Chipping vs Pitching

I have only been playing golf for 4 years now and I assumed that every short shot was considered chipping. Early on one of my golf coaches taught me to essentially to pitch every shot regardless of length or pin position.

When I started working with Shea at the Elevated Golf Academy, he asked how do you setup differently for a pitch vs a chip shot? I looked at him like he was crazy. I said I play everything way up in my stance, depending on length get out my 60 or 56 and go for it. Well I was extremely mistaken.

So what is the difference between a pitch and a chip?

Chipping is where the ball spends more time on the ground than in the air with very little carry. This swing is much smaller than any other swing with little to no wrist hinge.

Pitching spends more time in the air with a higher trajectory and more spin to help the ball stop on the green.

While this might seem silly to the experienced golfer, understanding the difference has changed my strategy completely. As I mentioned earlier, I only knew a pitch shot so I was comfortable taking the ball up high and trying to get it close to the pin. But as we started working on my chipping it is a huge mental challenge for me to get comfortable letting the ball roll out to the hole.

So why is it important to keep the ball close to the ground? Shea tells me because it is a much more predictable ball flight. Again, this was a hard thing for me to get my head around as a new golfer who, as it turns out I am not as good at reading the greens off the green as I expected. This has added a whole new element to my game. Now I need to be thinking about the green speed, reading the line and trusting that the ball speed will travel the distance that I need it to.

After 6 months of practice I am getting better at reading the greens and understanding the lines. And I do believe that the ball is much more predictable when you are keeping it on the ground. The hardest part for me is trusting my backswing and how the ball is going to roll once it hits the green. Is it going to roll at all, it is going to roll to fast, was my backswing too much, am I going to fly the green??? Yes, these are all of the swing thoughts I have but the fact of the matter is I am loving my new chip shot.

While I am still struggling to perfect my chip I am already seeing improvement in my scores and putting since I am getting closer to the pin. We’ll talk next time about the swing techniques for both the chip and the pitch.