The greenside chip can be one of the most important shots to have in your armoury. Played well it can save you many strokes per round as it has the potential to turn a bogey into a par

Let’s say you’ve just missed the green and are on the first cut of rough next to the fringe. You can’t really putt it from here because the ball could get caught up in the rough and a lob shot would require a deft touch, hours of practise and oodles of confidence. The simplest option for most golfers in this situation is the greenside chip and run. Here all we’re trying to do is loft the ball onto the nearest part of the green and let the ball roll the rest of the way. To execute this shot properly, follow these six steps:

1. Set up with a narrow stance for control with the ball back and your hands forward. This set up ensures good clean contact when playing the shot.

2. Stand with your weight favoring your left side. This will give you a downward strike onto the ball and that all important clean, crisp contact.

3. Hold the club lightly. Too firm a hold on the club will rid you of your feel.

4. Swing the club back and through in a tick-tock fashion letting the weight of the club and momentum provide the clubhead speed. Do not force a hit with your hands, instead try to let the clubhead swing.

5. As the club swings back and through the ball, try to keep the same hands forward relationship that you established at address.

6. Try to have the same pace of swing on the way through the ball as you had on the way back. We want to keep the pace even.

Tips and Warnings!

1. A good trick to help gauge the correct distance required is to pretend you’re hitting a putt from the same distance. Since we’re not applying very much power to this shot and therefore we are not creating any spin, the ball reacts in a very similar manner to a putt. Whereas a putt will roll all of its length on the ground, the greenside chip and run will fly around 20 percent of its length and run the next 80 percent. However, amazingly enough both require roughly the same amount of force. So whenever you are putting you are practising your chipping too and vice versa!

2. Avoid hitting at the ball or trying to find the ball with your hands. This will destroy your hands forward impact condition and clean contact. Instead really focus on letting the clubhead swing through the ball in a smooth and unhurried manner.