needs soft landing |

The ratios are approximate and change with green speed, slope, and lie. But they give you a starting framework.

How to Choose

Stand behind the ball and look at the green. Identify where you want the ball to land. That landing spot should be a few feet onto the green, on a flat area if possible. Now estimate the distance from your landing spot to the hole.

If the landing spot is close to you and the hole is far away, you need a lot of roll. Choose a less-lofted club like a 7 or 8-iron. If the landing spot and the hole are close together, you need the ball to stop quickly. Choose a more-lofted club like a sand wedge.

This is a massive mindset shift. Stop thinking about which club to chip with. Start thinking about where to land the ball and which club produces the right roll.

The Rule of 12 Explained

The Rule of 12 is a shortcut that makes club selection for chipping almost automatic. It is the single most useful formula I have found for the short game.

How It Works

Take the number 12. Divide it by the club number you are using. The result tells you the approximate carry-to-roll ratio.

Example with a 7-iron: 12 ÷ 7 = roughly 1.7. So for every 1 part of carry, you get about 1.7 parts of roll. On a 12-pace chip, the ball carries about 4-5 paces and rolls about 7-8 paces.

Example with a pitching wedge (10): 12 ÷ 10 = 1.2. Carry and roll are nearly equal. On a 12-pace chip, the ball carries about 5-6 paces and rolls about 6-7 paces.

Example with a 9-iron: 12 ÷ 9 = roughly 1.3. Slightly more roll than carry.

The Formula in Practice

Walk off the total distance from ball to hole. Decide on your landing spot (always a few feet onto the green). Count the paces from your ball to the landing spot and from the landing spot to the hole. Then pick the club whose ratio matches what you need.

If you have 3 paces of carry to the landing spot and 9 paces from landing spot to hole, you need a 1:3 ratio. That is an 8-iron.

The Rule of 12 is not perfect. It assumes a relatively flat green and a standard putting stroke chip technique. But it gets you in the right postcode, and that is far better than guessing with a lob wedge every time.

Want to track your chipping improvement? Log your short game sessions in the free Green Streak app and watch your up-and-down percentage climb over 30 days.

When Should I Chip, Pitch, or Putt From Off the Green?

This decision costs amateur golfers more strokes than they realise. The general rule is simple: use the least-lofted option that gets the ball onto the green and rolling.

The Decision Hierarchy

Putt first. If there is a clear path between your ball and the hole with no rough, fringe, or obstacles in the way, putt it. A bad putt from off the green still finishes within 5-6 feet. A bad chip can go anywhere.

Chip second. If you cannot putt because of thick fringe or rough between you and the green, chip with the lowest-lofted club that clears the fringe and lands on the green.

Pitch third. Only pitch (a higher, longer shot with wrist hinge and more loft) when you need to carry a bunker, a significant slope, or a long stretch of rough before the green.

Most amateurs default to the highest-loft option. They pull out the lob wedge when a 7-iron bump-and-run along the ground would be safer and more consistent. Remember: the ball behaves more predictably on the ground than in the air.

If you are working to break 100, I would go further. Putt from off the green whenever physically possible. A Texas wedge (putter from off the green) is the lowest-risk play in golf.

The 19th Hole: I tracked my own up-and-down stats for an entire season after I committed to using less loft around the greens. In the first three months, I was reaching for my sand wedge on 80% of chips. By month six, after drilling the Rule of 12 and trusting lower-lofted clubs, I was using my PW or 9-iron on 60% of chips. My up-and-down rate went from 35% to 52%. The improvement was not a technique change. It was a decision change. I stopped trying to be Phil Mickelson and started trying to be boring. Boring works.

5 Chipping Drills That Actually Work

These five drills cover every fundamental you need. Start with drills one and two. Add the others as your confidence grows. Each drill includes setup, execution, what you should feel, and how many reps to do.

Drill 1: The Towel Landing Drill

What it trains: Landing spot accuracy, the most important skill in chipping.

Setup: Place a towel flat on the green about 3 feet onto the putting surface. This is your landing zone. Position balls 5-10 feet off the green.

Execution: Chip balls onto the towel using different clubs (start with a PW, then try a 9-iron and 8-iron). Your only goal is hitting the towel. Do not worry about where the ball finishes.

What to feel: A descending strike with the ball leaving the clubface low. No scooping. Let the club's loft do the work.

Reps: 20 chips per session. Record how many land on the towel. Aim for 12 out of 20 within two weeks.

Drill 2: The One-Club Distance Ladder

What it trains: Distance control with a single club.

Setup: Choose your PW. Place targets (tees, coins, or markers) at 10, 20, and 30 feet from your chipping spot.

