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Chipping close to the green

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 2:11 PM

  CharlemagneRH:

  Pitch, never chip.

  Agree, very bad advice, there is an inherent difference and each has a place.

• borntobesting 9,747 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 2:30 PM

  SGTBilko:

  I have never used that wedge you are talking about. Best 3 wedges are the Zsatin 50, 77, and 90. the 90 yd wedge takes some time to get to the tier you need but the 98 yd is also good. Bollox is right there is a great article on chipping and pitching but the quick rules I follow are.

  1. If more than 2 feet from green pitch do not chip.

  2. Always, always put backspin on the ball

  3. Pay attention to the lie on the rough

  4. Pitch will roll 4-5 feet further than your footage you hit, chip is about 2-3.

  5. Learn to use the flop shot. Do not stop on the ding line on the down mark but click early on the first line where the blue starts (line left of the ding line). This will keep the ball straight. Flop ball will roll about 4-6 feet depending on the lie

  6. Always, always use backspin on the ball. (thought I would re-emphasize this)

  7. Learn to chip out of the fringe. This is one of bollox and a few others pet peeves since they made the changes, 96% of time I will chip.

  I have to disagree with #2 and #6. There are times when you are facing an uphill chip when it is better to add topspin to you chip rather than try to hit it harder.

  And as far as # 7 goes you need to learn to use all 3 shots from the fringe. chip pitch and putt. I putt more often than anything and make quite a few of them. I have never had what some of the people describe putting from the fringe and the ball going nowhere. I am almost convinced that they were not actually on the fringe but in  the rough and because the ball was so close to the green that they assumed they were on the fringe and didn't check their lie.

• JuanMendoza 469 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 2:47 PM

  Just because you haven't experienced it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've had it and seen it many times, to the point where I will only putt off the fringe if its a long putt and I'm near the edge of the fringe.

  Generally I will chip or pitch if unsure.

• CharlemagneRH 1,054 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 2:55 PM

  YankeeJim:

  CharlemagneRH:

  Pitch, never chip.

  To each his own. Bad advice.

  Even if you are 6" off the fringe, the first few ft of a green are almost always irregular or have severe concavity.  Most of the time, even if you successfully land it on the green, there is no telling which way it will go, which depends quite a bit upon the slope of the exact point upon which it lands.

  The middle of the green typically has a smoother surface than the edges, making the roll more predictable.  On top of that, since the ball stays in the air longer, the path of the shot is once again made more predictable, as the air will have no effect on the path of the shot (outside of high winds, which have very predictable effects.)

  Simply put, pitches are far more predictable than chips.  As such, probably only 0.1% of my short-game shots are chips.

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 3:40 PM

  CharlemagneRH:

  Simply put, pitches are far more predictable than chips.  As such, probably only 0.1% of my short-game shots are chips.

  Good for you! You are still wrong. I have and seen more shots chipped in than pitched in. I can adjust where a chip is going just as easy as a pitch shot. Maybe you should practice it more.

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 3:41 PM

  borntobesting:

  I have to disagree with #2 and #6. There are times when you are facing an uphill chip when it is better to add topspin to you chip rather than try to hit it harder

  I will agree with that but most of the time BS in the right choice.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 4:03 PM

  Concerning backspin, it is notable (as I duly note) that the yardages given in Iconian's iconic guide to the short game (q.v.) are all based on backspin. Thus I always start from the assumption of backspin and then adjust accordingly (which is to say rarely).

  Pitching you can really hit some unintentional flyers, although, again, as Iconian points out, the stated distance for pitching is geared to 30/40 rough, not from the fairway as is normally the case with the various types of shots.

  Re fringe: As Charles-le-Roi correctly points out, there are some hairy elevation changes around the edges of the greens (particularly on the American courses), and chipping will take those out of play, so chipping from the fringe is de rigueur.

  By all means putt from the fringe, however, if (a) there are no strange elevation changes coming onto the green, and (b) you are not very deep into the fringe. You always have to allow a little extra distance to work your way through the cludginess of the fringe.

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 4:06 PM

  zagraniczniak:

  Concerning backspin, it is notable (as I duly note) that the yardages given in Iconian's iconic guide to the short game (q.v.) are all based on backspin. Thus I always start from the assumption of backspin and then adjust accordingly (which is to say rarely).

  Pitching you can really hit some unintentional flyers, although, again, as Iconian points out, the stated distance for pitching is geared to 30/40 rough, not from the fairway as is normally the case with the various types of shots.

  Re fringe: As Charles-le-Roi correctly points out, there are some hairy elevation changes around the edges of the greens (particularly on the American courses), and chipping will take those out of play, so chipping from the fringe is de rigueur.

  By all means putt from the fringe, however, if (a) there are no strange elevation changes coming onto the green, and (b) you are not very deep into the fringe. You always have to allow a little extra distance to work your way through the cludginess of the fringe

  Very eloquent post....ty

• CharlemagneRH 1,054 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 4:57 PM

  SGTBilko:

  CharlemagneRH:

  Simply put, pitches are far more predictable than chips.  As such, probably only 0.1% of my short-game shots are chips.

  Good for you! You are still wrong. I have and seen more shots chipped in than pitched in. I can adjust where a chip is going just as easy as a pitch shot. Maybe you should practice it more.

  I'm by no means a perfect player, but I don't even know how to begin to respond to you... lmao.

• 8buster8 649 Posts

  Mon, Jan 3 2011 8:11 AM

  just played an alternate shot game with an amazing tour master.  He had all starter clubs other than a very long driver and the redwood putter.  Dude was sticking 10 yard shots out of rough using flop and starter lw.    He clearly had no need to select "flop" other than he had crazy control of that shot/distance.  Not my cup of tee but shows how differently we can all approach shots.