My Golf Philosophy

"I want to create a learning environment that my clients can flourish and see definite results in their games. I like to have fun while I teach and share the passion I have for the game with my students. Knowing how complicated this game can be, I aim to create a teaching environment that golfers can learn and understand my information clearly and quickly. Finding the cause and effect of what the ball is doing is the most important in diagnosing how to make changes for each individual student. I strive to tailor the lesson to my students learning style and capabilities."

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chipping - Tried and True Method

I have found through some research and many years of experience teaching a great way to teach chipping.  This method I use mostly for higher handicapped players, 20 and higher but I have had success with this shot for better players.  And I use this especially when I am teaching a student new to the game or some difficultly excuting a chip properly.  Here's the method:

I have the student set up with a majority of their weight on their left side if they are right handed or
their right side if they are left handed.  I also stress that their shoulders should feel level.  I say this because some people tend to shift their weight towards their target by bumping their hips towards the target and leaning their spine away from the target, this causes the right shoulder (if they are right handed) to drop and can cause chili dip chips and thin shots.  So I ask them to feel level shoulders or feel like their center is over their left foot (if they are right handed)  I find this is a big key in being able to excute this shot correctly.  The club will travel down and through the ball if their weight is leaning toward their intended target as opposed if they are leaning away from the target the club will be traveling up as it gets to the ball.  A club traveling up the ball will cause thin and fat shots and club traveling down to the ball will cause crisp, trapped chip shots.  I want their ball position to be in the middle of their narrow stance, hands slightly leaning forward (towards the intended target).  I stress to each student that this shot is to spend more time on the ground then in the air.  Therefore, there is NO wirst hinge in the shot.  I demostrate that I want the clubface at the target the entire time they are swinging.  So the hands are leading the club to the ball.  I try to show them it's like a putting stroke or a pendulum motion.  I tend to start them 10 yards off the green with a nine iron to a target that has a lot of green to work with so that they can see the way the ball rolls along the ground.  As they begin to see the roll and they get more comfortable with this set up, I start to back them away from the target and change clubs.  I explain that the closer the intended target, the less roll we need, therefore we will only change clubs and not the length of their swing.  So when starting a lesson like this I will bring a 9 iron, pitching wedge, sand wedge and a lob wedge.  This way they can see how the ball travels in the air and on the ground.

Please let me know if you have success with this method, or have any that have worked well in your teaching!

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