Greenside Chip Tips for Beginners

I would like to give you a drill that you can try to help youself to improve your green-side chipping. This is an easy exercise but a very important one. It will help you to improve your feel around the green. The better you become at it, the more confidence you will have.

We watch Golf Pros on TV hitting their golf balls onto the green time after time, from the fairway. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could do that consistently? Well, for the most of us, that probably won't happen, unless we improve our iron play. But that is another subject for another blog. This blog concentrates on the short game, on and around the green. Most of our fairway shots with our irons will not land on the green but rather off of the green. So here is a drill that you can start to implement to help you when your golf ball lands near the green instead of on it.

1. Take 3 or 4 golf balls and drop them along the edge of a practice green.

2. Chip each golf ball using a short iron or a wedge. (This is up to you, I prefer an 8-iron, for example)

3. Concentrate on trying to make each ball into the cup. Your goal is to make one ball into the cup in one shot. If you make one ball in, then you are done. But if you do not make any of them, then you must pick up your golf balls and move to another spot off the green. Keep doing this until you are able to chip in one golf ball.

4. As you become better, increase your goal to 2 balls that you have to chip in before you can leave. If you improve to 2 balls, then increase to 3, and etc.

What will happen with this drill is this: Your feel for chipping close to the pin will be sharpened. This will increase your chances of making a one-putt. You will also become familiar with this common shot and when you experience it for real out on the golf course, you will have increased confidence. We all can use that.

Add this exercise to your regular practice routine and soon you will be chipping great and you will be lowering your score! Have fun by becoming good with green-side chips!