Golf Lession Two: The Stance (again)
At the lesson today, Matt quickly identified the cause of my inconsistent chipping. He started by asking me to use a pitching wedge to chip onto a green about 75 yards away. I hit the green a few times but there was the odd pull to the left or a few thinned shots to the right. Only about 20% of shots were actually on target.
He then got me to try the sand wedge, each time I hit the green. Strange, I never use a sand wedge except when in a bunker so it was news to me that I could actually hit it reasonably well.
However I was playing the shot with my arms – not my legs. Once again I had little hip rotation. Also I had elevation but not much distance as the face of the club was too open an angle to the ball.
Matt helped me make some adjustments: put 60% of my weight on the front foot, closed the club face so it has less elevation and ensured the ball was slightly behind the middle of my stance. The result? Highly consistent, longer, straighter chips.
I reckon with that one lesson I can improve by six shots next time I play.
