Paula Creamer's Chipping Tip

Here's another Golf Digest instructional video, this one from Paula Creamer demonstrating a chipping drill. It's an interesting approach that I think could help you get crisper contact.

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Here's the idea: Placing your lead hand on your lead thigh and then chipping with your trail hand forces you to do a number of things:

• It eliminates some of the excess upper body movement you may have picked up. Keeping you steady over the ball improves your contact.
• The single-arm swing forces you to swing the club rather than muscle it. As a result, you'll develop better rhythm in your stroke and you'll stop flipping your hand at impact.
• By keeping your lead hand against your thigh, you'll be forced to turn your body more through impact. That will improve the consistency of your swing path and, as a result, your distance control will improve as well.

One other note that Paula makes a point of mentioning: Don't just swing the club back and forth with your trail hand. The idea isn't to pretend you're a pendulum on a grandfather clock! This drill is supposed to improve your chipping, and you don't make several chips at one time. Treat each stroke as an individual chip and give each chip the same attention you would during a round.

This is a very simple drill that requires no special techniques but can teach you some fairly complex concepts. Give it a try during your next short game practice session.