While Jordan Spieth has really struggled with his game over the past few years, there still aren’t many better than him around the greens.
Spieth has captivated golfing audiences around the world with his majestic touch and feel when chipping and pitching.
With that in mind, it’s a huge bonus for amateurs when Jordan Spieth shares any golf tips or information that could help them improve their games.
The 32-year-old has won 13 PGA Tour events throughout his career, including an impressive three major championships, and he has also been ranked as the world’s best player in 2015 and 2016.
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Spieth still believes he can return to the world number one spot one day and while that seems a long way off right now, he definitely has the talent and ability needed to do that.
If he is to get back to the summit of the game, he will have to improve his driving, iron play and putting.
However, one thing that has never deserted him is his elite chipping and pitching of the golf ball…
Jordan Spieth hates one common piece of advice about chipping
Spieth has forged a stellar career for himself thanks mostly to his wizardry around the greens.
While we can’t all chip and pitch like the three-time major champion, we can learn from him whenever he has advice on offer.
It’s also really useful when one of the best players in the world dismisses any kind of misinformation that they may be circulating.
When writing an instructional column for Golf Digest, Spieth insisted that chipping is not, in fact, a miniature version of a full swing.
“I’ve heard it said that a chip shot is a miniature version of a full swing,“ Spieth said.
“I couldn’t disagree more. Some of the same fundamentals apply, sure, but chipping has way more going on. I have one basic full swing that gets me around the golf course, and I make only minor adjustments to hit draws and fades, low shots and high.
“On the other hand, I have at least 10 chipping motions—and I’m constantly learning and exploring new ones. I believe there’s no such thing as a standard chip, and that you should always be brave and try to execute the shot that the situation and lie demand.
“What shot offers the best chance of getting close to the hole? You have to channel your creativity and feel to find the answer, which is fun.
Jordan Spieth’s tip to help you hit the ‘nip-spinner’
Spieth’s favourite shot to hit around the greens is what he calls the ‘nip-spinner’.
The ‘nip-spinner’ is a real crowd-pleaser. But how can amateurs pull off the shot where the ball is fired in low before bouncing a couple of times and then checking to a halt?
COMMIT TO SPEED…
“I learned how to hit the nip-spinner when I was 13 or 14,“ Spieth said.
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“Before then, I didn’t have the strength and swing speed to pull it off. I use a lob wedge, and to the untrained eye the motion looks similar to a flop shot. It’s a long backswing relative to how short the shot travels, and the downswing path is heavy out-to-in, cutting across the ball.
“The difference between it and a flop is impact. With a flop, the club comes in shallow and slides under the ball. With the nip-spinner, the club comes in steep to meet the ball first, then the turf.
“There’s a lot of interaction between the club and the turf, so you’ll make a divot—or at least scuff the grass pretty good. My main swing thought is, hold my left wrist flat through the shot so the clubhead never passes the hands.
“It’s a low, cut motion at the bottom of the swing. Instead of the ball sliding up the clubface, the grooves grip the cover of the ball to create a lower trajectory and a ton of spin.“
MAINTAIN BELIEF…
“When you first practice this shot, be prepared that you’ll probably blade a lot of them. Don’t worry. Stick with it, and you’ll figure out the feeling of suppleness in the wrists that lets you pinch the ball off the turf.
“Keep asking yourself: How fast can I swing while making the ball travel the shortest distance possible? When I’m in a tournament and the opportunity comes to hit this shot, my typical mistake is not committing to the necessary speed.
“I’ll decelerate, and the ball will pop up high, right and short of where I intended. Depending on the slope of the green, the ball still might finish a reasonable distance from the hole, so it’s not a horrible miss. Still, if you want to get it close, you’ve got to keep the speed up through impact.“
It must be said that the ‘nip-spinner’ is an incredibly difficult shot to pull off.
Perhaps it is a chip shot that should be reserved only for golfers with an extremely high skill level.
However, there’s no harm in trying it out during practice and there is nobody better to learn the shot from than Jordan Spieth.
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