The elimination game: Complete this tricky chipping drill

There are loads of different ways to chip, but no one way is going to work for every player.

Around the greens, it’s about finding what shots and which clubs work best for you. But, for many amateur golfers, it can be hard to know which club or shot will work best.

So, I like to get my students to complete two games that will show what they need to do in their short game.

• I increased my swing speed by ten miles per hour. Here’s how.

• Rory McIlroy: This is how I hit 330 yard drives

Find your landing spot

I like to set up a towel where I want to land the ball. This tests two crucial aspects of your chipping. Firstly, it tests your ability to land the ball where you want to fly it to, which is the easiest thing to control around the greens.

But, you’ll also see how well you can judge where the ball is going to run out to. If you’re hitting the towel but your ball is going a long way past the hole, you need to adjust.

• Soren Kjeldsen: These are my keys to better bunker shots

• Get out of the thick rough all the time

Play the elimination game

Another game I like to play with my students involves five clubs. Lots of golfers don’t know which club they perform best with around the greens and many only use one. So, I ask students to pick five clubs, some they would use and some they wouldn’t. Lots of golfers might just use the one they feel most comfortable with, but that’s not always the one that will produce the best results.

From a standard chip shot, find which one gets the ball closest to the hole and which one isn’t working. If you find in this drill that a particular club isn’t getting you close to the hole, then “eliminate” it from the drill. You’ll quickly find which club works best around the greens for you, and it might not be the one you expected.

Alyson McKechin is the Head of Golf at Golf It! in Glasgow and the latest addition to the Performance Panel. Follow her on X at @AlyMckGolf.