Chipping & Pitching

Everything inside 100 yards that is not a putt. This is where handicaps actually move.

10 guides

How to Chip a Golf Ball: Setup, Stroke and Club Choice

Most golfers lose more shots inside 30 yards than they do off the tee, and almost all of it comes from one decision made at address. Here is how to build a chipping action that survives a bad lie and a fast green.

11 min read

Beginner

Bump and Run: How to Play Golf's Lowest Risk Shot

The shot that gets a ball close most often is also the least interesting to watch, which is roughly why so few amateurs play it. Here is how to choose the club, read the ground, and stop reaching for a wedge.

11 min read

Beginner

Chipping vs Pitching: The Difference and When to Use Each

Two shots, played from ten yards apart, and most golfers pick the wrong one about half the time. Here is what actually separates a chip from a pitch, and how to choose without thinking about it.

11 min read

Intermediate

Chipping From Rough and Tight Lies: Reading the Lie

Most chipping advice assumes a decent lie on cut grass, which is the one lie you rarely have when you are chipping. What the ball is sitting on decides the shot before technique gets a say.

11 min read

Intermediate

Fairway Bunker Shots: How to Pick the Ball Clean

Everything that makes a greenside bunker shot work will ruin this one. The club has to find the ball before it finds the sand, and almost every instinct built in a greenside bunker pulls the other way.

12 min read

Intermediate

How to Hit Out of a Bunker: The Greenside Sand Shot

It is the only shot in golf where hitting the ball is the mistake. That single fact is why so many golfers stand in a bunker with no idea what they are supposed to be doing.

12 min read

Intermediate

How to Pitch a Golf Ball: The 20 to 60 Yard Shot

The half wedge is the most uncomfortable shot in golf: too long for a chip, too short for a full swing, and no obvious way to measure it. Here is how to make it a repeatable shot rather than a guess.

12 min read

Intermediate

Wedge Distance Control: Build a Chart You Can Trust

Most golfers can repeat a wedge swing. Very few can tell you what it carries. That gap between a reliable action and a known number is where the shots go.

12 min read

Advanced

How to Hit a Flop Shot: Technique, Risk and When to Use It

The flop shot is the most watched and least necessary shot in amateur golf. Here is how it works, why it goes wrong so violently, and the short list of situations where nothing else will do.

11 min read

Advanced

Plugged Lie Bunker Shot: How to Escape a Fried Egg

A plugged lie is the one bunker shot where every instinct you have built is wrong. The open face and shallow splash that works from a clean lie will leave the ball exactly where it is.

10 min read