Chipping is my favorite area of the game to practice. When you can get good at chipping, you can save almost any hole.

However, chipping is a real problem for a ton of golfers.

In reality, most golfers overcomplicate the chipping process, and it’s entirely unnecessary.

I gathered some of the best chipping advice around; of course, there is no perfect way to chip. Take a look at some of these options and see if any of them could change the way you approach chipping the next time you play.

Right Hand and Left Hand Only Drill (Sean Foley)

Sean Foley is a highly accomplished instructor capable of helping all levels of golfers with their short game and long game. This particular tip is one of our favorites because it talks about the importance of the body in chipping.

So many golfers make the mistake of using their hands and wrists as opposed to the rotation of their bodies. When you take one hand out of the equation and take one handed golf swings, it becomes much easier to get consistent chipping results.

You will notice that when you do the right hand only chipping, your right arm needs to stay stable and maintain its angle. The same goes for the left hand only drill. This video also demonstrates that there is no perfect way to accomplish a chip shot.

Learning various methods will help you improve your performance and become a much better player.

Don’t stick with a one handed drill for too long. It’s best to go back and forth between the one handed drills and your regular shots. In the end, both hands need to work together to hit golf shots, and you won’t want just one to dominate.

Watch The Height Of Your Lead Shoulder (Adam Bazelgette)

One of the biggest mistakes that golfers make is they tilt their body in a way that their front shoulder is pointed high. This makes it difficult for golfers to get through the golf ball; instead, they hit a chunk shot or even blade it a bit.

It’s best to have your shoulder set up a little more square to ensure that you can make the proper approach to the golf ball.

The way that Adam says it is best to do this is to set up as if you are about to hit a chip shot, then hold the club cross handed and then, with little movement in your shoulders or head, put your clubs back on the club correctly.

What this will do is keep your left shoulder a little lower and promote a more solid shot with less flipping or skulling of the chips around the green.

The great thing about this concept of lowering the lead shoulder is that it improves turf interaction and encourages several of the other mistakes in the chipping area to go away. An expert tip here, you may find that this concept even helps with the full swing.

Keep Momentum In The Swing (Clay Ballard)

Since many golfers struggle with chipping, they often freeze up and hit poor shots. The first thing that tends to go is any natural movement that they may have in their swings. Therefore it makes sense to listen to this great tip by Clay Ballard to keep momentum in the chipping stroke.

The first step here is to use something like a sand wedge and keep the club face slightly open. Then swing the club so that there is some tempo involved and it is not as rigid of a motion. If you have the ball position and swing path correct, the ball should get up in the air without any issues.

As you watch Clay Ballard hit his chip shots, he shows you that even these shorter chips need to keep this momentum through impact if you are going to make great contact with each of your chips and pitches.

There is More Than One Way To Get This Done (Tiger Woods)

When you watch videos of Tiger Woods hitting some of the best shots around the green, he always looks as though he has a different type of technique or club in his hand. That’s because he does!

Tiger never thought about a chip shot as a singular chip shot. Instead, he looked at this process as being a decision. He had to choose which golf club would make the most sense for his short game and then combine that with the proper stroke.

With most golfers carrying four wedges in their bag, your opportunities to create a variety of golf shots have expanded greatly. You can hit shots with less loft and higher backspin or shots that have a very little spin and roll from the front to the back of the green.

The concept here is that the more prepared you are for the different types of shots you need to hit, the easier it is to be successful on the course.

Weight and Hands Forward (Phil Mickelson)

Another master short game excerpt is Phil Mickelson. Phil does a tremendous job on the flop shots that he hits around the greens, but Phil has more to his game than just these flops. In fact, some of his chipping technique is considered the best in the game because of his consistency.

You can look at some players and notice that they are very methodical and by the book in their chipping. However, when you look at Phil’s short game, there is an artistic element mixed in. He is a bit of an artist around the greens, and the best way to see this is the way he can get himself out of trouble when he’s in a bad spot.

Whether it’s bunker shots, flop shots, or a standard run of the mill chip, Phil Mickelson knows how to get it done.

The two best tips that we get from Phil Mickelson is to keep your weight forward and to push your hands forward.

There is a bit of mixed advice out there about what the hands should be doing. Something that it’s best to keep them in the middle of your stance, but he feels that for more control, your hands should be pushed forward.

