Chipping and pitching are those scoring shots close to and around the green that save you strokes. Getting a tough pitch or chip up and down (U&D) for a par can keep a good round going. Or they can deprive you of not getting what should be an easy one up and down can sink a round.
Chips are the shots just off the green, usually in and on the fringe, where the grass is closely mown and you are just dropping the ball on the green and running it out like a putt most of the way to the hole. Chips are usually hit with almost any club from the sand wedge thru the 7 iron. But in extra long and uphill chips I have seen, and used myself, the 6 thru 4 iron. Pitching is when the ball is farther away, usually 30 yards or less, and is in the fairway or rough and the shot requires some loft to carry a short distance to land on the green, then roll out to the hole. Pitch shots are usually played with the sand wedges and sometimes the gap or pitching wedge.
On the PGA Tour they call the chipping and pitching game “Scrambling.” The present leader in scrambling is guess who?
1. Tiger Woods thru 64 rounds…………68.16%
2. Steve Stricker thru 81rounds………..68.46%
3. Matt Kuchar thru 82 rounds…………65.91%
Tiger is awesome and is a wizard around the greens. He is considered one of the best putters, if not the best, as is Steve Stricker. I am sure you probably thought their percentage would be much higher. Tiger’s U&D is 68.16% leading Stricker by .30% in a close race although one could say Stricker is at a disadvantage as he has had a lot more U&D’s, having played 17 more rounds. The big factor for the pros is that they play under much more severe conditions than most of us as the rough around the greens is much higher and thicker than most of us ever play out of and the greens are super fast.
Chipping and pitching are like putting and involve good setup and swing technique to develop touch and feel, which everyone can do. They both are basically the same type of shot, played from the same setup. The ball is played in the center of the stance. The weight is moved left (for right handers) to the forward foot with as much as seventy percent on the front foot and leg. The stance is very narrow and open to allow the arms to swing freely through impact as there will not be a weight transfer. The narrow stance is because we want the body to move very little and the swing is mostly arms similar to putting where the club head “NEVER PASSES” the hands.
The shoulders and hands form a triangle and the swing is basically the triangle. A little shoulder turn swings the arms back and thru. Many players feel the chip shot is similar to the putting stroke. The backswing, like putting, and all shots, should be short back and longer in the follow through down the aiming line. The # 1 key is that the forward arm and shaft MUST STAY STRAIGHT with the forward WRISTS NEVER BREAKING. The club head must NEVER PASS the hands!
If you are chunking chip and pitches to thinning and even skulling them low, like a bullet across the green, the problem is likely your forward wrist is breaking and the club head is passing the hands. Let’s look at two simple training aids that can help and one of them is likely in your pocket on the course.
The pocket training aid is a “TEE.” Place a tee in the hole in the top of the grip. We are now calling the tee in the grip the needle on the gas gauge of your car. When addressing a chip or pitch your forward arm is the FULL side of the gauge and your left is the empty side. The key is to make sure when you hit a chip or pitch that you keep your gas gauge needle “ALWAYS ON FULL.”
The training aid I like best is easy to get and is inexpensive. It is a bicycle flag one of those skinny plastic poles that are super flexible and have and bright orange flag on top. These poles are thin enough to stick down the little hole in the top of your grip. You cut the pole to around 3 feet, so one flag will give you two shaft extensions. I have found the best thing to do to make sticking the pole into the grip quite easy is to shave one end down to a point. I have done it just scrapping it on the driveway or brick wall. If you have a file or grinder, those work in a snap. Some teachers and players have cut the grip cap off a chipping club and stick a broken shaft down the club like we are doing with the bicycle pole. I don’t like this method and in fact recommend not using it as this makes the club way too heavy, bulky and difficult to swing, all of which will make developing touch and feel difficult.
