Golfers who shoot in the 80’s and 90’s need to focus on one stroke more than any other to lower their scores. Great chipping is by far the most important shot that you need to conquer before you will break into the occasional 70’s game.
Mid-handicap golfers miss over 50% of the Greens In Regulation. The higher the percentage of misses, the higher your score on every round. Missed Greens In Regulation also end up costing you more strokes if you can’t chip your next shot for a 1 putt par or a 2-putt bogie.
Of course, you need to practice your drives and approach shots but until you perfect them you need a chip shot that will get your ball close to the hole for a single putt. Too often mid-handicappers mishit their short chips because they are trying to make the perfect shot exactly the way the pros seem to make every shot. Unfortunately, by using a full backswing and wrist release through the ball, you often end up hitting your ball FAT or THIN.
It takes a lot of practice to make a professional chip shot where you hit your ball and then cut under the ball by a fraction of an inch on bare ground or through deep rough. The chance of mishitting your shot increases with the length of your WILD backswing.
WHY NOT PUTT YOUR CHIP with a perfectly controlled putting stroke? [I saw this method presented by Danny Maude.] The putting swing is the easiest swing in golf. You only need to swing in a pendulum motion to impact your ball at the bottom of your arc (exactly with the same length of arms when you setup for your shot).
