Spin control tips

Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Paul Foston offers his spin control tips, delivering a simple lesson on how to play the spinning chip - a must-learn shot for anyone looking to cut their handicap.

Golf Tips: How to Play the Spinning Chip

Fault

- You struggle to control your chip shots

- You often decelerate the club on short, delicate chips

Fix: Spin control tips

The old method of playing a chip shot that checked up was to play it off the back foot, hinge your wrists in the backswing and stop the left wrist from collapsing on the way through. But from my experience, this method was inconsistent - the ball wouldn’t check up every time, it was also high risk for alot of amateurs and caused plenty of duffed chip shots. The introduction of 60° lob wedges has meant that we no longer need to do that, instead the bounce and loft of the club can be utilised in a far more effective way.

More short game tips

With a neutral setup and square clubface the key to the shot is letting the club release through the impact area. You should feel like the club is overtaking the ball after impact. What this does is allow the bounce of the club to work properly through the impact area and brush the grass on the way through. Even if you catch the ground first it won’t dig in like the old method so that takes the duff contact out of the equation.

More golf swing tips

Hinge the wrists slightly on the way back and then really focus on letting the wrists release the club on the way through. You create backspin this way as the ball comes into contact with more of the grooves on the face. The ball doesn't shoot off as fast as with the old technique but runs up the face, creating the spin you are looking for. This will help you consistently produce a chip shot that bounces once and then checks quickly.