The Chips Are Down

Stability and control of the lower body are key to mastering the art of chipping

By Matthew Brookes

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the final piece of the puzzle for chipping is regarding the short game sequence. Do look back at the first video on the Golf Digest Middle East website, where we covered gym exercises that’ll help improve your body’s ability to move in the correct manner and the second shoot on pressure points and head movement in the swing using the ‘Swing Catalyst’ motion plate to help master this technique.

This month’s edition is about having the correct sequence when chipping. This sequence is very different to the ‘Kinematic Sequence’ used in the full swing and is called the ‘Finesse Sequence’.

This sequence is vital to help produce enough bounce and to help deliver the club at the correct angle at impact. Where in the full swing we start with the hips turning in the downswing, when chipping we should actually reverse this sequence and have the hips move last or certainly move a lot less.

Stability and control of the lower body is key to help with this movement. A good drill to help you get this feeling and take it into the shot itself is the single leg chip. For a right-handed player stand on your lead (left) leg and have the ball opposite the foot. Your trail foot should be on its tip toe slightly behind you. Once in position and balanced, chip the ball no further than five yards in the air and feel how the low body is limited in rotation. This is the feeling you want to take into the normal chip and once the swing gets any longer than this the lower body should start to rotate that little more towards the target.

matthew brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

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