With the pole stuck down the shaft a foot or so, the rest is sticking out the end of the grip. The point of this training aid is that when you address the ball to chip and pitch, the pole is an extension of the club and is directly under your lead arm. The key is that when you swing and keep your forward arm and wrist straight and the head does not pass the hands, the stick stays under your arm and moves “AWAY” from your torso with the arm and club. If the wrist breaks down when the club passes your hands, the shaft now begins to point back at you, the stick gently slaps you on the side of your rib cage. You will also usually hear the stick click when it hits the inside of the shaft. This training aid is awesome because there is nothing better than the feedback feeling and hearing to know if you did it correctly or not, coupled with seeing a good chip or pitch.
Use these two drills to master your chipping and pitching. Keep your stats and set your goal to beat Tiger’s number 1 scrambling percentage on Tour.
The Surge!
Tell me what you're thinking... and what part of the golf swing, or this great game... you'd like to know more about. If you want your pic to show with your comment, go get a 
Dear,Don,
Thanks a lot for your emails!
Actually, it takes some times to digest all the new information…
Well, actually, my problem is that I still cant find out whether I play left to right or the oposite. problem is,that I am right handed but I played ice hokey like left handed since I was 6 for 10 years ! All my feelings for the distance and direction are from the left but I was taught to play golf as a right hander…what is your experience on this issue? When any golf teach see me swing from left to right and oposite they cant tell me which side is better. They insist that I play like a righ hander!!!
cheers
Rolandas
Hi, and thanks for great info. But, how is number 1 actually? Take a look at the numbers and please help me understand.
1. Tiger Woods thru 64 rounds…………68.16% 68.16 or?
3. Matt Kuchar thru 82 rounds…………65.91%
Considering the extra 17 rounds that Stricker has, he should be number 1. Not?
Cheers!
Christian
Hi, and thanks for great info. But, who is number 1 actually? Take a look at the numbers and please help me understand.
1. Tiger Woods thru 64 rounds…………68.16% 68.16 or?
3. Matt Kuchar thru 82 rounds…………65.91%
Not even considering the extra 17 rounds that Stricker has, he should be number 1. Not?
Cheers!
Christian
I am tired of trying to get ahold of customer service. Before I go to the better business burea have some one contact me
you said that “your left is the “empty” side. huh? The left is the forward arm, which is the full side. i think you misspoke yourself.
Don: Small correction needed. You state “When addressing a chip or pitch your forward arm is the FULL side of the gauge and your left is the empty side.”
This should say: Your forward arm it the FULL side of the gauge and your BACK arm is the empty side.
This works for either left or right handed golfers.
Thanks!
Congratulations to you for your passion and advice on the world’s greatest life-game. I have been attempting to play this game for 40 years. I look forward to more of your comments.
Tiger is #1 in scrambling? Seems an error, if Stricker is 68.46 vs. Tiger’s 68.16.
Do you have instructors nationwide that teach your swing? In Texas?
Hi Surge,
I’m realizing some of the benefits of your method; however, I still have trouble initiating the downswing and keeping myself from coming over the top (pulling my left shoulder around slightly and getting my hands outside the target line). It seems to me that even from the 12 o’clock position, one has still to make the move that the pros do so well and that is difficult for most amateurs, like myself–which is to drop the club to the inside (”in the slot”). Your recommendation of starting the downswing by moving the left hip towards the target or down the target line doesn’t do it for me. Is one supposed to drop the club straight down at the ball from the 12 o’clock position? And is that the same as dropping it slightly to the inside (does the club head as it descends from 12 o’clock actually go to 11 or 10 o’clock)?
Thanks
Yes, Tim, I do believe he did misspeak. He does that sometimes.
Hello Surge,
I should prefer, that you comment the questions above.
Thank you in advance
Jochen Becher
Thanks for your tips. Trying to to put them to work.
Re your chipping and pitching article:
I think this is a mistake. Correct?
When addressing a chip or pitch your forward arm is the FULL side of the gauge and your left is the empty side.
Surge,
What happened to the ten free video? Your first e-mail had a video but the last two have left me wondering..
Jay
Surge,
Like Weiner says above, I too am very curious as to how to truly implement the downswing as you teach it. I first bought the text version of PPGS and found that I needed more visuals. So, I spent the money (well spent btw), and purchased your four PPGS DVD’s. But……………….
