Chip In: 5 Common Mistakes Golfers Make When Making a Chip Shot 

According to the latest research on golfers in the United States, almost 27 million people play golf. Obviously, 99% of them aren’t professionals, and most are weekend warriors at best. Plus, many people can’t afford to take golf lessons. 

Do you have trouble with your short game? Maybe you can hit it long and straight but when it comes to chipping you’re lost? Perhaps you’ve even got “the yips”.

Whatever your dilemma, you can learn about five common mistakes to avoid when making a chip shot. And, even learn how you can chip in if you keep reading below. 

1. Scooping

A lot of people try to scoop the golf ball when they make a chip shot. You can hit it either fat or thin when you scoop a chip shot. This presents tons of ways your shot can go awry. 

When you attempt to scoop the ball at impact you cause the clubhead to decelerate. Basically, your clubhead bottoms out and it passes your hands during your follow-through. 

This makes it easy for you to chunk or skull a shot, and we all know what that means.

2. Don’t Keep Hands Behind Clubface at Impact

When your clubface passes ahead of your hands at or before impact you’ll hit the ball fat or chunk it. If the ground is wet or you’re in thick rough you’re even more susceptible to hitting a fat shot when you don’t keep your hands behind the clubface.

If you do it when you’re in short rough or off the fringe of the green then you’ll probably end up flying the ball past the hole and off the other side of the green. 

3. Incorrect Swing Motion

Another common mistake most golfers make when they have problems chipping is using an incorrect swing motion. If you drag your clubhead too far inside on your backswing you’re almost sure to shank the shot.

Think of it like this. Your clubhead should be straight up and straight back. Not on a plane with your body. You can do this without needing any cool golf accessories too. 

4. Choosing the Wrong Ball Position

There are three ball positions you can choose from: front, middle, and back. How you set the ball up in your stance will determine where and how high or low the shot will go as well as determine how much spin the ball will have.

Playing the ball in front will give you more height and spin while the back will make for a lower shot and less spin. The middle is pretty self-explanatory. 

5. Your Stance

When you’re chipping you should stand with your feet about two inches apart. You should also angle your feet slightly toward the front so your weight is on your front foot.

The Chip In

If you use these five tips on mistakes to avoid you’ll play better golf. You’ll also start scoring better. You might even find that a chip in isn’t such a rare occurrence.

Check out our Tips section for more great knowledge and insights.