Many people do not know the difference between chipping and pitching the golf ball. Generally speaking chipping is done around the edges of the green and pitching is done from a little farther away and requires getting the ball higher in the air and is done with a fairly lofted club. Examples of both would be if you ball is a few feet off the green and you use your 8 iron to run the ball up to the hole would be a chip and using you wedge to loft the ball over a sand trap onto the green would be considered a pitch.

Chipping can be done with many different clubs from your sand wedge right up to your fairway woods. The object is to get the ball on the ground as soon as possible and let it run up to the hole.

The basic chipping motion is very similar to your putting stroke. Not much wrist hinging if any and a very simple stroke. Your clubface gives you all of your direction so how you stand is a little irrelevant however standing with your front foot pulled back a bit (open stance) does give you a better plane and more of an opportunity to get under the ball.

Pitching on the other hand should be done with your most lofted clubs. A lot of the pros will use their 60 degree sand wedge to get the ball up in the air and come down with little or know roll. Swinging the arms back and through similar to a pendulum tempo will help judge distances. The longer the swing the farther the ball will go.

As in chipping your stance should be slightly open as stated before this allows a better plane to get the ball airborn. To get the ball even higher you could also open your club face however all these specialties shots should be practiced and used only when it is absolutely necessary.

Learning to chip and pitch does make the game more enjoyable. This will lead to more up and downs. (Chipping or pitching on to the green and sinking the putt.)

Tags: Golf General, Lessons in Golf by John White
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Lately we have had a little rain and watching the U. S. Open and the heavy rains that they have had there brought up an interesting topic. Even though any of you won’t play tournament golf you should still prepare for different conditions on the golf course. Looking at the forecast is the first thing you should do although they are not always right.

First, let’s take rain. In your bag you should have a rain suit and at the very least a jacket to put. Now the most expensive rain suit will be in the $500.00 range, these are 100% waterproof and a great investment if you play a lot of golf. Next, an umbrella would be handy although I hate trying to hold on to one of those. A dry towel would be an asset to have as well as a hat. The most important piece of equipment that I carry is a rain glove. These gloves are actually grip better the wetter they are. With one of these I do not even cover my clubs.

Other elements that we prepare for would be hot or cold weather. Having a jacket or sweater in the bag is great because you never know when the temperature will drop. In warm weather having a bottle of water and sun screen is never a bad idea.

Preparation for the elements will make your game more enjoyable. This is as important a part of the game as anything so go through your equipment to make sure you have everything that you might need under different circumstances even if you only play in good weather. You never know when you might get caught.

Tags: Lessons in Golf by John White
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Nowadays, golf course owners and superintendents try and toughen up their courses by letting the grass grow long off the fairway. The rough as it is called does pose some problems but knowing what to expect can make you game a little better.

The first assessment of the shot is how deep the ball is sitting in the grass. This will determine basically how far you can advance the ball. If you have a long way to go and there is lots of grass around the ball then you might considering taking your wedge out and chopping the ball back to the fairway. However if the ball is sitting up reasonably then you should go for the green. There are a couple of tips to keep in mind. First a wood is easy to hit out of the rough than an iron as the wood will glide through the grass and the iron will get caught in the long grass. Second the ball will come out with little backspin so it will not stop very quickly. You should allow for this and take less club.

For shots around the green in long rough, this poses other problems. Treating it like a sand shot and blasting out of the rough is one solution. Using a lofted club and chopping it out is another. Remember that the ball will come out with little spin and run quite a bit so you need to allow for this.

Making good decisions on how the ball will react is as important as having a good swing when it comes to playing the game. Good golfing!

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Most people fear their ball going into a sand trap but if you watch the pros, they would almost prefer to have their ball in the bunker as opposed to being in the heavy rough around the greens.
the sand shot is fairly simple and the following basic tips will certainly help.

The sand shot is one of just a few shots where you are not trying to make contact with the ball. You are trying to make contact with the sand just in back of the ball and let the sand propel the ball out of the trap. The easiest way to do this is to take your normal stance( maybe anchoring a bit in the sand so you do not slip) and then move your feet away from the target so the ball goes more towards your foot that is closest to the target. The ball might be even with your front foot. From that position you should open your club face which means that it will by lying more with the face pointing towards the sky. This will help the club glide through the sand. Once you have this set up make your normal swing. The club should contact the sand just before the ball and send the ball on to the green. The distance will still be controlled by how hard you swing.

This is the easiest and simplest way to get out of a trap. A good practice would be to get into a bunker and make some swings with no ball and see if you are making contact with the sand. The club should glide through and the spot you hit should be consistent. Not having a consistent bottom of the swing is a problem with all you shots so practicing this would also help you in all your game.

Make the sand trap your friend!

John White CPGA

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I can’t believe how many people are trying to keep their arms straight in the golf swing. We are trying to learn a swing and if you use an actual swing as a model, how many swings have the two arms holding the seat up as being something stiff and straight. Most of them are ropes or chains and the weight of the person swinging back and forth keeps them taught.

This is very important to free motion, synchronized motion. People that are trying to keep their arms straight are too tense and inhibit motion. Their arms will also get out of rhythm with their body and cause poor shots. Keeping the arms straight will also cause the wrists to break the wrong way, another cause of poor golf shots (the Wrist Rite will help).

Do not ever give the advice to keep the arms straight. We certainly don’t want to lift the arms or carry them, we must throw or swing the arms back and up which if done will keep the one of the arms extended throughout the swing until the finished position.

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