Learn the difference to understand your mistake.
A mistake that I have observed on numerous occasions around the chipping green is a major player for an amateur´s lack of skill around the green.
To be able to understand how to play a shot you must first be able to identify the shot that you are actually trying to play.
Too many golfers are trying to copy the shots they see on the TV with very little knowledge about the shot they are trying to play.
There are two main shots played from around the green and to play them well you have to know the differences in the technique and the shot type itself.
The first is the basic chip and run.
To explain it simply this is a shot that travels about 25% of its journey in the air with the remaining 75% along the ground, hence the name chip and run.
Playing this shot successfully requires two things;
1 – A landing point and good technique.
2 – The technique is simple, a straight back – straight through swing, with little or no wrist movement which will pop the ball forwards to land on a spot on the first portion of the green to then roll out towards the intended target (the hole).
To control the distance, we do not make any adjustment to the swing. The swing stays the same, instead we change the club.
So if you have a hole that is close to the edge of the green you would select the sand wedge which would land the ball in the first portion of the green and roll out a little to get to the hole.
If you have a larger distance to chip the ball, then you would select a lower lofted iron.
You should be using EVERY SINGLE iron in your bag to chip with, this gives you more of an arsenal and allows you to reach almost any distance.
The second is a pitch
A pitch shot will travel about 75% of its journey in the air and 25% along the ground.
In order to play this shot successfully you need to achieve two things:
1 – control of distance using the weight of the club and your length of swing
2 – a swing that replicates your natural full swing (it is just a shortened, controlled version)
The movement will involve a wrist hinge and a release of the hands and will send the ball into the air to land softly on the green.
You will use your wedges to play the shot dependant on the distance you need to achieve.
With pitching you can quickly change the height and the spin on the shot by making two subtle adjustments, but make sure that you only begin to experiment when you can consistently pitch the ball the distance that you want.
Understanding the differences between the shots will help you play more consistent shots around the green helping to lower your scores.
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