Home About Us The Instructors Clinics Private Lessons Junior Golf Instructional Tips Oak Marsh Golf Club Phone: 651-730-8886 Fax: 651-730-6711 institute@wpgolf.com Consistency: Ball position for short game chip May 2007 - By David La Pour The full swing and putting seem almost cut and dry when it comes to ball position compared to the short game. Because of the large diversity of short game shots that the golf course asks of us, our ball positions should adjust accordingly. As mentioned in earlier articles, for most short game shots we want to strike the ball first. Then if we take a little divot, it should come an inch or two after the ball. Of course the big exception is the greenside bunker, which we will talk about in a future article. For the greenside chip shot where you are roughly five to ten feet off the green, I suggest rolling the ball as much as possible. In order to insure good clean ball contact along with roll, you should play the ball back in your stance, cutting your shoelaces in half with your back foot. This may de-loft your club, so be aware of the added distance that the chip may roll. With this little chip I suggest starting with an eight iron, pitching wedge, and lob wedge to help with your distance control. The idea is to use every other club and get used to them first before you start using other clubs. One last tip, have a little more weight on your lead foot at address in order to keep from catching the shot heavy (ground first). This spring is shaping up nicely and the golf courses are in great shape. May is PGA free lesson month so call the pro shops and get your free fifteen minutes with one of our WP Golf Institute's instructors. Also if you'd like to work on your ball position with your chip shot, consider a WP Golf Institute one or two-day golf school. Go to www.wpgolf.com/institute/schedule.asp. for more information. For those of you who have a Player Award Card come to Oak Marsh May 7th in the evening for a little video analysis from me, along with specials in the pro shop and grille. Good luck with your chipping and I hope to see you at the course! MORE TIPS Home / Putting / Short Game / Full Swing / Mental / Health / Other "May is PGA free lesson month so call the pro shops and get your free fifteen minutes with one of our WP Golf Institute's instructors"