If you struggle with chipping, you probably know the feeling: one shot comes out thin and screaming across the green, the next one digs into the turf and goes nowhere, and before long you are standing over every short shot just hoping to survive it.
That is exactly why this lesson stood out.
The advice in the video was simple, clear, and immediately useful for the average golfer. Instead of overcomplicating chipping with endless technique thoughts, the instructor focused on one main issue: the hands were moving too independently, while the chest and pelvis were barely involved. The result was inconsistent low point, poor use of bounce, and the classic chunk-or-skull pattern.
The fix centered around a trail-hand-only drill, along with one key concept that every golfer can understand:
The butt of the grip and the center of the chest need to move at the same rate.
That one idea can make chipping far more reliable.
The Main Chipping Problem in the Video
The golfer in the video was not struggling because he lacked effort or athletic ability. He was struggling because his motion had become too hand-dominant.
The instructor pointed out that the zipper on the shirt and the belt buckle were barely moving, while the arms and hands kept sliding through the strike. When that happens, the golfer often has to throw the clubhead late to catch up. That is when short chips become unpredictable.
This pattern usually leads to:
thin contact
fat contact
low runners with no control
fear of the next skull
It is a common issue for amateur golfers, especially under pressure.
Why the Trail-Hand-Only Drill Worked
At the beginning of the lesson, the golfer hit chips with only the trail hand. Surprisingly, those shots started coming off the face much better.
That was not an accident.
With only the trail hand on the club, it became much harder to just yank the handle through with the arms. The golfer had to find motion somewhere else, and that “somewhere else” was body rotation. The drill forced a better sequence and better use of the torso.
The trail-hand-only drill helped create a few important changes:
the chest started moving more naturally
the pelvis helped support the motion
the club stayed more connected to the body
the golfer stopped dragging the handle excessively
In short, the drill exposed the real problem and encouraged the correct fix.
The Most Important Concept: Chest and Grip Move Together
The central teaching point in the lesson was simple:
The grip and the chest should move at the same speed.
For basic chip shots, that is a great thought.
When the grip outruns the chest, the handle gets too far ahead, the face loses useful loft, and the strike becomes much less forgiving. That is where many skulled chips come from.
When the chest and grip stay synced up, the wedge can work as intended. The club can brush the turf more naturally, the bounce has a chance to do its job, and the ball comes off with a more predictable flight.
This is one of the most useful short-game concepts a recreational golfer can learn because it improves contact without requiring perfect timing.
How Better Body Motion Improves Low Point Control
One of the most interesting parts of the lesson was how quickly contact improved once the golfer started moving his body better.
He even commented that it felt like he was doing a little dance with his knees. The instructor’s response was basically that this was the right action. The body was finally helping move the club, instead of just standing there while the hands tried to do everything.
That matters because better body motion often improves low point control. If the torso and pelvis help move the club back and through, the strike becomes shallower and more stable. The club can interact with the turf without digging.
That is a huge change for golfers who struggle with chunked chips.
Let the Bounce Do What It Was Designed to Do
Another key point from the video was how the wedge should interact with the ground.
A lot of golfers instinctively think they need to keep the handle way forward and “trap” every chip. But with a wedge, especially on a simple greenside shot, that can create more problems than it solves.
The instructor made the point that if the hands are not excessively ahead, the club can contact the turf and still work properly. The bounce helps the club glide rather than dig. That is exactly what the wedge is designed to do.
This is an important mindset shift.
Instead of trying to be perfect and pick the ball clean every time, a golfer should want a motion that is more forgiving when the club brushes the ground. That is how you build a chipping technique that holds up on the course.
A Helpful Feel: Move the Club Back Like It Is Heavy
One of the best feel cues from the lesson was to imagine the club is much heavier than it actually is.
The instructor used the example that if the club weighed 200 pounds, you would not snatch it back with your hands. You would move it back with your body.
That is a great image for golfers who get too handsy or too quick in the takeaway. It encourages a connected motion where the chest helps move the club, rather than the arms picking it up independently.
For many players, that could be the easiest way to improve rhythm and reduce excessive handle drag.
The Three Biggest Chipping Lessons From This Video
If I had to boil the lesson down to the three most useful takeaways, they would be these.
1. Sync the Chest and the Grip
The chest cannot stop while the hands keep going. In a simple chip, the center of the chest and the butt of the grip should feel like they move together.
2. Use the Trail-Hand Drill to Eliminate Handle Drag
The trail-hand-only drill is effective because it makes it harder to manipulate the club with just the hands. It encourages better body motion and a more natural delivery.
