In chipping, the ball will roll farther on the ground than it travels in the air. Pitching, the ball will fly in the air farther than it rolls. Of course in putting, the ball should never be off the ground.
One of best instructors ever, in golf, once told me "there is not a green that you can't reach in regulation, but, you might not hit it. So you need to practice your short game". Most players, when it comes to practice, are more concerned how far they can hit the golf ball, not how straight. As a consequence, the clubs they choose to practice with are of the longer variety, which are the most difficult to hit accurately. The result would be a lot of short game shots to complete the hole.
There are two aspects of ball striking that must be achieved any time the ball is on the ground.
- You must have most of your weight on the forward leg, and
- your hands must be ahead of the club.
To really learn these two principles it is easier to use short swings as opposed to a longer swing. Understanding these two principles is a must, not only in the short game, but the full swing as well.
There is a misconception that you must hit down on the golf ball. This concept will generally cause players to force their arms, hands, shoulders and the club toward the ground. In reality the golf swing is a circle, or arc around a fixed point (the breast bone or a point equal distance between your shoulders). The lowest point of the circle is directly below that fixed center point. So if the ball is placed just before that center point the golf club head will make a contact with the ball, in a descending path before reaching the ground. Thus, no conscious effort is needed on your part to "hit down" on it. So maintain that center point, and then utilize the two principles in the previous paragraph.
In the short game, chipping requires very little wrist cock (just enough to keep your hands ahead of the club head), and hardly any weight transfer (start the chip with more weight on the forward leg and leave it there). The pitch shot in golf will require more of both of these functions. Progressively, as the swing gets longer, it will require even more utilization of them, along with rotation of the shoulders and the hips.
So why is the short game in golf so important? It is the basis for performing the elements of the longer, full swing. Learn the basics of the short game and apply them to your full swing. Click the links below to find more information of putting, chipping, and pitching techniques to help you score better.
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