NO MORE CHIP YIPS

CHIPPING yips are a common problem for a lot of players, not just club golfers, as we have seen with Tiger Woods in recent times.

Any player who suffers from the ‘chip yips’ will tell you they are either trying to hit down on the ball, they’re trying to hit the ball first before hitting the ground or they’re trying to take a divot after the ball.

This means they are not using the bounce of their wedge and will always dig into the ground with the leading edge of the club (pic 1). But if you use the bounce of the wedge correctly (pic 2) you actually create a greater margin for error with the chip shot.

The fact of the matter is if you use the bounce of your wedge correctly you can actually hit the ground just behind the ball (pic 3) and hit a good chip shot. If you lean the club shaft forward and attempt to chip with a square clubface (pic 4), you have a greater chance of hitting the chip fat.

Ideally, using the bounce, you want to hit the ground as close as possible behind the ball (pic 5) but even if you don’t, the bounce of the wedge will stop it from digging into the turf (pic 6) and the clubface will slide through under the ball.

The best ways I have found to get the bounce working for you is to weaken your grip slightly so your left hand thumb (for right-handers) is left of neutral position on the grip. Take this grip position with the clubface slightly open.

With the weaker grip in place, you won’t be able to square the clubface, which takes the bounce of your wedge out of the shot. If the clubface never closes or squares up, the leading edge of the clubface never actually touches the ground because the bounce is sliding along the ground and you will be hitting lofted chip shots with spin.