We like this technique quite a bit for the golfer that struggles to hit the ground on their chip shots; the forward press will help ensure that this happens for you.

Open Clubface and Use The Body (Mr.Short Game)

The Mr.Short Game videos do a great job of simplifying the importance of an open clubface. Tips in this video initially stemmed from the advice of Bob Vokey, the creator of the Vokey wedge. Certainly, the man knows a thing or two about hitting a great wedge shot.

The key here is to keep your elbows connected more toward your body if you want to ensure consistency. Essentially if you are hitting shorter chips or longer chips, you must ensure that your body stays more connected. When the club gets away from you, that’s when you see the chunk or the shank shots that you must try to avoid.

Opening the clubface also allows for the use of the bounce on the wedge. Bounce is there to be forgiving and can really help when you want to get the full loft out of your shot as well.

Don’t close the clubface down thinking that it will actually be more forgiving; it won’t be! The most forgiving shots you will hit are the ones with the more open clubface, where you take full advantage of the bounce.

I recommend working on this concept on the chipping practice green first and then bringing it out to the course. The open clubface concept takes a few swings to get used to.

Think Small (Britt Olizarowicz)

Maybe this concept or technique is easy for me because I’m short, but the one thing I’ve always told golfers who struggle with their chipping is that they must think small. You can’t expect to hit a short little shot that lands softly on the green while setting up to hit a large full-swing approach into a hole.

Think small, to hit it small.

The idea here is that your stance, setup, and swing all need to be simplified. Some of the best chips I’ve ever taken in my life are with my feet entirely next to each other. The full stance with your feet shoulder-width apart does not help when chipping.

Essentially you must ensure that you have set your brain up to adjust to this shorter distance shot. The easiest way to do this is by thinking of everything as being a miniature version of the big swing.

Small stance, small swing, choke up on the grip to make the club smaller, and see how this works for your short game. It has always worked for me.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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You know your way around the golf course and have improved your golf swing mechanics. Now your mission is to shave strokes off your handicap. This is achieved by carding fewer bogeys and making more birdies.

In this guide, I relay the information shared by 8 experts on how to make more birdies. You don’t need to follow each tip religiously. The idea is to extract the information that makes the most sense to your game and run with it. A large part of increasing your birdie count is improving your putting and chipping.

I will touch on some of these tips below. However, if you prefer to jump straight into a detailed rundown, read our guide of the 8 best putting drills to make more birdies.

Tip 1 – Routine Is Vital (Jordan Spieth)

If you are to card more birdies, you need consistency in your game. One erratic shot can ruin your ability to make one under par on a hole. The best way to produce a consistent swing is to develop a pre-shot routine.

Jordan Spieth says this is vital to start your swing on the correct path and execute your shots as intended.

A pre-shot routine helps you in two predominant forms. Firstly, it ensures that you are comfortable at address. Secondly, it enables you to double-check that your clubhead is set up to strike the ball at the intended point of the swing.

For example, a driver needs to strike the ball on the up for a tee shot. Conversely, an iron should connect the ball at the low point of your swing to optimize compression. Following this procedure gets you into a rhythm and helps you focus and achieve consistent results.

Tip 2 – Position Is Key (Matt Callcott-Stevens)

This is the best piece of advice I can give amateur golfers. The position is everything. You may scramble your heart out and get lucky with a birdie on a par 5 on the odd occasion. However, a wayward drive puts many of us out of birdie contention.

My fairway in regulation record directly correlates to my birdies per round. The fewer fairways I hit, the fewer greens in regulation I achieve, which reduces my chances of making a birdie. Conversely, the more fairways I hit, the better my green in regulation record is on my second shot on par 4s.

Let me use the example of a left-hand dogleg. You need to drive the ball to the right side of the fairway to open up the green for your next shot. Even if you are short, it is better to be on this side than long and left.

As a result, I enjoy a higher ratio of birdie putts, and it is only a matter of time before one or two find their way to the bottom of the cup.

Play for position, and keep away from the hazards. The golfing gods reward this astute strategy. However, your putting stroke needs to fire to capitalize on your positional play. The lack of yardage from this strategy requires

Tip 3 – Aim For The Middle Of The Green On Long Shots (Anne Cain)

I follow golf coach Anne Cain’s advice and aim for the green and not the flag. The diameter of the cup is 4.25-inches, while the average putting surface on the PGA Tour is 6,600-square feet. Naturally, aiming for the middle of the green leaves golfers more room for error than going for the pin.

