Golf Nut, I have trouble with chipping consistently around the green. My full golf swing is decent and I putt relatively well. But one time I may chip it very close and one putt and the next I might pop up a chip and leave it 20 feet short. It’s almost like I don’t have any feel around the green. Can you help?

A chipping tip that I read several years ago I still use today. And it really helps with consistency. The idea is to use several different golf clubs for controlling your distance and then always use the exact same golf swing for your chip shots.

So, what you may want to consider is using anything from a 7 iron down to the pitching wedge for chipping. Practice on getting a short compact chipping swing that is consistent in terms of how far you take the golf club back and how far you come through the shot after contact with the golf ball.

Then you can use the club to control distance. If you take these golf clubs (7, 8, 9, and PW) out to your practice range and try this I think that you will be pleasantly surprised. Go to the chipping practice green and throw out 8-10 practice balls. Chip a couple with the 7, then a couple with the 8 and so on. Work on using the exact same motion and speed with each swing.

What you should start to see is that the 7 iron chip rolls fairly consistently a certain distance, the 8 iron a little shorter, the 9 iron a little shorter, and so on. If you practice this several times and then try it on the course you will see a much better consistency in your play around the greens.