How to Know Which Club to Chip With

A few months ago, I wrote a post titled How to Decide Which Club to Chip With. Some general guidelines were presented for the golfer who doesn't have much time to practice this endlessly varied shot. Today I want to propose a learning plan for golfers who do have the time and want to really know exactly which one of their chipping clubs, the 5-iron through lob wedge, to use for any kind of chip.

You might have read in other places about the ratio technique of chipping, such as the 7-iron gives you one part air time, four parts run, the 8-iron gives you one part air, three parts run, and so on. While that is true, chipping is seldom that simple. Differences in lie, the slope of the green, the speed of the green, and other factors quickly render this formula meaningless. A better approach is to do some detailed research with all your clubs so that you'll know which club to use for any particular shot.

For example, start with an uncomplicated chip where the ball sits on a cushion of short grass, five feet from a level putting green and thirty feet from the hole. Chip to the hole with every club from the 5-iron to the lob wedge. Do your best to make each club you work. You will find out which club gets the ball to the hole with the least effort on your part for this particular chip. Least effort is the key. Clubs that make you create are the wrong ones.

Then set up a different chip. Run through all the clubs just like before and find out which club suits that setup. Make an honest try with each club and let the winner emerge. You might be surprised sometimes which club it turns out to be. Besides, it is as important to learn what a club cannot do as what it can do. On the course, you can be undecided as to which club to pick for a particular shot, but if you know which clubs need not be considered, you will save yourself from making a serious mistake.

Practice chipping into a slope, down a slope, and across a slope. Give yourself as many variations as possible. Write everything down, you will never remember it all.

This isn't a project you can complete in an hour at the range. It can take three or four sessions, depending on your level of interest, to do a thorough job. In the end, you will have the knowledge you need to put the right tool in your hand. All you have to do from there is let the club do its work.


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