3. Use the Bounce Instead of Fighting the Turf
The wedge is built to work with the turf. If the motion is synchronized and the handle is not excessively forward, the club can brush the ground without digging or blading the shot.
Practice Plan to Build a Better Chipping Motion
If you want to turn this lesson into real improvement, you need more than a swing thought. You need a simple practice structure.
Here is a practical plan.
Phase 1: Start With the Trail-Hand-Only Drill
Begin with short chips from a clean lie, using only the trail hand.
Hit 10 to 15 balls with the goal of making the motion compact and connected. Do not worry too much about where the ball finishes at first. Focus on whether the chest is moving and whether the strike feels more solid.
The purpose is to reduce hand manipulation and create a motion where the body helps support the club.
Phase 2: Add Both Hands, Keep the Same Feel
After the trail-hand-only drill, go back to normal chips with both hands on the club. Try to preserve the same feel: the chest and grip moving together, with the club staying more connected to the body.
This is where many golfers lose the lesson, so stay disciplined. If the hands start racing again, go back to a few one-handed reps.
Phase 3: Use a Landing Spot for Carry Control
Put down a towel or pick a small spot on the green and hit chips to the same landing area.
The goal here is to combine better strike with carry consistency. Better contact is important, but it has to translate into predictable distance control.
Phase 4: Vary Trajectory and Distance
Once the basic chip starts feeling better, expand the challenge.
Hit: low chips
stock chips
slightly higher chips with the face opened a bit
The key from the lesson is that a higher shot should come from setup and a bigger synchronized motion, not from a sudden burst of hand speed.
Phase 5: Finish With Pressure Reps
Close each practice session with a simple performance test.
Examples: get 7 out of 10 chips inside 6 feet
get 5 in a row onto the green without a chunk or skull
land 8 out of 10 within a defined landing zone
This helps bridge the gap between practice mechanics and on-course performance.
What to Track on a Launch Monitor
If you want objective proof that your chipping is improving, a launch monitor can be very useful. The key is to track consistency, not just one “best” shot.
Here are the most useful data points.
Carry Distance Consistency
Pick a stock chip, such as a 10-yard carry shot, and measure how tightly your carry numbers group together.
Track: average carry
shortest carry
longest carry
carry range
If your motion is improving, the carry window should tighten.
Ball Speed Consistency
Ball speed is a great way to measure strike quality.
On a short chip, huge variations in ball speed usually mean inconsistent contact, changing loft delivery, or too much hand action. Better synchronization should make ball speed more repeatable.
Launch Angle Consistency
For the same shot, launch angle should not vary all over the place.
If launch is jumping around, the club is probably being delivered differently from rep to rep. That may mean the handle position is changing too much, the face is unstable, or the strike is inconsistent.
Start Direction and Dispersion
Track how close the ball starts to your intended line. Even on short chips, start line matters, especially if one of your bad misses is a dead-left bullet or a wipey shot to the right.
Proximity to the Hole
This is the stat that matters most for scoring.
If possible, track how far each shot finishes from the hole. You can have decent launch monitor numbers and still not be converting that into useful results. Proximity keeps the focus on scoring.
Strike Pattern With Face Spray
Most launch monitors give excellent ball data, but combining it with impact spray or foot powder can tell you even more.
Track whether contact is centered, low, high, heel-side, or toe-side. That can help explain unusual ball speed or launch numbers.
A Simple Launch Monitor Chipping Test
A great way to monitor progress is to create one repeatable test and run it once or twice per week.
Try this:
Choose one wedge
Choose one chip shot with a fixed carry target
Hit 20 balls
Record the following: average carry
carry range
average ball speed
ball speed range
average launch angle
launch angle range
average offline dispersion
how many finish inside 3 feet
how many finish inside 6 feet
Over time, you want fewer outliers, tighter carry numbers, tighter ball speed, and more shots finishing in makeable range.
That is what real improvement looks like.
Final Thoughts
What I like most about this lesson is that it gives struggling golfers a very clear path forward.
The message was not about hitting miracle chips. It was about removing the destructive miss.
If you can stop dragging the handle, start moving the chest and grip together, and let the wedge use its bounce, you can make chipping dramatically more reliable. And once your short game becomes more reliable, your confidence improves with it.
That is how you start turning a weak part of your game into a functional one.
For many golfers, that is the difference between hoping to survive a chip shot and actually expecting to get up and down.
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