How to Chip in Golf — Technique, Club Selection & Drills (2026)

Chipping Fundamentals: The 4 Keys

A chip shot is a short, low-trajectory shot played from just off the green, designed to get the ball on the putting surface quickly and rolling toward the hole. Unlike a pitch (which flies high and stops fast), a chip spends most of its journey on the ground. Think of it as an extended putt with a little airtime to clear the fringe.

1. Weight forward: Place 60-70% of your weight on your front foot (left foot for right-handed golfers) at address and keep it there throughout the shot. This ensures you hit the ball first and the ground second, producing clean contact. Moving weight backward causes fat and thin chips.

2. Hands ahead of the ball: Position your hands slightly ahead of the ball at address, with the shaft leaning toward the target. Maintain this forward shaft lean through impact. This de-lofts the club slightly and promotes a descending blow that gets the ball up and running.

3. Narrow stance: Bring your feet close together, about 6-8 inches apart. A narrow stance limits lower body movement and promotes a compact, controlled motion. You do not need power for a chip; you need precision and consistency.

4. Minimal wrist action: The chipping stroke is a rocking motion of the shoulders with quiet hands and wrists. Think of it as a putting stroke with a lofted club. Excessive wrist hinge introduces too many variables and makes it difficult to control distance and contact.

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The Rule of 12: Club Selection Made Simple

The Rule of 12 is a simple system for choosing which club to chip with based on how much air time vs roll time you want. Take the number 12, subtract the club number, and the result is the approximate ratio of roll to carry. The lower the club number, the more the ball rolls.

Club	Carry : Roll Ratio	Best For
7-iron	1 : 5	Long runs, flat greens, lots of green to work with
8-iron	1 : 4	Medium-long runs, slight uphill
9-iron	1 : 3	Balanced carry and roll
Pitching Wedge	1 : 2	Moderate green, slight downhill
Sand Wedge	1 : 1	Short green, need to stop quickly
Lob Wedge	2 : 1 (more carry)	Over bunkers, tight pins, downhill greens

The general principle: use the least lofted club that gets the ball onto the green and rolling like a putt as quickly as possible. A 7-iron bump-and-run is a much higher-percentage shot than a lob wedge flop. The ball rolls more predictably than it flies. Only use high-lofted clubs when you have to carry something (a bunker, a mound, thick fringe) or when the pin is very close to the edge of the green.

3 Essential Chipping Drills

Drill 1: The Towel Drill

Place a towel on the ground about 2 inches behind the ball. Make chipping strokes without hitting the towel. If you hit the towel, your contact point is too far behind the ball (fat shot). This drill trains you to hit the ball first, which is the most important element of clean chipping.

Do 20 reps: Focus on feeling the club brush the grass just ahead of where the ball was sitting. Your divot (if any) should be in front of the ball position, not behind it.

Drill 2: The Coin Drill

Place a coin on the ground and practice chipping the coin off the turf. Do not use a ball. The goal is to make the coin fly forward by brushing the grass at the exact spot where the coin sits. This drill develops precise contact and the feeling of hitting down and through the shot.

Do 15 reps: Once you can consistently flick the coin forward, add a ball. The sensation of hitting the coin is the same feeling you want when chipping a ball.

Drill 3: Landing Zone Targeting

Place a towel or small target on the green where you want the ball to land. Practice landing 10 chips on the target with different clubs. Start with a pitching wedge, then a 9-iron, then a 7-iron, observing how the ball rolls differently with each club from the same landing spot.

Do 30 reps (10 per club): This drill teaches you to visualize the landing spot and trust that different clubs produce different amounts of roll. Over time, you will instinctively know which club to use for any chip shot.

Common Chipping Mistakes

Scooping (Trying to Lift the Ball)

The most common mistake. Players try to help the ball into the air by flipping their wrists upward at impact. This causes thin shots (blading the ball across the green) and fat shots (hitting the ground before the ball). Trust the loft of the club. Hit down and the ball goes up. The club's loft does the lifting work for you.

Decelerating Through Impact

Taking a big backswing and then slowing down through the ball leads to fat, chunked shots. The fix: take a shorter backswing and accelerate smoothly through the ball. The through-swing should always be at least as long as the backswing, ideally slightly longer. Think "short back, long through."

Using Only One Club for Every Chip

Many amateurs default to their sand wedge for every chip. This requires a bigger swing and more precision than necessary. Using a 7, 8, or 9-iron for bump-and-run chips keeps the ball low, rolling, and predictable. Learn to use multiple clubs around the greens and match the club to the situation.

When to Chip vs Pitch vs Putt

Situation	Best Shot	Why
Just off the green, flat lie, lots of green	Putt	Your worst putt is better than your worst chip
Off the green, short fringe, green to work with	Chip (7-9 iron)	Get it rolling like a putt quickly
Obstacle to carry, tight pin	Pitch (wedge)	Need height and stopping power
Deep rough near the green	Pitch (sand/lob wedge)	Need loft to escape the thick grass
Downhill to the pin, fast green	Chip (low club) or putt	Minimize air time, maximize control

The golden rule of short game shot selection: putt when you can, chip when you cannot putt, and pitch only when you cannot chip. Each step up in complexity (putt to chip to pitch) introduces more variables and a higher chance of a bad outcome. Keep it simple whenever possible.