Rick Shiels makes prediction about the future of chipping in golf after seeing Matt Fitzpatrick play

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Given how long the game of golf has been played, it is always intriguing when one of the best players in the world adopts a unique technique – such as Matt Fitzpatrick deciding to use a cross-handed grip when chipping around the greens.

Matt Fitzpatrick is one of Europe’s best players. He has been involved in a number of Ryder Cup teams, while the high point of his career so far came as he won the 2022 US Open at Brookline.

But Fitzpatrick is not afraid to take a gamble or two in the hope of getting better. It is well publicised that the Englishman likes to take a note of every single shot he hits. Meanwhile, he made a significant effort to add clubhead speed having previously struggled to keep up with the game’s longer hitters, particularly on the PGA Tour.

However, perhaps the most interesting change Fitzpatrick made involved deciding to chip with a cross-handed grip a few years ago.

Rick Shiels makes a prediction due to Matt Fitzpatrick’s chipping technique

It does not appear to be something which a lot of players do. Most of those on the PGA Tour tend to use an orthodox grip. But speaking on his H.I.T. Golf YouTube channel, Rick Shiels expressed his belief that many will follow Fitzpatrick’s lead in the future as he was asked for his view on the grip.

“I love it, I love it. I think if I was possibly braver, I think I would even implement it into my own chipping,” he said.

“Many years ago, cross-handed putting – and I mean many, many, many years ago – was a bit of a taboo. You’d see someone with a cross-handed putting grip, and you’d think, ‘what, who is this guy, what planet have they come from?’ And you look at putter grips now, there’s every single type, from cross-handed to claw grip, to separated, to prayer grip, there’s everything, everything you can imagine.

“I think that will happen with chipping, I think there’ll be a future where cross-handed chipping is as popular as cross-handed putting. That’s my prediction.”

How Fitzpatrick’s short game holds up on the PGA Tour

It is only going to take one player to really succeed with the cross-handed chipping technique for many more to give it a go. Ultimately, like putting grips, it is something which is easy for the average golfer to change in the hope of discovering something. And there is not one single golfer who has not had the chipping yips at some stage in their lives.

Fitzpatrick has had mixed results when it comes to his short game in recent years. He finished the 2022 season in seventh on the PGA Tour for strokes gained around the greens. However, he was in 79th in 2024.

So perhaps it is going to be a little while before the cross-handed grip really starts to take off. But clearly, Shiels believes that it is inevitable.