When it comes to chipping advice, listening to six-time Phil Mickelson is a good place to start. Few players at the top level of the professional game are as fine-tuned as the lefty.
Mickelson believes the fundamentals are crucial when chipping, and it’s something amateur golfers perhaps overlook at times.
We’ve all been there. Two great shots have been hit to the fringe. You have a 56-degree wedge in hand; what can go wrong? The ball will either be chunked or thinned through the back of the green, and a bogey will be jotted down on the scorecard.
Clearly, this is an area where professional golfers distinguish themselves. PGA Tour stars make it look easy with a wedge in hand.
Phil Mickelson says where amateur players go wrong chipping
Speaking in a YouTube video shared by Golf.Com, Mickelson detailed three areas which amateurs often overlook.
“There are three things you have to do when you chip, and most amateurs do none of them,” Mickelson said.
“When you’re having 60 degrees of loft, you have to keep the leading edge down to get through the ball. There are three things. One, put your weight forward. Getting the weight forward helps drive the club down into the ground. Most people chip with their weight back. Second is your hands ahead of your club. You can’t have your hands back because once the club passes your arm, the leading edge is coming up, and bounce is being added.
“The third is, and this is where amateurs really mess up, is whether you’re going to go low or high. If you’re going to go low off your back foot, high off your back foot. Most amateurs don’t do any of those three things right. If you set up for success, it’s easy to hit the shot.”
More Phil Mickelson coaching advice in the pipeline
The six-time major winner is beginning to expand his online presence and has already announced he will be teaming up with Grant Horvat in a new two vs two series.
Furthermore, Mickelson intends to launch a coaching channel, which will be hosted in his backyard, and share tips that could benefit golfers of all levels.
“So in the future on my channel, we’re going to have some backyard tips where I start sharing, there’s three levels of chipping, right,” Mickelson said.
“Chipping 101, and then you have Chipping 401, where it’s the next level, and then you have a masterclass or a masters edition where all the subtleties and nuances of the short game start to come out. So you have to learn the basics.
“But to be able to hit the shot back there, you start playing with ball position, you start playing with club face, you start playing with weight, you start coming in different angles, and it’s stuff I’m not going to share to the beginners, and so, we’ll have them scroll away. But there’s some guys, tour level players, that still [want to hear that stuff].”
For amateurs looking for something to work on, implementing hints and tips from arguably the best short-game player of all time is a good place to start.
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