Execution: Hit five chips to each target. Control distance by changing the length of your backswing, not your tempo. Short backswing for 10 feet. Medium for 20. Longer for 30.

What to feel: Same smooth tempo on every chip. The only variable is backswing length. This teaches your hands to measure distance through feel, not force.

Reps: 15 chips total (5 per distance). Track how many finish within a putter-length of each target.

Drill 3: The Rule of 12 Club Rotation

What it trains: Matching club selection to landing spot and roll-out.

Setup: Pick a hole with at least 30 feet of green. Set a landing spot 3 feet onto the green. Chip from the same position with a 7-iron, 9-iron, PW, and SW.

Execution: Hit three chips with each club to the same landing spot. Watch how far each club's chip rolls out. This builds your mental library of what each club does.

What to feel: The same swing for every club. The only thing that changes is the club in your hands. Same setup, same stroke, different result. That is the beauty of the Rule of 12.

Reps: 12 chips total (3 per club). After each round of four, note where each ball finished relative to the hole. You will start seeing the patterns quickly.

Drill 4: The Circle Drill

What it trains: Pressure, accuracy, and scrambling from all angles.

Setup: Place four or five balls in a circle around a hole, each about 10-15 feet off the green on the fringe. Every ball has a different angle and potentially a different lie.

Execution: Chip each ball, trying to get it within a 3-foot circle around the hole. Do not move to the next ball until you have committed to your routine: read the chip, choose your club, pick your landing spot, then hit.

What to feel: The pressure of performing from different angles and lies. This simulates real on-course chipping better than hitting 20 balls from the same spot.

Reps: 5 balls per rotation, 3 rotations per session. Score yourself: 2 points if the ball finishes inside 3 feet, 1 point if it finishes inside 6 feet, 0 points outside 6 feet. Track your score over time.

Drill 5: The Par-2 Game

What it trains: Getting up and down under scoring pressure.

Setup: Drop a ball off the green in a random spot. Your goal is to get down in 2 shots (chip plus one putt). Play 9 "holes" from 9 different positions around the green.

Execution: Chip the ball, then putt out. If you get down in 2, that is par. Down in 1 (chip in) is birdie. Three shots is bogey. Keep a running score over 9 holes.

What to feel: Real scoring pressure. This drill forces you to think about every chip the way you would on the course. Where is the safe miss? What club gives me the best chance at a one-putt?

Reps: 9 holes per session. Par for the round is 18. Track your score in Green Streak. A beginner might shoot 25-27. A solid chipper shoots 18-20.

If you want to build a broader practice routine at home, drills 1 and 2 adapt easily to a back garden setup with a chipping mat and a towel as your target.

How Do I Chip From Difficult Lies?

Standard chipping technique works on perfect lies. But the course gives you tight lies, thick rough, and sloped ground. Here is how to adjust.

Tight Lies (Bare or Closely Mown)

A tight lie is when the ball sits directly on firm ground with very little grass under it. This is what terrifies most amateur chippers because there is zero margin for error. Hit a fraction behind the ball and you skull it.

The adjustment: Use a less-lofted club (8-iron or 9-iron instead of a wedge). Play the ball slightly back in your stance. Make a shorter, more controlled stroke. The lower loft and reduced bounce help the club glide through rather than digging or bouncing off the hard surface.

Thick Rough

When the ball is sitting down in thick grass, the rough grabs the club and twists the face closed. A 7-iron bump-and-run will not work here.

The adjustment: Switch to your most-lofted wedge (56° or 60°). Open the face slightly at address. Make a slightly steeper backswing with more wrist hinge. The extra loft and open face help the club cut through the grass without getting trapped.

Uphill Chips

An uphill lie adds loft to the club. Your 9-iron will fly like a PW.

The adjustment: Take one club less lofted than normal (use an 8-iron where you would normally use a 9-iron). Tilt your shoulders to match the slope. Keep your weight on your lead foot.

Downhill Chips

A downhill lie removes loft. Your PW will fly like an 8-iron. The ball will come out lower and run more.

The adjustment: Take one club more lofted than normal. Play the ball slightly back in your stance. Make a shorter swing and let the slope do the work. Do not try to help the ball up. This is where many golfers make the scooping mistake that produces skulled shots. Trust the loft. If you struggle with this, the same contact fundamentals that fix topping apply to downhill chips.

Common Chipping Mistakes and How to Fix Them

I have made every one of these mistakes. Some of them for years before I figured out what was going wrong. Here are the most common chipping faults I see, and the corrections that fix them fastest.

