Perfect your golf game with Steve Cowle - www.stevecowlegolf.co.uk

In today's lesson I'm going to teach you the correct chipping motion. But I want you to continue practicing chip-putting as I instructed you in Lesson 1 and in the Tasks For Today I'll tell you how you should do that.

OK, chip-putting can be used when you have a very good lie just off the green and you're close to the hole. However there will be many times when you have an average lie and you're just off the green. And because you'll need a more downward blow on the ball you won't be able to successfully use the chip-putting method. Plus there will be times when you need to do a longer shot than chip-putting will allow. So for instances like that you will need to use the chipping method that I am going to be showing you today.

Now to setup for a chip shot this is what I want you to do. Get out your short game workstation...

When you do this you will notice that the ball position appears to move back in your stance, but you know it's not. It's directly in the middle of your stance...just where it should be for a chip shot.

Now at address you should still have some knee flex just like you did when chip-putting but you should stand taller than you did when chip-putting. But you don't need to have your eyes directly over the ball when chipping.

You want the club to be pointing straight at your target and you also want your wrists to be slightly bowed. To do this you may need to raise the club up so the heel of the club is off the ground. If so, do it. And don't worry about it because you'll be striking the ball first instead of the ground so it won't make any difference as far as the contact is concerned. Finally, you should have about 60-65% of your weight on your front foot.

So it's important when you setup to chip that you...

·grip the club with your putting grip

·align the club directly at where you want your ball to start

·have some flex in your knees

·position your hands so they are in front of the ball and bowed.

·have your arms relatively straight

·align your shoulders parallel to the starting line of your shot

·60 - 65% of your weight is on your front foot

Like with the chip-putting action I taught you, at setup you'll notice there is a triangle relationship formed by your arms and shoulders.

So when chipping this relationship should stay intact as you're swinging. But unlike the chip-putting action you are not going to only move your shoulders and arms. In fact, this is completely different. Because to chip you need to control the movement by turning your hips and shoulders in unison, and here is a great way to feel this simple movement.

I want you to slide the club up so that the butt of your grip is pointing into your left hip.

Then I want you to grip down the club as shown below, when I do this my left hand is on the metal of the shaft. Leave your left hand where it is and place your right hand on your right hip.

OK, you're all set. Now to move the club I want you to simply move your right hip and shoulders back, and reverse that on the way through. You need to keep the club square to your body at all times.

Now it's this action that is going to control your chipping stroke. So your arms are going to move BUT only as a result of your hips and shoulders moving back and through together. And the together bit is very important.

Practice this 30 times back and through before moving onto the next exercise.

For this drill you'll need to get a screw driver or something similar.

At the top of your golf grip you'll find a hole. Now I simply want you to place the screw driver in that hole like this.

Tasks For This Week

Task 1 - Practice chip-putting as you did in Lesson 2....and do this for 10 minutes.

Task 2 - Do the club in left hip drill back and through 30 times.

Task 3 - Do the screw driver in belt buckle drill for at least 30 shots. When you're hitting these shots don't try and hit the table tennis balls to any target, you're simply learning the proper technique to chip with.

Task 4 - Practice chipping the airflow balls into your box as the video shows.

If you are happy with your technique then I want you to move on to chipping into your box with real golf balls as we did with chip-putting. Once again start from a yard away and do not progress until you complete 9/10 successfully.

How far can I chip? You will be able to hit the ball further with chipping than you will when chip-putting but don't let that worry you. But that raises an interesting question....how far should you swing when chipping?

Well, that is determined by how far you can turn your shoulders and hips in unison. But because your feet are 20-25 degrees open you'll be very restricted. I think a good guide is that your club shaft should not go past parallel with the ground on the backswing when chipping.

Over the next 7 days I want you to practice both chip-putting and chipping and set yourself goals on how many balls you want to get into the box at certain distances. I suggest you also alternate between hitting a chip-putt and a chip. Don't just get stuck on hitting all chip-putts and then going to chipping.

When you are getting good at hitting balls into the box consistently then hit one shot with the chip-putt motion and then hit one shot with the chipping motion.

Now it's very, very important when you do this that you setup to your shots the same way every time, only then can you guarantee any form of consistency.

Sometimes you may come across a lie that is particularly bad or you may not have a great deal of confidence in your chipping at the moment. The next lesson covers a great little shot that even the tour pros are using and if used correctly is a very useful weapon.