How To Spin Your Chip Shots

GM Top 25 coach Keith Williams has these simple technique tips to help you have more control over your chip shots…

1 A common misconception is that you push your hands forward at address, creating shaft lean and presenting the club to the ball as a digging, rather than gliding, tool. That’s more likely to get the ball skipping and skidding and struggling to spin. The pros now tend to use a wider, shallower swing that creates a shallower angle of attack to get the bounce working so the club glides through the grass. At impact, shaft position should be fairly vertical, not leaning forward.
Spin your chips to knock it close

2 The correct set-up will simplify the whole swing. Have your balance on the inside of the left foot, your sternum over the middle of the ball and your feet narrower than for a full swing. Feel a relatively soft hand and arm action, which combines with the body pivoting back and through around the balance point. There will be a smooth release of the club as the body continues to turn to face the target. Impact will be more of a sliding movement, allowing the lower grooves on the clubface to come into play.

Related: How to avoid creating too much spin with your drives

3 To generate spin, the bottom grooves of your wedge need to grab the underside of the ball, which is why setting up with the hands forward and the shaft leaning doesn’t work. From there you will come down steeply, with the ball making contact more towards the middle grooves. If you come in shallower from a more neutral set-up, the lower grooves will grab the underside of the ball and create more friction. Friction creates more spin because the ball holds onto the face for longer.

Caution: Grooves come into full effect in the damp conditions we often face in this country. If grooves and clubface are worn or dirty, you’ll struggle to generate any spin.