golfrewind.com

Just started playing seriously this year. I'm a tennis pro so i can appreciate good tips/instruction e.t.c.

my driver and irons are great. from 160 out i can grab a 6 and drop it on the green or fairly close on a par 5.

i went to chip and putt and tried using nothing but my pitching wedge to get used to it. disaster...works for my buddy shoots in teh 80's but he played in high school and understands moving the ball around in your stance. i like to keep my balls centered on my iron shots, keep the same swing and allow my clubs to change my distance/loft.

except inside of 100 i have trouble. let's say 60 and in is even worse. i like to choke up and line it in if i have an open green, but to get it up and drop it on is so hard.

i tried taking my wedges and using a smooth swing with just my shoulders. that worked for a while but my arms feel disconnected from teh swing. tough feel.

my second round i've tried just bring the club back without turning the face. kind of like a knockdown shot. bring the club back and forward, like just making the bottom half of a circle.

can u guys give me any tips/visuals on what i should be doing on these short elevated chips?

Hi there, without actually seeing your swing and what you are trying from inside 100 it's hard to advise. As you've only been playing seriously for a few months i would suggest that you practice, practice and practice again, you'll find it but it takes hard work. Others here will also tell you to spend at least 70* of your range time on the short game. Get a feel for different distances using the wedges and even over a short distance commit to every shot. One last thing, dont tie your self in knots during your practice, play with patience and make it fun.

Try setting up with the ball placed well back in your stance and not using your wrists at all on your pitch and chip shots. That is to say, swing the clubhed back ony with your shoulders - never break the wrists. This approach can greatly increase your consistency of making proper contact with the ball and hitting down on the ball with the clubface to impart more spin.

you really need to practice your short game more then anything

main thing is to get a feel for how far you are away........

I execute my short shots mostly on feel and intuition, unbothered by technique/method. My approach to these shots is not dissimilar to how I might underhandedly throw a ball on the green. I arrived at this 'casual' approach when I first started playing on the course after I had been practicing full swings only on the range for half a year. When I had 50 yard shots left I had no practice experience to fall back on, and I just had to make the best of it: And surprisingly I found that I was able to naturally land most of these shots on the green.

I'd recommend Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible. He really does a good job of explaining the major differences between the full power swing and the finess (100 yards and under) swing. I disagree with the no wrist hinge comment above, pitch shots require wrist hinge, even chip shots don't completely eliminate the wrists. The differences that Pelz points out are quite extraordinary and he has plenty of data and statistics to back it up.

It seems that you have some fairly solid opinions of what you "like" to do...since you are unhappy with the results, I would get these likes out of your head...
Pelz Short game bible is a great reference...most golf books and instructional videos have the same info detailing the fundamentals of the finesse swing, set up, swing etc...get a good set up, grip and start practicing...you have have have to put your legs into your shot, otherwise it will feel disconnected...moving the ball around is great for different shots, but read the bible and its opinions on ball position, then experiment...I think the ball is probably a bit too far forward...just be open and realize that the correct way may not feel right or give good results at first, but good technique will pay off in the end

I was referring to the "dead hands" technique/swing thought that Dave Pelz emphasizes in his Short Game Bible. He recommends that the wrists only be used to cock the club during the backswing during finesse wedge play and chipping.

2 quick tips that help me. (i tend to agree w the feel theme above): so :

think of scruffing the surface of the grass with the ball being in the way, and

try a drill where the feet are close together, and the ball is 4-6 inches behind you , and take your almost full swing at it... just drill this way to get a feel for the descending blow and arm shoulder connection etc, then resume your regular alignment...

I have a great video clip from internet that i wish i could show you because it brought my short game forward with rapid progress,as was said above get the at the back of your stance so that you are hitting down on it,but most importantly,keep your weight more on the left foot for the small chips,this helps you go down and under and through to get under ball,grab your sandwedge with finger and thumb gently about 8 inches from blade and hold it dangling,you will notice that at proper balance the blade is already starting an upswing,look at the bottom of blade,its gonna be a shank so thats why ball at back of stance is important

Almost all players that consistently score well seem to have one thing in common. They all seem to have a "Go to" shot around the green. What I mean by that is that they have a shot that can be used in many different situations with clubs of different lofts which result in varying amounts of carry and run. The style or method that you use to hit the shot should be the same for all situations.
Practice this until you are sick of it, and then practice it some more. Put your feet about 6 inches apart (remember, when you are hitting a short shot You'll want to make your stance smaller). Position the ball off your back foot instep. Shift about 80 percent of your weight on your front foot. You want to start with the weight there and leave it there during the entire swing. At this point in your set-up, your arms and your club will form the letter Y, this should stay consistent all the way through your swing.
This set-up will be getting you into an impact position, your weight on your front foot and the ball back in your stance is going to encourage a slightly descending blow that should leave you catching the ball first and the ground after. It's very important that your left wrist remained bowed and your right wrist remain bent (right handed golfer) throughout the swing.
The club you choose is going to determine how much the ball will fly and roll. This is a shot that can be used if you are five feet from the green up to 30 yards from the green without changing the method just lengthening the backswing.
From further away than 30 yards and inside 120 use your standard shot with how ever many wedges you carry, but work on three different lengths for each one.
First, let me point out that most players will take the wedge as far back as they would with their driver and then try to adjust by slowing down on the downswing. Slowing down like this is called "deceleration". You've probably heard what that can do to a putt or a swing. It's like trying to put a brake on your swing. This will throw off your timing and you'll hit a bad shot.
Try taking some practice swings so that your arms stop at the 7:00PM position. Then swing so that your arms stop at the 9:00PM position. Then take some full practice swings.Make sure on all three swings you swing just as hard. Don't try to swing harder on the short back swing shot than you do on the full back swing shot.
Do this, making note of the distance you are hitting each shot. This will give you three distances with each wedge without changing your swing at all If you carry two wedges that's six different distances. (I carry four wedges, so I've got 12 different distances) As you can imagine, this is a huge advantage when you are "between" clubs. Spend some time at the range till this is second nature and I promise you'll start calling the wedges your "scoring clubs"

going out tomorrow. all great tips...but this last one is making alot of sense. i think my stance is too wide. everyone thanks for the help...hopefully everything goes well tomorrow.

I won't tell you HOW to swing a club..you already know that... what I WILL tell you, is that in two weeks ..if you'll listen, you can be putting balls into a clothes basket @ 50-75 yrds...you listenin'.... a clothes BASKET... more practice will increase that distance...
start at 25' distance and chip into the basket..do NOT move until you get 5/5
then increase the distance 5 yds, working your way out to 50 yds, the basket may look big @ 25' ..wait til you get to 40-50yds, but if you consistently work on HITTING THE BASKET, you'll have NO problem PICKING A SPOT on the green and HITTING IT. IT WORKS, but since some big named Pro didn't charge you $500 for it, most will blow it off....