[PHOTO: Chris Graythen]
Lorena Ochoa, one of the greatest LPGA Tour players of all time, tackled an issue in a 2010 Golf Digest instruction piece that far too many amateurs are faced with: inconsistency around the greens. If you see the ball leave the face of your wedge in a different way every time you hit a chip shot, this tip is for you. The problem, Ochoa wrote, could be your wrist angle.
Ochoa, a 27-time winner on the LPGA Tour, said in the article that the key to good chipping is maintaining “the angle between your right wrist (for righties) and the club’s shaft intact through impact, while moving the right side of your body through the shot at the same time”.
This can be a tricky move for amateurs, because we’re used to releasing the clubhead through the ball on our full-swing shots. In order to do that, the wrist angle that Ochoa is talking about has to change. But a chip isn’t a full-swing shot. To be good around the greens, Ochoa is saying that you can’t change that wrist angle. By maintaining the wrist angle, you’ll keep the clubface square through impact, and that will give you more consistent contact.
In order to practise this move, Ochoa recommends a drill she relied on while she played competitively: hit chips with just your right hand. (If you’re a lefty, do this drill with just your left hand.)
“This keeps me from collapsing my right wrist and helps me make crisp contact with the ball using a consistent, descending blow,” Ochoa said.
Train your wrist to stay in position with this drill, and you’ll find on the golf course that the ball is leaving the face of your wedges with a bit more dependability.
