Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘chipping’

Think of the bounce on a wedge, or any iron, as an insurance policy against digging the leading edge of the golf club into the ground. 

It is very important for any golfer to not only understand what the bounce is, but how to use it to their advantage.  An excellent exercise to do every now and then is to hit a few pitch shots off of a lie board. This is a flat plexiglass board that most club fitters use in determining the correct lie angle a golfers irons should be set at.  If you do not have access to a lie board, use a piece of plywood painted black. Just be sure to not hit any shots where the ball is too close to the edge of the board.

What you should see...

If the markings on the sole of the club are as pictured above you are using the club correctly.  Should they be closer to the leading edge you might be in danger of sticking the club into the ground on your next chip of pitch.  The most important aspect of using the bounce correctly is addressing the ball correctly. Take a look:

The Set Up for a Chip or Pitch

In the above image you will see the ball positioned in the center (watch out for too far back as it reduces the bounce at impact and makes it easier to do some gardening); the feet are fairly close together; and the hands and weight are just slightly in front of the ball, with emphasis on slightly.

As you go through the motion of striking that chip or pitch try to feel that the handle and the clubhead get back to impact at the same time – in other words don’t allow the handle to get too far in front of the clubhead at impact as you are then exposing more of that sharp leading edge to the ground.  And we all know what that can lead to…..

Basic Address Position

Golfers love to chip with their favorite club.  Regardless of what the shot or situation calls for the majority of golfers are going to use their ‘go to’ club.  That is fine if you are a genius around the greens and have the talent and touch to create any shot with that one club, but I am sorry to say that there are very few golfers who can hit those shots and you are more than likely not one of them. There is an easier way.

May I propose a simple philosophy whereby you use one method (easy!) and simply get accustomed to applying that one method to one of three (not too bad!) clubs around the greens…..

The clubs are as follows:

• 7 or 8 iron:  This club produces ashot that flies 1/3 of the total distance in the air and rolls the other 2/3 along the ground like a putt.   Use this option if you are close to the edge of the green and there is lots of green between you and the pin.  Most of the total distance is covered along the ground.
• PW:  This club will cause the ball to fly 1/2 the total distance and roll the rest.  This is a good club to get comfortable with, because it will be used in most situations around the green.
• SW:  Here the club causes the ball to fly 2/3 of the distance and to bounce and roll out for only the remaining 1/3 of the shot.  This is the go to club if the pin is cut close to the edge of the green and you need the ball to stop quickly. Most of the total distance is covered in the air.

Alignment & Distance from the Ball

Adopt the same basic set up and stance for each shot; feet narrow; ball centered; and the weight slightly favoring the front foot.  A good practice drill to get a feel for how the ball reacts once it lands with each club is the following:

Towel/Chipping Drill

All that is required is a small towel, your three chipping clubs and a few balls.  Start by trying to land five 8 irons on the towel, paying attention to how they run out. Then hit five pitching wedges and follow that with five sand wedges. Each club should progressively cause the ball to roll less than the previous one and you will see how important it is to control the roll or release of the shot once it lands on the ground.

I hope this helps and thanks for reading.

The Bounce Angle

Golf club bounce is the angle between the ground and the sole of the club when the shaft is held in a vertical position.

 

 For example: A club with ten degrees bounce will have a ten degree angle between the sole and the ground (barring any rounding of the sole).  Notice how the back edge of the sole of the wedge rests on my finger, while the leading edge is slightly raised. Thanks to Gene Sarazen, who first invented bounce, irons have been built this way to deter the leading edge from shoveling or digging into the ground.

 The greater the bounce angle of a club, the higher the leading edge will be from the turf at address and vice versa. It is important to note that all modern irons have bounce built into them; it is not something that is strictly reserved for the wedges.

A stock set-up for chipping

There are two things that must be struck with every chip or pitch: the ball and the ground. And preferably in that order! This is where understanding and using club bounce comes in. Most golfers know that a chip or pitch must be struck with a descending blow. The dilemma that most golfers face is how to hit down without getting the sharp leading edge of the club stuck in the ground. For the majority of short game shots, the handle should beat the club head to the ball, similar to the full swing, but to a far lesser degree. If the handle gets too far forward, the bounce is removed and the club will dig too much. I find that golfers struggling with their short game are often alternating between sticking the club in the ground and blading shots over the green. This is where using the bounce correctly becomes vital: Think of it as an insurance policy that, when used correctly, allows for an acceptable result even with the ground being struck before the ball.