Scooping (Trying to Lift the Ball)

This is the number one chipping killer. The golfer tries to get under the ball and lift it into the air by flipping the wrists at impact. The result is either a fat chip (club hits ground first) or a skulled chip (leading edge catches the ball's equator).

The fix: The club has loft. It does not need your help getting the ball airborne. Focus on hitting down and through. The forward shaft lean at address and the weight on your lead foot make this automatic. Drill it with the Towel Landing Drill.

Deceleration

You take the club back to a reasonable length, then slow down approaching the ball. The club either stops in the turf (fat) or your hands flip to compensate (skull).

The fix: Shorter backswing, same tempo through. If your follow-through is shorter than your backswing, you are decelerating. The One-Club Distance Ladder drill trains this because you learn to control distance with backswing length, not by slowing down.

Using the Wrong Club Every Time

Grabbing the lob wedge for everything is the chipping equivalent of using a sledgehammer to hang a picture. It works sometimes, but there are better options.

The fix: Learn the Rule of 12. Start using 3-4 different clubs around the green. The Rule of 12 Club Rotation drill builds this habit.

Ball Too Far Back in the Stance

Some golfers shove the ball back toward their trail foot, thinking it helps contact. It does create a descending blow, but it also de-lofts the club dramatically. Your sand wedge starts performing like a 7-iron. The ball comes out low with too much spin and roll, and you have zero control over landing distance.

The fix: Ball position at centre or just slightly back of centre. No more than an inch behind middle. Check this at every setup by placing a club on the ground pointing at the centre of your stance.

Looking Up Too Early

This one actually matters in chipping, unlike full shots where "keep your head down" is mostly a myth. In chipping, looking up early pulls your chest and shoulders up, which lifts the low point. On a delicate shot with small margins, that is enough to skull it.

The fix: Keep your eyes on the spot where the ball was until the ball is well on its way. Some teachers say "listen for the ball to land before looking up." That is a good cue.

| Mistake | What Happens | The Fix | Best Drill | |---------|-------------|---------|------------| | Scooping | Fat or skulled chip | Hit down, trust the loft | Towel Landing Drill | | Deceleration | Fat or flipped chip | Shorter backswing, same tempo | One-Club Distance Ladder | | Wrong club always | Inconsistent distance control | Rule of 12, vary clubs | Club Rotation Drill | | Ball too far back | De-lofted, low running shot | Ball at centre of stance | Setup check with alignment stick | | Looking up early | Topped or thin chip | Eyes on the spot, listen for the landing | Par-2 Game (pressure practice) |

The 30-Day Chipping Challenge

This is a structured progression that takes you from uncomfortable around the greens to confident. It starts simple and builds. Each day takes 10-20 minutes.

The golden rule: do something every day. Even five minutes of the putting stroke chip into a cushion at home counts. The consistency matters more than the duration. That is the same Seinfeld Strategy principle that works across all golf practice.

Week 1: Foundation (Days 1-7)

Focus: Setup and the putting stroke chip technique.

| Day | Activity | Duration | |-----|----------|----------| | 1 | Setup practice — ball position, weight, hands. No ball. | 10 min | | 2 | Putting stroke chip, PW only, flat lie. Towel Landing Drill. | 15 min | | 3 | Putting stroke chip, 9-iron and PW. Same landing spot. | 15 min | | 4 | Rest day. Watch a short game video or read chipping notes. | 5 min | | 5 | One-Club Distance Ladder with PW. | 15 min | | 6 | Putting stroke chip from fringe. 20 chips, count clean contacts. | 15 min | | 7 | Par-2 Game. 9 holes. Record score. | 20 min |

Week 2: Club Selection (Days 8-14)

Focus: Using multiple clubs and the Rule of 12.

| Day | Activity | Duration | |-----|----------|----------| | 8 | Rule of 12 Club Rotation — 7-iron, 9-iron, PW, SW. | 15 min | | 9 | Towel Landing Drill with three different clubs. | 15 min | | 10 | One-Club Distance Ladder with 8-iron instead of PW. | 15 min | | 11 | Rest day. Visualise chips from different distances. | 5 min | | 12 | Circle Drill — 5 balls, 3 rotations, multiple clubs. | 20 min | | 13 | On-course practice: 9 holes, track up-and-down attempts. | 60 min | | 14 | Par-2 Game. 9 holes. Record score. Compare to Day 7. | 20 min |

Week 3: Technique Upgrade (Days 15-21)

Focus: Hinge-and-hold technique and difficult lies.

