Chipping strategies?

[anubus94]

Was wondering what some of the top pro strategies are for shots inside 20 yards?

I've been burned so much by chipping in past balls missing and flying off the green that I never use anything other than the LW (4 yarder) for shots <= 9 yards.  Wonder if others do this as well or if there is a strategy for chipping.  It just seems so much easier to set yourself up for an easy par using the flop shot than it is with chip, but  I want to get better about sinking shots inside 15 yards and not settle for 2 strokes

Here's my current strategy:

 There seems to be a big difference in this game between the LW and SW (5 yarder) chip shot with the SW rolling so much more.   Anything at 9 yards (sometimes I chip) or more I just do a quick swing with flop LW do get it within 2 yards of hole.  I practiced how far up golfers body to start follow through swing with 9 yards being almost immediate.  Sometimes it will roll in or slam dunk but probably only 1 in 20 will.  I stopped using lofting on LW on fringe or fairway unless I am in light or heavy rough as spin just kills me unless green is sloping heavily away from me.

When green is sloping toward the hole I only use chip if 8 yards or less from hole. If green is sloping toward hole I will loft the 4 yard chip approx 1 tick per yard less than 8.  If it's 4 yards or less on fringe I usually try to putt it  unless it's heavily sloped where I will just go 1 tick and hope for it to bounce once hit the pin and go in.

Then there's the wind.  For flops I've been using a divide by three strategy of wind speeds on cross winds.   This has worked decently for me. When chipping if it's 5-9 yards I tick once per every 5 mph and then for 4 yards only tick once per 10 mph wind.  

[gdog]

I never chip if its 20 yards
I either use SW flop and do a half to 2 thirds swing.
Or a fully lofted (or near fully lofted) LW pitch. especially on firm greens where backspin isnt so much of an issue on pitch shots.

For 12-25 I'll half flop with the LW

For less than 10 I'll prob chip. I never chip with anything other than LW or SW.
I know there's a 9 iron chip collective out there, but I never got good enough with it for it to be viable. 

[andybarrell]

i use the pitch shot from 8yds and out, club to belt and swing through

[dh-nufc]

9 iron chip shot with two boxes of loft goes about 12 yards, I use that all of the time. You can use a bit less loft to go a bit further but much more than 12 yards your best option is flop.
I wish flop was much harder to use. I wish chip was harder too but also wish could be used for a wider range of distances,

[Moe Slorkman]

I won't give you the answer but go to GNCD slap down a big green and have a play with lofting all clubs the chip is available for you will find the shot that suits you.

20yard flop for me is a delofted SW chip if up hill, elbow swing lw flop if flat, super loft lw flop if downhill . I get close but hardly ever hole

[KenTremendous]

Jan 7, 2017 18:39:24 GMT -5 gdog said:

I know there's a 9 iron chip collective out there, but I never got good enough with it for it to be viable. 

Its absolute dynamite for me i must say the 9 iron chip.

Anything within 5-7 yards i often hole or put within inches, 7-10 yards sometimes hole usually no more than 2 ft away.

Like anything with this game, practice and see what works.

[csabo17]

The fully lofted 9iron chip for 10yds in is most deadly tool in the game.
3/5/7/10 adjust for wind and green speed/firmness

[Giraffe72]

I've never used the 9 iron chip, don't understand it, but I will often chip anything up to 20 yards unless there is a ridiculous amount of slope because I'm not the best with half swings on the flop shot and got a bit sick of flops spinning back towards me! At least with a chip you know the ball will only go forwards.

I work on non adjusted:
LW = 8 yards
SW = 12 yards
PW = 18 yards
And make adjustments for lie, green speed, slope, etc. Must admit I don't hole as many as others but I nearly always leave myself an easy putt.

It is interesting how many different styles people have around the green, I would always go with the one I feel most comfortable with.

[Generic_Casual]

I hardly ever chip because I am absolutely sh%$ at it!

I almost always use a flop.

I hole a few here and there.

My chipping is horrendous!

[mde8965]

I chip if inside of 12 yards usually and am just off the green that is not elevated. But for anything 12-22 yards or when I am in a catch area and the green is at least 2ft above I use a LW pitch(45yds). Move the elevation to somewhere between 58% and 85% depending on distance and elevation and hit a 60% or so swing. Some days I'm better at this than other days. And when the system is laggy it's very hard. But with this shot I never have to worry about the ball spinning back to me or the ball rolling on and on.

Less than 12yds usually I chip. My fav is 5 or 6yds from the hole. Unless the green is flat and I can putt I Either do a LW chip no lofting or 9i/PW chip (7 yds) lofted to 71% or lower %. Which shot I choose depend on strength of wind (LW used for higher cross winds) and how badly the green slopes (PW/9i for slopey greens).

I flop for most shots 22yds to 35. Unless the green slopes hardback at me. If it does or if the shot is anything over 35 I use the LW or SW pitch lofted accoringly based on distance

[anubus94]

Jan 8, 2017 5:31:47 GMT -5 dh-nufc said:

9 iron chip shot with two boxes of loft goes about 12 yards, I use that all of the time. You can use a bit less loft to go a bit further but much more than 12 yards your best option is flop.
I wish flop was much harder to use. I wish chip was harder too but also wish could be used for a wider range of distances,

Tried this out this week and worked well for me on flat to slightly elevated (1/2 feet greens).  Seems more consistent than trying to flop the 12 yarder as sometimes I'll release too quickly or too late and get a 9 foot nail biter putt.  

[anubus94]

Jan 10, 2017 17:59:20 GMT -5 csabo17 said:

The fully lofted 9iron chip for 10yds in is most deadly tool in the game.
3/5/7/10 adjust for wind and green speed/firmness

WIll have to give this one a try on GNCD!  Tried the 9 iron with two bars to go 12 yards with good results already.  10 yards is a tricky one for me as an immediate release with flop on LW goes about 8-9 so I end up not holing that one out at 10 yards unless I mess up hitting it too hard and get lucky and strike the pin.

[hammo24983]

This lofted 9 iron chip intrigues me. How does it differ from just hitting a normal sw chip for instance? Why does a lofted 9 iron work better?

[dh-nufc]

Jan 15, 2017 5:12:24 GMT -5 hammo24983 said:

This lofted 9 iron chip intrigues me. How does it differ from just hitting a normal sw chip for instance? Why does a lofted 9 iron work better?

The rollout is more predictable. For me SW chip is less coincident depending on conditions.

[KenTremendous]

Jan 15, 2017 5:12:24 GMT -5 hammo24983 said:

This lofted 9 iron chip intrigues me. How does it differ from just hitting a normal sw chip for instance? Why does a lofted 9 iron work better?

Far easier to stop it dead.

Fully lofted 9 iron chip will stop dead around 3 yards, 1 bar down 5 yards, 2 bars down 7 yards...you can work the rest out for yourself but over 10 yards its far harder to predict and stop dead.