Golf Chipping Tips For Ball Position

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Golf Chipping Tips For Ball Position

This is the Chipping Ball Position Lesson. These golf chipping tips are rooted in the basics of golf. They are so important that they can correct a lot of bad results well before the swing ever takes place. Being consistent with these fundamentals will help make you a better player. It will take you only a little extra effort, but the benefits to your shots and scores will be tremendous. Let's take a look at ball position for hitting a chip shot.

Golf Chipping Tips #1 : The Keys To Ball Positon

Place the ball in line with your sternum, or middle of your chest. This is the easiest way to place the ball so that you make solid contact.
Keeping the ball in line with your sternum is the easiest way to describe ball position. By keeping the ball in this position you will make sure that your club will make contact before your swing arc bottoms out. This is critical for crisp contact. If your club reaches the bottom of it's arc before it gets to the ball then you will hit the ball with the bottom edge of the club. That will send the ball screaming over the green forcing you to chip again.
You really want the club to reach the ball as it is still moving down towards the ground.

Golf Chipping Tips #2 : Hit Down To Go Up

The most misunderstood concept in golf is that we want to hit down on the golf ball. Hit down to go up. Your golf ball's position can really affect whether you will have the proper downward strike.

As you can see in this picture your club should be striking the back of the ball...before your club hits the turf.
Your club will strike the ground after you hit the ball.
By placing the ball in line with the middle of your chest you will be able to make good contact.
It is okay to have the ball farther back in your stance. Many great players play the ball off their back foot.
You will need to experiment to find the ideal position for you and then stick with it. Just don't move the ball ahead of your sternum.

Golf Chipping Tips #3 : Ball Position Too Far Forward

This picture shows how the ball is too far forward in the stance. The ball is ahead of my sternum. This will cause...

Inconsistent contact on the ball. You will hit behind it one time. Hit it well the next. Then blade it. We want to be as consistent as possible. Consistency lowers scores.
In order to make good contact, you have get your sternum in line with the ball. This means you will have to slide your body sideways. This movement is not necessary with good ball position and only makes the timing of your swing harder. This game is all about timing, and we want to keep that as simple as possible.

If you get your ball position right then you won't have to deal with any of these problems.

Golf Chipping Tips #4 : Only Hitting Half The Ball

This picture shows a close up of a bladed shot.

See how the edge of the club hits the middle of the ball.
This type of contact is near impossible to control (unless you have practiced the Bladed Sand Wedge Lesson).
You will normally hit your ball over the green and have to chip again if you make contact like this.

Get your ball position correct by lining the ball up with you sternum. You can place the ball a little further back in your stance if that suits your style of chipping setup and stroke. But...never put the ball further forward as that leads to inconsistent chipping.

Thank you for reading the Chipping Ball Position Lesson. The next lesson in the chipping series will be the Chipping Alignment Lesson. It will help you take your great chipping setup and make sure you are aiming at your target properly.

Click Here To Go To The Chipping Alignment Lesson

Good luck with your practicing and playing. May you achieve your golf goals sooner with the help of free-golf-lessons.com

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PGA Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.

A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.

His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.

European Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.

Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.

In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.

One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.

If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.

Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.