While you speak to begining the downswing with the left hip moving towards the target, I do not get it!! Please elaborate on Wiener’s plight as it is mine as well.
I have the takeaway going into the catchers mitt and then up the tree. But from there, I am lost…. Is there another (different) visual you could speak to in addressing this. Thank you. JP
It would be very helpful to me if the text in your e-mails were a little bit larger
Don,
Thanks for this wonderful and cheap teaching aid tip. It is one of the best and easily understood chipping tips I have ever read. I have been trying for a long time to teach my wife not to break her wrist and let the clubhead pass the grip on chips and pitches. I just demostrated to her in the den and she got the point.
Thanks again for the tips.
SURGE and ALL::
in 1967 (when I was 27) I had the PLEASURE and ASTONISHMENT of playing a round of golf with an older woman (appr 45 or so years old) — who shot a 68 and NEVER a hit a drive more than 150 or 160 yds — But she hit EVERY fairway, hit something near the green — and from 90 yds or closer — every shot took one bounce, rolled 6 to 8 feet and kissed the pin — ALL DAY LONG — her only GIR were 3 of the par 3 (she couldn’t reach the longest one. 2 of the pitch/ chip went in the hole and she birdied 2 of the par 3’s.. The most amazining round of golf I have ever witnessed — Tiger, Phil and Annika included!! What would DJ give for sucha a short game?
She used about 14 pussts — and the total of all puuts made would hav been less then 10 feet.
Wasn’t it Ben Hogan that said “Want better putting stats? Try gettting the ball closer to the hole!”
And believe me – She DID NOT slow us “young studs” up — and beat our best ball by nearly a shot a hole!! the lesson I learned for that — GET A SHORT GAME. My practice time is still abut 60% to 70% on Short game, the balance on the Long game.
One minor disagreement with your method though — for a few of us 110% of feel for distance rests in the fingers and wrists. If I use “the big muscles only” and “never lett he club pass the hands” — I have 0 feel for distance — I promise you I do not if the shot will be 5 feet or 50 feet (it will be dead on target thugh). As soon as I allow about 5% finger and wrist action, I become deadly on distance, but subject to small errors of push or pull.
Thanks for All of the help and advice
Amos
Jay,
You can recover any of the videos, of the series of ten, that you have missing by simply going to this page and entering your email address:
http://members.peakperformancegolfswing.com/LostFreeVideos.aspx
For future reference, this page is also listed on the FAQs page.
Dean
Hey Don,Love the tip,I think the guys are right on the empty and full though,fall is here in the buckeye and golf is about over for us for a while but i still get in every round i can till that time comes,my buddies don’t like to play in the fall becouse they lose their balls in the leaves,I keep trying to convince them there isn’t near as many leaves out in the middle of the fairway,hehe,they don’t get as big a kick out of it as i do but they showed me no mercy when i was looking for my ball all the time and they were kicking my but,lol,So turn about i fair play,lol,I’m focusing about all my practice on the short game,chipping and putting,and a little with my hibrids and 5&6 irons,I’m pretty confadent with my driver and woods,thanks to you and the ppgs i’m more of a controll thinker than a distance thinker,i’de much rather have a 150 yrd shot straight for thr green from the fairway then that 100 yrd shot out of the rough and around the lil pine becouse i hit it 50 yards farther,lol,Keep up the chipping tips,would like to her some green reading tips,happy golfing,God Bless,Dale
Don -
NOT trying to be critical here, but the above “Chip,Pitch” section- [ Pocket training aid is a TEE ],
I think MAY be wrong, where it mentions the “left” as “empty” – perhaps you ment to say “right” is
empty, as we are talking a “Right-Handed-Golfer” – AND – you already mentioned the “forward”
( LEFT) arm as the “FULL” on the gas gauge – so then it would make sense if the
“Back” or “Right” arm was the EMPTY on the Gas Tank.
Does that LEFT sound RIGHT? ( for the FULL Gas Tank )
Joe Z.
