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Let me describe the shot and someone tell me what it is. I love playing it , in fact it works extremley well around the greens. I set the ball up back in my stance, choke down on a lob wedge, I keep most of my weight on my forward foot throughout the swing which is an arms straight and a head of the club face. Depending on the angle of the club face ( open or closed) the ball flys towards the pin and always looks like its going to run right by and off the green but instead the brakes come on hard and it is usually just a tap in. Is this a chip shot or a pitch shot and just what is the difference?

Chip Shot - Near the green . . . keeping the ball low then getting as much roll as possible towards the cup

Pitch Shot - Designed to go a short distance (20-50 yds) with high trajectory landing as close as possible to the cup

I agree with the description of a chip, but I'll have to dispute the pitch. A pitch can have a goodly amount of roll too. Just depends on how it's played and what sort of lie it's played from. Usually a pitch is a shot that gets up in the air with a good arc trajectory (such as when you have to carry over a bunker or a span of rough). A lob is a form of pitch... and a flop is an extreme pitch. But you can also play a pitch with a PW or GW from the rough, carry it onto the green, and let it run out as much as 30 or 40 feet to the hole.

I think of a true chip as a shot that is played from no more than about 10 feet off the green, played as low as possible to just carry onto the putting surface, then rolls all the way to the hole. I play a lot of modified chips that have a good amount of backspin, and while they don't stop dead, they do have the low flight of a chip, and the spin kills much of the forward momentum, leaving the ball to just roll about 10 feet or so.

There is definitely a blending of the 2 shot types... a gray area where either term could apply.

heya Fourputt

No dispute necessary . . . I wrote it up as a basic pitch shot.
Probably should have elaborated, but I got lazy.

Thanks for the great addition to the pitch shot.

I think Pelz calls this variation a "chitch" shot. I Like it too and use it alot.

Who cares what its called as long as it works and is effective.

Aside from a textbook chip (as Rick described) and your standard pitch (relatively higher loft and % of roll than a chip), there lies a massive gray area in the short game.

Basically, your aim is to get the ball up and down with greatest consistency. If that means hitting the ball with the back of a left handed driver, then so be it. Whatever works to give you the best chance of getting up and down.

Your shot... Pelz calls it a chich, Ernie calls it a checker. All the pros play it. I think it's a lower percentage shot for most of us and we'd probably score better hitting a more predictable pitch shot... yet I love it all the same. That's my favorite shot for around the green, but I play it with a GW (52*) or SW (58*). Hate catching them thin, though.

well thats just it, even if I catch it thin the ball checks right up and stops. Now it works even better with a Nike One Black ball.

By your description of the shot, I'd have to say it's a chip. You have all the standard chip shot elements in your setup and your stroke. The fact that you're imparting a lot of backspin doesn't change anything, other than the amount of roll out.