It is no wonder that Jason Day is one of the best around the green on the PGA Tour when you consider the incredible facility the Australian has in his own backyard.
Anyone who enjoys YouTube golf will know that Jason Day has a brilliant setup, with various tees dotted around a number of greens.
It is the perfect playground to practice a variety of short game shots. And with that, Day finished up 21st on the PGA Tour for strokes gained around the green in the 2025 season.
In a recent video on his channel The Lads, Day explained the five errors most amateurs make when it comes to chipping.
The five chipping errors Jason Day says amateurs make
Setup
According to Day, many amateur golfers take too wide a stance when preparing to hit a chip shot. The 2015 PGA Championship winner suggested that the feet should be much closer together.
It is also imperative to shift more of your weight onto your front foot.
Day said: “A really good tip to be able to understand if you are 50-50, 60-40, 70-30, whatever you want to do, or if you’re too far on your back foot is to be able to get in the setup and I’m going to push my weight forward. You can either look at your sternum, where the centre of your body is, and if that’s above the ball then great, or if it’s front of the ball, great. But it’s almost as if I’m able to lightly take that right foot off [the ground], and that way I know I’m far enough left to be able to hit the correct chip in regards to setup.”
Takeaway
Anyone who has ever played the game knows the feeling of leaving yourself with what appears to be a simple chip shot and then proceeding to catch it fat and fail to reach the putting surface, or thin it through the green.
Plenty of amateurs will be so focused on their low point that they will not pay much attention to the takeaway. But Day explained how important it is to keep a neutral position as you bring the club back.
Bringing the club too far inside on the takeaway will encourage the club to hit the ground behind the ball.
As Day put it: “If it does get behind, I’m yet to come across someone who can actually chip it very, very good with a lot of inside path.”
Head position
While Day thinks that small movements are absolutely fine, he has suggested that you do not want to be moving your head too far behind the ball on the takeaway. That makes chunking the shot much more likely.
The 38-year-old wants amateurs to imagine that there is a wall against the right side – for a right-handed golfer – of their face as they take the club back.
You could also have a friend hold an alignment stick – from a safe distance, of course. Any pressure against it should act as a warning sign.
Rotation
On these precise shots, it seems that it is much better to have everything moving in unison. Day has suggested that sticking a towel across the chest and under both arms is a good way to limit the chances of any quirky movements.
“We want the body, as the engine, to be able to move, and the arms, hands, club are just along for the ride. And you’re using the big muscles to be able to create that speed and connection to hit the good shot,” he said.
Tempo
To the untrained eye, it is the tempo that allows the world’s best short game players to make chip shots look so simple. It appears to be an art-form when they have a wedge in hand and almost no room to work with.
This is perhaps the most individual aspect of the game. Day suggested that amateurs need to find the tempo that works for them – and recommends using an app to help – but consistency is the key.
“When you go in and you set up, you don’t want a quick backswing or a slow backswing and then a quick downswing. You see a lot of amateurs struggle because the quick change of direction of speed, it’s something they really struggle with. You want to go in there and you want it to be flowy.”
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