Don, for me Weiner raises a good point. Just how exactly do you swing from the top? I have cupboards full of instruction books and i don’t think one ever deals with that question. They all seem to assume that if you have the right position at the top you can just whack it. Well trust me, I have a dozen ways of getting to the ball; pull the butt down, swing the shoulders, turn the body through, let the body pull the arms through, drive the right knee, turn in a barrel, etc etc. And frankly, in all of them I always seem to leave the club face open. Except of course when I’m practicing.
NinerMike – liked your tip on swinging the arms yesterday and just had to play 18 today. Could see the improvement but still swung across the ball. So the same question for you – from the vertical, swing where? And please don’t say at the ball; that would be too simple – we are all swinging at the ball.
And another thing, if we use the Surge’s on -on -on theory which is spot on, it suggests that for a period, the club face travels in a straight line. So if we are swinging in an arc, how do you get that club head to move momentarily in a straight line. You would have to either lengthen your arm length, or, let you body slide for a bit; I would have thought.
And one more question, is the club head pulled through the ball or pushed through the ball?
Cheers
John from Oz
If I did this buggy whip drill with a driver would the whip contact my ribs during the forward upswing at about 3 or 4′o clock or so?
Thanks.
To John Trude
I have never ever stated to “swing with the arms.” I said a true and natural swinging motion occurs when one “swings the clubhead with the HANDS!” That is a big difference.
You stated “How does one swing from the top?” You then listed possible solutions “…pull the butt down, swing the shoulders, turn the body through, let the body pull the arms through, drive the right knee, turn in a barrel, etc etc. And frankly, in all of them I always seem to leave the club face open…”
No, no, and no! All of those attempts involve the great one and only swing killer, “leverage!” You swing from the top by “swinging from the top.” Your job is to never hit the ball. That effort belongs to the clubhead. Your job is to do one thing only, make the swing! A pure swinging motion of the clubhead that is initiated by the hands will always and automatically make your swing “from the top.”
You wrote, “…the club face travels in a straight line. So if we are swinging in an arc, how do you get that club head to move momentarily in a straight line. You would have to either lengthen your arm length, or, let you body slide for a bit; I would have thought. And one more question, is the club head pulled through the ball or pushed through the ball?
The clubhead never travels on a straight line. The swing is a circular event. Even the putting stoke has a minute decree of circular application. And read this carefully, when you push or pull
the clubhead you are applying “leverage!” Always swing the clubhead and everything will automatically fall into place when applying the PPGS methodology. See Ernest Jones’ classic book “Swing the Clubhead Method.“ This book will make your PPGS work all day, every day.
Namaste
I instruct golf in Southern California and found a company that makes fiberglass rods just like you described. They are 3 feet in length and are 3/16″ in diameter which does not require the end to be made to a point or cut. Here is a link to the fiberglass rods. http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=159
Lee
I like how you referred to these two shots as similar to putting. I use to play a lot of golf with Tom Kite, Sr. and when Tom Jr. was in town I would go watch him practice.
One of the best tips Tom Jr. ever gave me was that he chips exactly like he putts. Same grip and everything except the club lofts the ball over the fringe and onto the putting surface. I even use it on shorter pitch shots because it keeps the left wrist from breaking down. http://www.aboutjuniorgolf.com
Surge, By coincidence a guy I played with this weekend at my local course saw I was struggling with chipping around the green and told me about what he called the chip putt. It was very much as you describe with hands set well forward to the front knee at address. He also advocated holding the club a little more upright than usual so the toe pointed slightly down, using a putting grip to eliminate wrist break and choking down on the club. The thing is, as you know, it makes it virtually impossible to duff the shot. I think it is the single best tip I have ever had and could save 5 or 6 shots a round.
Keep up the good work,
Tim.
Don your a genius!
I love golf but couldn’t play more than a round every couple of weeks. Why? I live in Northern Ontario,Canada. Our season is very short. In late May of this year the doctors pulled a handful of Cancer out of me leaving a nice big purple and very tender scar straight up my middle. I also had heart complications while in recovery. I was dying to get back on the course. (Pun intended).
I finally said the heck with it and my wife and sister/brother – law became a foursome (so they could keep watch on me). My first time out I could hardly hit the ball. Wiffs and chunks were the rule. So I would try to swing harder hurting my core and embarrassingly wetting the diaper I had to wear to the point that it would over flow.
