How to Chip a Golf Ball: Coach Harvey's Short-Game Method

Almost every bad chip comes from one of two things: the wrists adding a flip at impact, or the body's sternum being behind the ball at the moment of contact. Both produce an unstable low point — sometimes the club bottoms out an inch behind the ball (chunk), sometimes an inch ahead but with the leading edge (skull). The two faults look like opposites, but they share the same root cause. Fix the root and both disappear.

Paul Runyan, who beat Sam Snead 8 and 7 in the 1938 PGA Championship final at 5 foot 7 and 125 pounds, built his entire short game around the idea of dead hands. The wrists do nothing. The shoulders rock the club back and forward. The contact happens because the body is stable, not because the hands are clever. Stan Utley teaches the same principle today — sternum over the ball at address, sternum over the ball at impact, no flip.

Set up to a chip with your feet narrow — six inches apart at most. Lean your weight 60 to 70 percent onto your lead foot and leave it there. Position the ball in the back of your stance, off your trail foot. Hands forward of the ball — the shaft should lean toward the target so that the butt of the club points at your lead hip pocket. Choke down on the grip an inch or two for control.

This setup pre-sets a downward strike. The ball is back, the hands are forward, the weight is forward, and the shaft is leaning forward. There is literally nowhere for the clubhead to bottom out except in front of the ball. You don't have to manufacture a downward strike — the setup does it for you. All you have to do is make a stroke without any wrist action and the ball comes out clean every time.

Make the stroke with your shoulders. Wrists do nothing. Backswing is short — for a basic 20-foot chip, the clubhead barely passes your trail leg. Forward swing matches the backswing in length and energy. Same tempo on both sides. The clubhead never gets ahead of the hands until well after impact.

The cue is 'hit the ball with your sternum.' If your sternum stays over the ball through impact, the low point is in the right place and the ball comes out clean. If your sternum hangs back — the most common amateur mistake — you'll catch the ground first or scoop the ball with your hands trying to save the contact. Either way, bad chip.

Practice the stroke without a ball first. Make twenty short pendulum swings, brushing the grass each time, paying attention to where the clubhead is bottoming out. If it's bottoming out in front of where the ball would be, you're ready to add a ball.

The fundamental principle of good chipping is land the ball on the green as soon as possible and let it roll like a putt. A 10-yard chip with a sand wedge is harder than a 10-yard chip with a 9-iron — the wedge has more loft, more spin, and more variables. The 9-iron flies lower, lands sooner, and rolls. Use less loft whenever the lie allows it.

Here is a simple ratio system that works: with an 8-iron, the ball flies 25% of the distance and rolls 75%. With a pitching wedge, it flies 50% and rolls 50%. With a sand wedge, it flies 75% and rolls 25%. Pick the club that gets you the right ratio for your specific shot. Don't always reach for the lob wedge.

Tentative chips happen when the brain is thinking about avoiding a bad outcome instead of executing a process. The cure is the same as in putting and full swings: build a routine and run it identically. Two looks at the landing spot. One practice stroke that mirrors the actual stroke. Step in. Make the stroke. Don't decelerate.

Stan Utley's rhythm cue for pressure chips is 'short back, long through.' The forward swing is at least as long as the backswing — never shorter. A chip that quits at impact is the calling card of a golfer who is consequence-thinking instead of process-executing. Slow down the routine if you need to. Never slow down the stroke.