James Morrison

The two-time European Tour winner loves to chip and putt, which partly explains why he’s so good at it...

1. 2. 3. Pitching distance control

I keep my pitching very simple. The optimal distance with my 53° wedge is 95 yards. All I work on is shoulder turn with my chest; it’s all top-half driven, the feet not moving. People say pitching is all about distance control, but it’s also about accuracy. If you’re bringing in lower leg movement, the face is likely to rotate, so I work on a very stable base. My 95-yard shot is three-quarters back to a three-quarter turn through: chest and arms together, keeping the lower half very passive.

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Holing out

I see too many people practising 50footers, when they’d be better off working on holing out to get their handicaps down. Holing out is my strength – I see it as an art form, not as a science. I putt better when I trust my instincts, so ‘look and shoot’, which is something Bob Rotella is into, and Brad Faxon. For me, the less time the better.

The best drill would be a spiral – three, four, five foot at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Go round the hole in a circle until you hole them all consecutively. When you get into this spiral drill with the freedom of looking and shooting, your speed goes up, too. If the ball is going in at a better speed, you’re going to hole more putts.

Up-and-downs

I believe you’ve got to love chipping to be strong at it, just like putting. My philosophy is if you can’t chip with one club, how can you chip with seven clubs? I see a lot of amateurs who almost go by the rulebook. ‘Okay, it’s in the fringe, the pin’s a long way away, I have to chip and run it.’ The key is reading the lie and trying to figure out where you want to land it. Do that and you’re going to chip a lot better.

The ball has to be middle to back of your stance. Put your weight into your left side, as this will give you the natural downward angle of attack. Watch any great chipper and they’ve got loads of speed and loads of loft, and the ball comes out low with spin. So, for me, it’s pretty much the same technique every time. If you want to hit it with a bit more spin, adopt the same set up with a bit more loft; less spin, just close the face a little so it’s nice and square.

4. 5. Extra distance

Firstly, you’ve got to get a driver properly fitted for you. Secondly, you’ve got to hit lots of drivers at maximum speed. It’s a bit like training for a marathon – you can’t just expect to run 26 miles without building up to it. You have to learn how to swing the club faster, as simple as that. To get faster, get down the range and hit way more drivers than you ever have done at maximum speed, forgetting about dispersion.

Fairway bunkers

Robert Rock gave me a great lesson recently. You want the ball position to be a little further up, then dig your feet in. Grip down the club a little, too. On the way back, you want to feel like you’re staying centred over the ball, which really helps you get your feet into the ground more. Don’t sway.