Chipping W/ 7 Iron

[CHRISMIKAYLA]

I am a beginner and used to shank my sand/pitching wedges around the green. This was probably because I was worried about getting them in the air close to the home. I have found chipping with my 7 iron to save me many strokes. I don't worry about getting it in the air because I know most of the distance will come from rolling towards the hole. I try to land the shot well short of the hole and let it run like a putt. I no longer use my wedges except for full shots from 80-100 yards. Should I stick with this or try and master the wedges close to the green? I do use SW out of bunkers or very thich rough.

[bill reed]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

hi
the use of just a 7 iron and not other clubs like a 8,9 wedge and sand wedge means you dont have the club to fit the shot and you are settling for second best.
learn to use all the clubs in your bag for chipping and pitching, learn the diffrence of how the ball flys and runs from 75 yards to 10 yards and what club fits the shot you needand not making a shot to fit the 7 iron
you will only learn by doing it on the course and finding out how much run you get on each club. its well worth doing and you will see results when you play and shots drop of your score.
each club will give you a diffrent option when near the green and you have a choice of shot, a 7 iron might be just right but from the same place with the green running away you might need a 8 or a 9 iron, or if the green has a upslop you might need a 6 or a 5 iron, if green had a big hump in middle a wedge might be best. you have to learn to use all the clubs even it the swing the same and from the same distance out.
bill

[Laserman]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

Hi,

I use my 7 Iron For Chipping. Chipping and pitching are not the same shot. Many Guys will pitch when they could chip and shoot a much better shot. It's true that it's easier to hit a 7 Iron and let it roll to the Hole than to pitch it in the air when You Don't really need to. But You don't always have that shot before You. There will be times you have to pitch over water/ Bunkers ECT and stop the ball quickly. So You Must master ( Best as You Can) the pitch shot also and not Fall In Love with 7 Iron Chipping.

Barry

[aroachr]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

Hi there , I also used to use my 7 iron for all occasions. At one stage I felt like throwing all the other irons out of the bag. Till I got some good advice , the clubs are different for a reasone , play the same swing with each club and the ball reacts differently. I am gradualy easing myself into using all of the clubs. I made a lighter golf bag and place in it the clubs I can use , as I need the extra clubs I add it to the bag. The trick is to learn to use the right club for the shot and not to adjust your swing. My carry bag now has: p/wedge, s/wedge , 7 iron , 9 iron , 5 iron , putter and my trustee 3 wood.

Roger

[Lumlum]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

When it comes to chipping, I try to get the ball to pitch about 2 foot or so onto the green and run the rest of the way to the hole. The club I use is dependant on how far the hole is from me and how far from the point I want it to pitch. Have a look at this lesson from Greg Willis http://members.cox.net/gregjwillis/LESSON5.htm

Obviously if I need to clear a hazzard or hill or something, then out comes the lob wedge and I pitch at it, but that requires far more accuracy in terms of distance control, whereas when chipping you only really need to work out where you want the ball to pitch and the roll will do the rest for you (assuming you have the right club).

It's useful to be able to do both as it gives you the choice and means you wont get stuck trying to chip over sand or trying to pitch from the fringe.

Hope this helps

Chris

[BrianW]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

As Bill rightly suggest you should use different clubs for chipping.

Imagine your ball is 6 yards from the green and the pin is one yard in from the edge, how would you use a 7 iron to chip that? If you used a sand wedge or lob wedge you could land on the edge and pull the ball up quickly. It will fly 75% and roll 25%

Now lets say you are three yards from the green and the pin is 3 yards in. You can use your Pitching Wedge to the front of the green and let it roll to the hole. A PW will fly 50% and roll 50%.

Your 7 iron would be the one if you were say 3 yards from the green and the pin was 9 yards in. 25% in the air and 75% roll

To become a great chipper of the ball and really improve your short game you need to understand how the ball will react to different clubs. Don't be afraid of using other clubs for chipping, you just use the same action and always accelerate into the ball and strike down into the back of it, you can alter the length of your stroke but NEVER, NEVER give in on the shot. Oh! and never look up through a chip until the ball has gone.

[bill reed]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

hi
if you learn to do as brian has just said you find that you start to think of what shot fits best and what type of shot will get you close to the hole more often, most times the more club the closer the point you want the ball to land and the easer it if to chip it 3 to 6 feet and let it run the rest of the way. if you had the ball 60 feet from the hole you could use a wedge and fly it 50 feet but you would be lucky to keep it within 6 feet. you could chip a 9 iron and aim to land it 20 feet away and run the rest or try a 7 iron and and to land it 16 feet away and run the rest or use a 4 iron and aim 10 feet away and let it run the 50 feet to the hole, the 4 iron will be the easer to land on the 10 foot spot and it had a 1-5 roll a 7 iron has a 1-3 roll and a p-wedge a 1-2 roll. you should go out and try using all the club and get a feel for what does what, its the only way to find out what each club can do. also keep it low and chip to a spot as close to you as you can and let the ball run the rest, it will give you better result over all then trying to hit it high and stop it dead.
if you can work on this you will drop shots of your game in no time.
bill

[jambalaya]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

I use all of my wedges and my 7 through 9 iron for chipping depending on how far I want to carry it on the green, the lie, the elevation change from ball to green, etc., Just using a 7-iron is no better than just using one wedge for chipping in my opinion. However, a 7-iron gets you much less versatility than say a 9-iron or pitching wedge. You can always deloft the wedges to get more roll. Are you actually shanking the shots or blading the ball? You must hit down on the ball when chipping especially when using a wedge. The problem with wedges is when one tries to sweep the ball rather than hit down behind the ball. The 7-iron is ideal for flat, long chips but would be hard to control for shorter chips where you have to chip up to the green.

However, all that being said, if you have improved your chipping by just using a 7-iron that is at least something. You are able to contact the ball with club face more easily without a steep downswing. Stick with that if it makes your round more enjoyable until you can get some practice with the other clubs.

[bill reed]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

hi
Nick Faldo's tip was to chip a spot 6 feet onto th green then pick which club would give you the run to the hole from there, taking in if it was uphill or down.
i find this makes it easy to pick the right club to use.
bill

[vp27519]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

Chris to answer your question, you need to become more creative around the greens. There will be times when the 7 iron will be unsuitable. For example a sand trap between you and the green.

I was the other way around - very s/w dependant. Coach has changed this.

Trust is a big thing in this game. Chris, when you practice correctly you will find that you will have the confidence when out on the course.

Here is a little snippet that I practice. I stole this idea from one of Dr Bob's books and I changed it to suit my lifestyle needs.

Chipping;

3 balls from 2m off the green to the pin with my 7, 9, pw, sw, lw. Then,
3 balls from 4 m off the green with the same clubs, then 3 balls from 6m off the green with the same clubs.

I do this 3 times per week. I do it from the same area from the chipping area to the same pin position each session.

Chipping/Pitching;

5 balls with pw, sw and lw to 10m, 12m and 14m targets. 5 balls with pw and sw to 30m, 40m and 50m marks.

I do this 2-3 times per week.

I incorporate my preshot routine with each and every shot.

I've found this has helped my confidence on the course.

I apologise for the long winded response guys.

[vp27519]

Re: Chipping W/ 7 Iron

PS,

Sorry for calling you Chris, Michael. I assumed that your name was the former due to your callsign.