Firm but not Stiff
One of the most common errors I see every day in chipping is either a death grip with absolutely zero feel or a loose wristy action that has no consistency. Use a medium grip pressure and keep your wrists firm but not locked. You will want just a little bit of give in the transition to help with feel for distance. Make sure to keep the tension light in your arms, neck and shoulders however for good tempo.
The Key is in the Knees
A huge mistake nearly all level of players can make in chipping is to lock up their lower body. The players with the best short games allow their knees just a small amount of swivel which helps your upper body rotate without shifting your weight in the backswing.
Don’t be Afraid to go Long
The last thing you want with a chip shot is too short of a backswing! When I see amateurs chip with a short little backswing they always jab at it in the downswing and end up chunking or thinning it. Take enough of a backswing to let momentum and the weight of the clubhead to work for you. A good thought in chipping is long to short… this gives you a longer backswing to develop feel and a short finish to keep your wrists firm through impact.
Take Dead Aim
I recently gave a lesson to a student who was do everything right technically but really wasn’t getting the ball close. I asked him what he was thinking about during the shot and it turned out there were about 5 or 6 internal thoughts and nothing about the target! Make no mistake, your intent with a chip shot is to MAKE IT! Take Dead Aim at the hole and try to sink every chip shot… As soon as he started changing his intent, my student started getting the ball much closer and was even sinking them with regularity!