| Day | Activity | Duration | |-----|----------|----------| | 15 | Hinge-and-hold basics. SW only, 20 chips. | 15 min | | 16 | Hinge-and-hold vs putting stroke. Same distance, compare results. | 15 min | | 17 | Tight lie practice. 8-iron and 9-iron from bare ground. | 15 min | | 18 | Rest day. Review your scores from Days 7 and 14. | 5 min | | 19 | Thick rough practice. Open-faced SW, steeper swing. | 15 min | | 20 | Uphill and downhill chips. Adjust club and setup. | 15 min | | 21 | Par-2 Game from difficult spots. 9 holes. Record score. | 20 min |

Week 4: Pressure and Performance (Days 22-30)

Focus: Scoring under pressure and cementing the habit.

| Day | Activity | Duration | |-----|----------|----------| | 22 | Circle Drill with scoring. Beat your Week 2 score. | 20 min | | 23 | Par-2 Game. 18 holes this time. Full scoring. | 30 min | | 24 | Rule of 12 test: hit 3 chips per club, predict where each finishes. | 15 min | | 25 | Rest day. Review all your logged scores in Green Streak. | 5 min | | 26 | On-course practice: 9 holes, focused on up-and-down percentage. | 60 min | | 27 | Mixed drill session: 5 min Towel Landing, 5 min Ladder, 5 min Circle. | 15 min | | 28 | Hinge-and-hold from rough and tight lies. | 15 min | | 29 | Par-2 Game. 18 holes. Final score comparison. | 30 min | | 30 | Full round. Track every up and down. Celebrate the improvement. | 4 hrs |

By Day 30, you should see a measurable improvement in your up-and-down percentage. Most golfers who follow this plan tell me they see the biggest jump in Week 2, when the Rule of 12 clicks and they stop using the same club for every chip.

Log every single session in Green Streak. The streak itself becomes motivation. Missing a day feels wrong once you have built momentum. That is the entire point of building a consistent practice habit.

Sources & Further Reading

Related Articles

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most important golf chipping tip for beginners?

Start with the putting stroke chip technique. Weight on your lead foot, ball in the centre of your stance, hands slightly ahead, and a simple pendulum motion using your shoulders. No wrist action. This eliminates scooping and deceleration, the two most common beginner faults. Master this basic motion before adding any complexity.

How often should I practise chipping to see improvement?

Daily practice of 10-15 minutes produces visible results within 2-3 weeks. Research on distributed practice shows that short, frequent sessions create better motor skill retention than one long weekly session. Even chipping five balls into a towel in your garden counts. The consistency matters far more than the volume.

Should I use a sand wedge for every chip shot?

No. Using one club for every chip is like using one gear in a car. A pitching wedge, 9-iron, 8-iron, and even 7-iron all have roles around the green. Use the Rule of 12 to match your club to the carry-to-roll ratio you need. Less loft for more roll, more loft for less roll. Your up-and-down rate will improve when you start varying your club selection.

What is the Rule of 12 in chipping?

The Rule of 12 is a simple formula for chip club selection. Divide 12 by the club number to get the approximate carry-to-roll ratio. A 7-iron gives roughly 1 part carry to 1.7 parts roll. A PW (counted as 10) gives roughly equal carry and roll. It is not exact, but it gets you close and eliminates guesswork.

How do I stop skulling my chip shots?

Skulled chips come from two main causes: scooping (flipping the wrists to lift the ball) and looking up too early. The fix is keeping your weight on your lead foot, maintaining forward shaft lean through impact, and keeping your eyes on the impact spot until the ball is gone. The Towel Landing Drill trains solid contact quickly.

What is the difference between a chip and a pitch?

A chip is a low, running shot played from close to the green with minimal air time and maximum roll. A pitch is a higher shot with more air time and less roll, typically played from further away or over obstacles. Chips use a putting-style stroke with little wrist action. Pitches involve more wrist hinge and a fuller swing. Always chip when you can and pitch only when you must.

Can I practise chipping at home without a garden?

Yes. You can practise the setup and stroke mechanics indoors on carpet. Chip foam balls or practice balls into a towel or cushion. Focus on the motion, the feeling of weight on your lead foot, and the absence of wrist flick. Indoor reps build muscle memory even without real turf. A home practice setup makes this even easier.

How do I chip from a tight lie without skulling it?

Tight lies require a less-lofted club and a slightly steeper angle of attack. Switch from your wedge to a 9-iron or 8-iron. Play the ball slightly back of centre. Make a shorter, firmer stroke. The reduced bounce on a lower-lofted iron helps the club glide across the firm surface rather than bouncing up into the ball's equator.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional golf instruction. Individual results will vary based on ability, practice consistency, and physical condition. Consult a PGA professional for personalised swing advice.

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