Bounce Drill:

Locate a lie board (a flat, sturdy plexiglass board) and pitch a few shots from the board. You will notice that the back edge of the sole of your wedge is marked up from where it made contact with the plexiglass. Should the markings be too close to the leading edge, your hands are too far forward at impact and you are preparing to do some gardening.

Using a lie board

If you do not have access to a lie board, (try plywood with paint on it) you can just make a few small practice swings during which you attempt to brush the ground with the back edge of the bottom of the club. There should be no divots – no matter what the turf conditions.

• The leading edge digs into the ground; the bounce glides along the ground. Use the bounce!
• If your club has ten degrees of bounce and the shaft leans forward more than ten degrees at impact, you effectively have zero — or even a negative — bounce.

Negative Bounce

• There should be no divot when you hit a chip shot. If the leading edge is cutting turf, you are not employing the bounce correctly. Divots with pitching will depend on turf conditions, but there should not be any digging there either.
• Lagging the clubhead into impact will lead to a loss of bounce and inconsistent results. Feel as if the hands and clubhead arrive at the ball at the same time. 
• The ground must be contacted for there to be an acceptable result. Preferably after impact.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to let me know your thoughts!

In order to be a better chipper you need to be flexible and play whatever shot the situation calls for. Some shots require a low releaser while others might call for a medium to high checker.  Here are two simple shots that will help you “fit” into any situation you may encounter around the greens….

The High Checker: (using your most lofted club)

• The stance remains narrow.  Keep in mind this is not a flop shot, this just requires some additional loft versus a regular type shot.
• The weight is fairly evenly spred and does not favor the front foot.
• The ball position moves from a centered position for a normal shot up to the front of the stance.
• Due to the ball being forward and the weight being centered, the hand position is now actually slightly behind the ball. This is important as it allows the club to deliver additional loft to the ball at impact.
• The club head must beat the handle to impact for this shot.  Notice how the shaft actually leans back slightly at address, well that angle should be maintained coming into impact.
• You should feel a little scoopy (oh no that cannot be!!) going through impact, as the right wrist works under the left in an attempt to keep the face open and lofted. Trust me it’s true!

The Set-Up for the High Checker

The Low Releaser:

• The Golden Rule here is:  Do not use a lofted club to hit a low shot! You don’t use your sand wedge to hit under a tree, so please don’t use a wedge to hit a low chip.
• Select a club that has the desired loft for the trajectory of shot that you are trying to hit.  An 8-iron for example. The reason why this is so important, is an 8-iron has the lower loft you require for the shot, but it has been bounce built into the sole of the club.  Should you deloft a wedge, well you may create the desired loft, but you also negate any bounce that the club might have.  Have you ever tried to chip with a shovel? Try hitting a low running shot with a 60 degree wedge and you can say you have!
• The stance width should remain narrow as the weight shifts slightly forward onto the front foot. The weight should favor the front foot only by a 60/40 margin.  More than that and you will start to lose the bounce of the club.
• Notice that the hands now are ahead of the club head at address. While that shaft angle/lean should be maintained into impact it is vital to not increase the angle.  If you do this you need to be prepared to do some gardening!

The Set-Up for the Low Releaser

As you can tell the set-up is integral to each of the above shots.  Set yourself up correctly and you have already won half the battle!

Things to Ponder:

• What happened to Brett Wetterich, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard, Aaron Baddeley, Trevor Immelman, Adam Scott and KJ Choi this year? Taking the year off I suppose.  Although Adam Scott did just recently order a $40 million plane……
• Jim Frank writes an article about Tiger and his on course antics.  I think Jim might have anger problems himself and he does not have a clue about what the top athlete in the world should be doing.
• Is the Wyndham Championship where all of the year’s underachievers try to make up for their shortcomings?  Look at the performance Chris Riley, Sergio, Bill Haas, Snedecker, J. Rose and Ken Duke are putting in!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!