In addition, attacking the flag requires pinpoint accuracy, and a mishit could land you in the bunker or the drink. At least when your approach shot ends on the green, you give yourself a look at birdie. However, if your putting stroke is garbage, you always run the risk of a 3-putt bogey.

Therefore, it is imperative to optimize your practice sessions and dedicate the time to your short game. In particular, hone your skills with the putter and watch those strokes drop off your handicap.

Now, when you play short par 3s, which are 120 to 130-yards, you may as well have a crack at an ace. As long as there is minimal danger surrounding the dancefloor.

Tip 4 – Attack The Flag On Short Shots (Clay Ballard)

Golf coach Clay Ballard agrees with Anne Cain that you should aim for the middle of the green on longer par 3s. However, Ballard believes that safety is not always the best approach. He feels many amateurs leave birdies on the table by not capitalizing on shorter holes:

Ballard suggests that all golfers attack the pin on shorter par 3s to give themselves a look at birdie. The chances are that a mishit will still leave you in the proximity of the cup to attempt your putt for birdie.

The same structure applies for par 5s and 4s, where you can swing one of your wedges. A short approach into the green gives you the right to have a crack at glory. You did well to put yourself into a promising position, and now you deserve to go for the flagstick.

On the contrary, the average golfer should not attack the flag when swinging anything longer than a mid-iron. Under those circumstances, you are too far out to have a realistic shot of sticking it close. Your best option is to employ tip 3 and aim for the center of the green.

Tip 5 – Dial-In Your Short Game (Patrick Reed)

Paddy has not done himself any favors with his outlandish rule interpretations over the years, but you cannot ignore his talents. Reed says that the best way to make more birdies is to master your short game.

You will enjoy a lower average score if you can control the distance of your wedge shots and confidently stroke every putt.

A killer wedge game helps you stick your wedge shots close to the pin, leaving you with a makeable birdie putt. That is especially relevant to your approach shot on par 5s. In addition, a solid putting stroke increases your one-putt percentage, helping your card more birdies.

Tip 6 – Fewer Distractions (Tiger Woods)

At the height of the COVID pandemic, Tiger remarked that players were making more birdies because of fewer distractions. The distractions he referred to was the pressure brought on by cheering fans.

Woods felt that golfers could get into and stay in the zone throughout the round. Although cheering fans offer an adrenaline rush like no other, it can break a player’s focus.

We average golfers don’t need to worry about cheering fans. However, we have other distractions. One issue is that some amateurs struggle to detach from their mobile devices during a round. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, many are distracted by messaging apps and social media platforms.

If you lack self-restraint, turn off the device and bury it deep in your bag. Limit any exterior distractions to maintain your focus.

Tip 7 – Study The Green (Jordan Spieth)

You need to know how to putt if you are to make more birdies. Besides your ability to stroke a putter, you need to possess the knowledge of turf. You cannot rely on your chipping in or holing out from the fairway.

Jordan urges golfers not to overthink their putting stroke and instead focus their attention on the speed and break of the putt. Focus on the point that the green breaks and takes the ball towards the cup. Ensure that alignment aid on your putter points at your chosen target.

When you are putting with the Bermuda grass grain, it produces less break and a faster roll. Conversely, putting against the grain slows the ball down and increases the break. Bentgrass greens grow upright and tend to impact the break of your ball.

It takes time and a lot of practice to master the read of a green. However, this enables you to confidently stroke your putts and increases your ability to make more birdies.

Tip 8 – Learn To Shape Your Shots (Hunter Mahan)

Hunter Mahan is a 6 time PGA Tour winner and knows a thing or two about making birdies. His tip is to learn to shape your shots. This gives you the upper hand in two scenarios:

Firstly, it allows you to work the ball towards the hole and eliminate the risk of water hazards and sand traps. This also enables you to induce side spin that propels the ball in the intended direction upon landing.

The second advantage is that it gives you options to reach the green and position yourself to make a birdie. If your drive ends behind a tree, you can draw or fade it around the greenery and still give yourself a chance. Without the ability to work your ball, your options would be limited.

I recommend reading our guide on 7 types of golf shots to play. This knowledge will help you escape trouble and improve your control.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.

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