Control the spin & loft
A triangle drill that will help improve control around the greens
GETTING the ball as close to the cup as possible is important to keeping your scores down.
In this pyramid practice drill around the green, Gareth Johnston, a head PGA professional, illustrates just how to achieve that.
An expert chipper has the ability to control both the spin of the golf ball (involving high quality contact and loft delivery) and the distance it travels (correct club selection and swing length).
It can be difficult for amateurs to excel in all these areas – it often becomes a juggling act that scrambles the mind and leads to one area being executed poorly.
With the key principles of good chipping in mind, apply the following technical points on this chipping Pyramid Cane drill.
This ‘contact and trajectory’ exercise should be performed with a pitching wedge or gap wedge (less loft is key around the greens).
Arrange two canes as shown in the illustration – if you don’t have any canes, you can rest a club against an umbrella stuck in the ground – approximately one or two metres from you.
Your goal is to chip the ball to the hole travelling underneath the canes.
In doing so, you’re naturally encouraged to make a slight downward blow, applying pressure to the back of the ball in order to pitch it underneath the triangle.
Remember to note the footwork for a chip.
The right foot should roll onto the instep to ensure correct weight placement at impact on the left side as
well as helping the body rotate to face the target in the finish.