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How to properly use chip and pitch clubs: A guide V2.0

• Blade7658 452 Posts

  Tue, Jan 10 2012 8:13 PM

  Buy the expensive balls or change your clubs. Reality is, you would do best to adjust to the speed by playing rounds (practice or ranked). If you practice, chip/pitch it up and putt it off the green and repeat. I know that isn't really helpful, but I joined not that long ago (24 Oct 11) and now shooting high 60s to low 70s on the Tour Pro level. I play 1-4 rounds per day, so nothing crazy. 

• WinterHawk1951 392 Posts

  Wed, Jan 18 2012 10:43 AM

   Iconian, I must say that I have found your previous info to be quite useful, and for this reason I would like to ask you or anyone else that may visit here for some advise on how to read the wind speed and direction as to how it may change the calculations on shot distances and strengths.

   I have read here Wind Speed %'s to add (headwind) or subtract (tailwind) to shots, such as:

   5 MPH equals (+/-) 2% change

  7 MPH equals (+/-) 3% change

  10 MPH equals (+/-) 4% change

  12 MPH equals (+/-) 5% change

   For instance, lets say a 10 MPH head wind adds 4% more to your distance, then now my question is what is the added distance if it is blowing from 11 AM to 5 PM or from 10 AM to 4 PM? And also how far from the pin should I put the triangular pointer? if someone can help me on this, I believe it will help out everyone's game play.

   

• iconian 599 Posts

  Sat, Jan 21 2012 3:02 PM

  Hi

  I am glad you found it useful :)

   

  I don't really do the % calculations based on wind. I approximate, so I can't be of much help there.

   

   

• docholl 56 Posts

  Mon, Jan 23 2012 3:53 AM

  This is all very true just as in real golf. if you practice these shots b4 getting frustrated during play. Luckily I'm a human abacus so I can add these figures quickly in match play.if you play real golf and not Tiger Woods on these games and think like a golfer all will be good. Thanks for the tips very insightful but was doing the samething.Thanks...Doc

• Sunfyre7896 51 Posts

  Tue, Jan 31 2012 2:57 PM

  I love the guide on short game by Iconian but I have one question, or sort of a question.

  When on the green and putting, you're basically adding or subtracting a foot for every inch up or down the hole is as per the formula for distance on the green (((Dist. + 2ft.) - %) +/- 1 ft. per inch.) That's what I use and it's worked well for me. 

  Now on to the question. If it's one foot per inch, then why when chipping is it only 3 inches per inch. I'll explain that since it sounds over the head. The rule by Iconian is that when chipping, you have to add about 1 yard for every foot per increase in elevation. That works out to only 3 inches increased per inch (36 inches increase for 12 inch elevation up, or 3 inches increase for 1 inch up). 

  Why is this different so that when putting you increase 1 foot per inch of elevation, while chipping is only 3 inches increase per elevation? That's quite a discrepancy. A 75% difference on power.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Tue, Jan 31 2012 3:19 PM

  Sun, I would guess it's because of the carry factor - part of the way the ball is in the air, so it doesn't know what's going on down on the green, whereas when a ball is rolling on the green is it is immediately affected by downslope or upslope. Also, you can put spin on the ball when chipping or pitching. (Note that Iconian's guidelines assume full backspin on these shots as the default option - although the guide was written before some of the high-spin clubs became available, specifically the Cleveland wedges, which put some of the Iconian guidelines in need of revision.)

• Sunfyre7896 51 Posts

  Tue, Jan 31 2012 4:11 PM

  I also realized something else when I really thought about it which reconciles the numbers completely, or at least in my head. I was thinking they were the same number, the feet the hole is above the ball when off the green and the slope up or down when on the green. They are mutually exclusive.

  The hole can be a foot above the green, but the slope could be downhill. So you are correct in that the ball doesn't  get as affected as rolling the entire slope. You have to take into account that the hole could be above the ball a foot but also roll downhill once on the green 6 inches. They're two different numbers. So in this case, you might add a yard for the foot increase but then decrease a bit because of the down slope, a yard or two to account for the 6 inch drop in green roll elevation. 

  This makes sense to me anyway. lol

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Feb 1 2012 4:46 AM

  Oftentimes the rough is not on the same plane as the hole. By that I mean you could be standing on a bump or hitting off the backside of a slope. You would be higher or lower only where your shot is. Basically, it's not always a green slope and just looking at that last third of the line is going to be more accurate paying particular attention to the line from where the ball will land to the pin.

• saltiresfan 2,266 Posts

  Wed, Feb 8 2012 9:28 AM

  I've read through this thread and applied some of the tips but I still have a massive problem with chipping and bunker play.

  If I miss the green and end up in the rough or a bunker it's currently taking me 5 or 6 shots to get onto the green. Every shot is a 0 ft or 1 ft mis-hit.

  Am I missing something obvious?

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Wed, Feb 8 2012 2:07 PM

  saltiresfan:

  Am I missing something obvious?

  Probably, but what you're missing isn't obvious.

  Are you perhaps using the chip shot offered by the caddy? That won't work from most sand or some rough. Are you hitting partial shots (less than 70% power)? Those will not get your ball up and out of the bad stuff.

  Hard to say in the abstract.

  The Iconian guide was written when most bunkers were 15/20%. Later bunkers are mostly 30/40 or worse, and they take lots of power with short wedges.

  Mere surmise.