I started to sit at home instead. After all a 115 score and wet pants is not something to cheer about. One day I tripped across your course. As I didn’t know if the doctors would let me keep golfing I didn’t buy it but I soaked up the daily tips and your blog. I snuck out to the driving range and within a few days I could hit the ball solid and straight. The courses are closed now due to heavy frost but I went on the last blustery day and shot an 80 with no pain or wetness. I see the Cancer specialist soon and I hope to get the OK to start to get in shape so I can enjoy life again. One of my biggest enjoyments will be to purchase your instructional course and emmbarass my friends next season.
God bless you.
See you on the links.
Phil
Tim, maybe Don is refering to a left handed golfer where as the forward arm(right ) is full and the trailing arm(left) is empty as he stated in the article! Don’t know but if that is the case, nothing he stated was wrong
I am 66 and recently lost my daughter and inherited two beautiful grand-daughters, 4 and 5. My daughter wanted dad to teacher the girls the game of golf. I am a retired teacher and coach, but not of golf. I play the game and have been practicing your method, which makes logical sense to me. My question is? Do I begin with the girls with the same techniques that you are teaching the adults? Are there certain adjustments that need to be made other than the obvious as proper club fitting, the same as you have outlined in your articles? Is there anything else that I should watch out for or need to know? My intent is just to give them the love of the game as I have and to do something their mom and I wanted to do for them.
Thank-you ed
Don
I’m seventy eight years old and I play at least two times a week, I drive a ball pretty good but my
problem is that I used to be really a great chipper in the last two years I stink. I tried everything that
I know but to no avail. then I read your column and I can see what I was doing wrong, a simple thing
that I should have picked up by myself I was blaming it on my double vision and a lot of other things.I really enjoy your tips,they help me out a lot, I will go out this week and try it out, I know it will
help me out of my misery again thanks a lot keep up the good work
Emil
Don, You are a genius. I have read numerous books and publications on alignment and no one ever explained it like you just did….This put alignment for all my clubs in a “real” perspective. I always enjoy the tips you give. The “3/4 backswing” and “put it in the mitt” eliminated my slice completely. Off the tee I’m straight as an arrow and about 20 yards. longer. My playing partners, as I am, are amazed at the difference in my direction and distance on all my shots.
Eight weeks ago I was so frustrated that I was ready to give golf up, then I stumbled across your website.I am happy playing golf again and can’t wait to play again. Oh, by the way I average 92 – 94 for 18 holes now. My average score for 18 the last 3 years has been 99 – 102. I am 71 yrs. young.
Thanks again, Don
One of the things I find that lead me into trouble is the phrase” club head does not pass hands”…
BUT as viewed from the golfer the cub head is farther away (closer to the target) than the hands. I need to think more along lines of “wrist not breaking” than club head not passing hands…
commenst?
To Ed
Review the post “Words from Warren” on this site. The answer to your question will be revealed there.
I believe Don’s chipping images are right on the money. However, judging from the number of questions on this blog, perhaps a bit unclear.
At address, when you set the butt of the club forward of the golf ball, it creates an angle created by your right forearm (I”m a RH player) and the shaft of the club. If you “rock” your shoulders back and concentrate on maintaining that angle, as Don says “the clubhead will not pass the hands”
It works for me, and perhaps this image can work for others.
Cheers
Bill
Hi Don,
I just wanted to start out by saying thankyou for these videos. I was an average golfer who was about a 13 handicap. I never had lessons and thought they would benefit me. I went for lessons with two different instructors over a course of 5 months. My golf game never suffered so much. It was like i never played before and never touched a club. I was getting ready to quit golf when i came across your videos. I immediately starting seeing an improvement in my ball striking. Right now i’m almost back to my 13 handicap. I have never felt so confident with my irons before. Now saying this i seem to have hit a bump in the road. Overnight I lost my feel and i seem to be losing my stroke again. Is there anything u can highlight for me. I just started hooking all of my clubs, from wedge to driver. Where should I look to stop this.