Drills and Training Aids to Help Improve Your Chipping that Actually Work

When was the last time you practiced your chipping? If you are like many golfers, the answer is probably “it’s been a while”.

It’s a shame that chipping is so often overlooked during practice sessions, as the ability to chip the ball accurately and consistently is one of the most useful skills you can have on the links.

After all, everyone misses greens from time to time, so getting up and down regularly is the best way to keep your scores on track.

In this article, we would like to accomplish a couple of things.

First, we’d like to encourage you to invest more of your practice time on this part of the game. Get out there and chip!

Also, we want to provide you with some drills and suggestions for training aids that may help you get more out of your practice time.

There is no way around the need to practice to improve your chipping, but by using drills and training aids, you may be able to speed up the time it takes to progress.

The Basics of Chipping Practice

We’ll get into the drills and training aids discussion in a moment, but let’s first talk in general terms about how you should practice your chipping. It’s important that you spend your practice time the right way, and the points below should help you get on track –

1. Variety is Key

One of the biggest points of emphasis when practicing your chipping is to include as much variety as you can. This is important because you’ll face an endless variety of types of chip shots as you gain experience in the game of golf.

You might find your ball on an upslope or a downslope, on the short grass or deep in the rough, etc.

Even an experienced player will occasionally run into a chip shot that he or she has not previously encountered. This variety is one of the things that makes golf so much fun, but it also presents a significant challenge.

Haotong Li of China chips to the 18th green during the first round of…

Haotong Li of China chips to the 18th green during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 11, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Avoid the mistake of settling into the pattern of just hitting the same kinds of chips over and over again. Force yourself to seek out variety and you will be rewarded on the course.

2. Focus on the Carry

Each chip shot will carry a certain distance through the air, and then bounce and run a certain distance further.

During practice, focus on mastering the ability to carry your chip shots the planned distance. The amount of bounce and roll you get will change from day to day depending on course conditions, so you will always have to adapt to that piece of the puzzle. However, the carry distance piece is always in your control, so dial that in during practice.

3. Make a Clean Strike

It’s nearly impossible to chip successfully if you don’t strike the ball cleanly at impact.

During practice, pay particular attention to the way you strike the ball, making an effort to catch the ball cleanly on the middle of the face before you hit the grass.

Chipping the ball cleanly will help you control distance successfully, and it will also give you confidence on the course when you face a tricky shot.

A Couple Easy Chipping Drills to Get You Started

It’s best to keep your drills simple in golf, whether you are working on chipping or some other aspect of the game.

If you come up with drills that are particularly complicated and require significant setup, you may just skip them rather than dealing with the fuss. On the other hand, simple drills are easy to use, and you won’t hesitate to spend some time on them during your practice sessions.

1. Land on the Towel

We already mentioned that teaching yourself to carry your chip shots the right distance time after time is a valuable skill. To practice this, try placing your golf towel on the practice chipping green to use it as a target.

Lay the towel out on the green and hit a few chip shots in its direction. Don’t worry about where the shots wind up after they land – just focus on learning how to chip the ball the right distance.

With consistent practice, you’ll get better and better and making a swing with the right power to cover the distance needed.

2. Try Three Shots with the Same Club

You will find that learning how to adjust your trajectory on chip shots is another valuable skill that you can develop in practice. One way to do so is by hitting different types of shots with the same club.

Adam Scott of Australia chips to the second green during the final…

Adam Scott of Australia chips to the second green during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

For instance, using your most-lofted wedge, try hitting a low chip, a regular chip, and a lob shot. If you can produce three shots with a given club, you can be sure that plenty of various shots will be possible on the course when you find yourself in tough positions.

Finding the Right Training Aid

One of the tricky things about training aids is that you need to find the right one for you – and that might not be the right one for someone else.

The key with a training aid is to pick one out that addresses the mistake or mistakes you usually make around the greens. For instance, if you tend to flip the club at impact in an effort to help the ball on the ground, look for a training aid that emphasizes a downward hit.

By shopping around, you should have little trouble finding an aid that is a great fit for what gives you trouble.

If you are serious about improving your golf game – which is likely if you are reading this article – it would be wise to work on your chipping. You don’t want to throw your hands up in the air each time you miss a green, knowing that you have little chance to get up and down.

Instead, you should feel confident when you see the ball settle just off to the side of the putting surface, knowing you can chip it up close and tap it in for the save.

Here’s to many great chip shots to come!