"15 Minutes of Body Action Drills Are More
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Tom's Featured Tip: Bounce - The Cure For Fat Chips
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Bounce - The Cure For Fat Chips
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
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Bounce - The Cure For Fat Chips
Last weekend I went on a golf outing with friends that has been happening for 29 years running.
The format was a round of medal play golf on Thursday, then on Friday and Saturday a morning round of a 4 man team Callaway scoring, and an afternoon round of 4 man team scramble.
On Saturday, I had one player that was on both my morning and afternoon teams. A great guy who loves the game of golf, but doesn't practice much.
He shot a big number for the Callaway round, which was partially responsible for our team winning it - he was able to remove a lot of big numbers from his card.
A huge problem he had was hitting fat chip shots all morning long and he was totally frustrated. I didn't see him hit one pure chip all day.
He knows that I teach golf, and he asked me for help before our afternoon round. So we went to the practice green for a quick 25 minute chipping lesson.
His problems were
- club selection
- technique
The sharp edge at the bottom of the face of the club is the leading edge, and the mass that runs just behind the edge on your wedge is called the bounce.
Wedge bounce is the angle created between the leading edge and the lowest point of the sole or trailing edge.
I'm sure that my friend had been watching pro's hit "compression" chip shots and stopping them on a dime on the weekends. He was trying very unsuccessfully to do that, and he never heard of a "bounce" chip.
A "compression" chip technique is when you compress the ball off the face of the club with a strike that occurs before the lowest point of your downswing arc. It contacts the ball before the ground, and you take a little divot after the strike. It normally produces a low trajectory shot with quite a bit of spin. For better players it's a two hop and stop shot, but it requires a lot of practice, a high level of skill, and the correct ball and wedge. It requires precise execution.
A "bounce" chip technique is when you slip the club under the ball with very little compression, and the bounce prevents the leading edge from digging into the ground. The ground below the ball will be contacted with the bounce of the clubhead as the clubhead slides between the ball and the grass, but no divot should be produced. It requires much less precision than a compression chip, and it's very forgiving.
Back to my buddy....
He was setting up with a very bent over posture, a lot of forward shaft lean, and the ball very far back in his stance.
He had been attempting to hit a compression chip shot by tomahawking the clubhead at a severe downward angle into the back of the ball. Unfortunately, every shot was fat as the leading edge of his club dug into the ground just about every time.
Here are the changes we made in about 25 minutes of quick instruction between rounds:
- I had him switch to his sand wedge - the one with the most bounce - for most of his chips and short pitch shots.
- I had him stand tall with an almost vertical shaft, just a touch of forward shaft lean. He
had been crouched over with a lot of forward shaft lean.
- I told him not to change his height (no crouching in the downswing) so that his downswing arc would allow the clubhead to bottom
out naturally just under the ball. This way, even if he hit's it a little fat, the bounce keeps the clubhead moving through
the shot.
- I had him adjust his ball position from back of center to just forward of center, just about where the club was bottoming out,
- Rather than thinking about compressing the ball, his mindset was now to slip or skip the clubhead under the ball at the bottom of his downswing arc, just brushing the grass between the ball and the ground when the lie allows it. More like sweeping the ball than hitting down on it. That's also called collecting the ball.
The afternoon round was a eureka moment for him. No fat chips at all, and we even used two of his shots. He helped us tie for first, and he was ecstatic with his newfound chipping method.
If you are still compression chipping but not really wild about your results, try bounce chipping.
In fact, I actually revised my chipping lesson plan this year to allow for more emphasis on bounce chipping, it's very forgiving.
Try it. you might like it.
Comments: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, The Stack and Tilt Swing
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection1"
~ Ben Hogan