How to Hit Chip Shots Around the Golf Green

I want to share with you a technique that is bullet proof around the greens when you do not have to hit it up and over an obstacle. I call it off green putting. My friend Paul Runyon shared this with me and he was the expert at short game shots around the green.

Here is the technique. I am going to use my sand wedge, or pitching wedge or 8-iron to hit the shot and each one has a different air to ground time roll relationship.

• A sand wedge has about a one to one, when the pin is pretty close.
• The pitching wedge is going to roll one to two, so it is going to roll twice as far as you hit it in the air and the 8-iron is going to roll one to four, so it is going to roll four times as far as you hit it in the air.

What I have done here is I have placed a target on the green, so the target is a control area, and I am going to land my ball there and you will start to see the roll outs.

The technique that I am going to use is a putting technique and what we are going to do with that is take your putting grip. The grip will be more into the palms of your hands with both hands, I am going to have my stance very close together and I am going to have my weight leaning on to my forward leg. Here is an important key, your left shoulder must be lower than your right. I could have my weight on my left side but be tilted with my right shoulder lower and that makes the bottom of the swing happen too early and I will hit behind it. So weight is on my forward leg, left shoulder is lower than my right and I will be pretty square. That helps the club swing on a slightly descending motion and my goal is just to brush the turf where the ball will be.

Let's take a look at it with a shot. Here would be the sand wedge about a one to one relationship. Let's take a look at a pitching wedge, oh don't hit it, but you can see how that would have rolled out. Now here is the 8-iron, one to four. It has a chance to go in the hole. That came out pretty nice. You can see that different clubs will give you different roll outs and you are using the same technique which makes it really easy for you around the green. Give this a shot. I know it will save you tons of strokes around the green and you will get a few chip ins.