How Chipping with a Hybrid Saves You Strokes
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Sean is the co-founder of My Golf Tutor, the top golf instructional blog helping weekend golfers play better golf. He played on the Irish National team that produced major champions like Rory Mcllroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clarke before playing professionally for 5 years around the world.
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If you find yourself just off the green or your golf ball has come to rest against the collar of the rough, what club would you normally use? Have you ever tried chipping with a hybrid?
After reading this, you just may consider the hybrid. It’s a versatile club that can be used for more than just hitting full shots from the fairway or rough. Colin had this same thought in his question:
Hi Sean, I was watching my club championship the other weekend, and one of the participants used his hybrids quite a lot around the greens. Is there a special way you like to play this shot?”
Colin, I like to use the hybrid every now and then around the greens, and it is definitely a good shot to have when you need it. There are a couple of things that you need to know when chipping with a hybrid.
Chipping with a hybrid setup…
In your setup, I would like to see your feet very close together. Because it’s such a short shot, we are not looking for any weight transfer at all.
We are simply going to put our feet very close together and position them slightly open. Place the ball in the middle of your stance. From a weight distribution standpoint, I’d like you to feel that there is fifty-five (55) to sixty (60) percent of weight on your left side. You definitely want to have more weight on your left side for this shot.
One of the main goals when chipping with a hybrid is to have the ball come off the face similar to a putt. We are going to have to stand a little closer to the ball as a result, similar to a putter. When you stand closer to the ball, the shaft is going to get a little more vertical, just as when hitting a putt.
The Grip…
Typically, when we hit a normal shot, I would want to see the heel pad on your left hand (for a right-handed golfer) resting on top of the grip. However, with this type of shot I’d like you to position your hands so that your grip is going down the lifeline in both hands.
This is going to help take a little bit of the wrists out of the shot and help you strike it more like a putt.
Against the collar of the rough…
So, we just talked about hitting a shot from the fairway where we had no rough. We simply had to hit it up the green as if it were a putt.
There is not going to be a major difference in setup when the ball is resting against the collar of the rough. The rough will affect your ability to take the club head back; however, we have a solution for this problem. We are going to set up the same way as if we were hitting the shot from the fairway.
However, with this type of shot, I would like you to drop you left shoulder a little in the setup.
This is going to make it easier for the club head to get airborne sooner and avoid the rough behind the ball. Chipping with a hybrid is a great shot to have when the situation calls for it.
To Recap…
Make sure you have your setup correct; this will make it easier for you to strike the ball as you would with a putt.
First, place a little more weight on your left side, and stand closer to the ball.
Second, position your hands so that the grip is going down the lifeline in both hands.
And finally, if you’re chipping against the collar of the rough, make sure to drop your left shoulder in your setup.
Maybe you know someone who thinks that chipping with a hybrid is hard. Do them a favor and send them this link to show them it’s not as hard as one might think.
Check out this video for a better visual on Chipping with a Hybrid…
Go out and practice this shot around the putting green, and let me know how it went in the comment section below.
