Chipping Basics for Junior Golfers

The setup, the stroke and the landing-spot habit that turn a missed green into a routine up-and-down for a young golfer.

Chipping is one of the most valuable skills a junior golfer can build, because it turns a missed green into a manageable up-and-down rather than a shot lost to frustration. Unlike the full swing, chipping rewards a simple repeatable technique over power, which makes it a great skill for young players to master early and carry for the rest of their golf.

It is also where a beginner can most quickly close the gap on a better player. Nobody hits every green; the difference is what happens next.

Choosing the club: one club first

A junior-friendly approach is to use one club - often a pitching wedge or similar mid-wedge - for most greenside chips, at least while the technique is being built. Rather than switching clubs constantly, a young golfer learns to change the length of the swing and the ball position to control trajectory and distance, which keeps the skill simple to learn and easy to trust under pressure.

Once the basic strike is reliable, a second club opens up the landing-spot idea below.

Which wedges a junior actually needs, and in what order to add them, is covered in wedges explained.

The setup: narrow, forward, hands ahead

• Feet closer together than a full swing, roughly hip width
• Weight favouring the front foot and staying there through the shot
• Ball back in the stance, roughly in line with the back foot or just forward of it
• Hands slightly ahead of the ball at address, and still ahead at impact
• Grip down the handle a couple of centimetres for control

This setup naturally encourages a descending strike, which is what produces clean ball-first contact rather than a fat or thin shot. The single most common junior chipping fault - trying to scoop the ball into the air - is a setup problem before it is a technique problem.

The stroke: chest and arms, not hands

The chipping motion works best as a small controlled swing driven by the turn of the chest and shoulders, with the arms and club following along. It feels close to a putting stroke, with a touch more wrist hinge as the shot gets longer.

Keep the backswing and follow-through roughly matched in length. An equal-length stroke controls both distance and strike quality far more reliably than a long backswing rescued by a deceleration, which is what produces the duffed chip that goes two metres.

Think about the landing spot, not the hole

This is the single idea that most improves a junior's chipping. A chip lands and then rolls, so the question is not 'how far is the hole' but 'where do I want this to land'. Pick a spot on the green, land the ball there, and let it run.

Different clubs produce different amounts of roll, which is what lets a player use the same simple stroke for very different shots.

The way to use this with a child is to have them test it rather than take it on faith. Drop a towel or a jumper on the green as a landing target and let them discover for themselves how much further the ball runs with an 8 iron than a sand wedge.

Four drills that build the skill

• Landing circle: put a towel or a hoop on the green and score a point every time the ball lands on it, ignoring where it finishes
• One club, three distances: chip to three different flags with the same club, changing only the length of the stroke
• Up-and-down game: nine chips from around the green, one putt each, count how many are holed in two
• Coin under the trail foot: a coin or tee under the back foot that must stay pinned keeps the weight forward

Lies: the part nobody explains

The same chip is a different shot depending on what the ball is sitting on, and juniors are rarely told this.

• Tight, firm lie: the leading edge can catch the ground first, so the ball position and hands-ahead setup matter more than ever
• Fluffy rough: the club can slide under the ball, so expect less spin and more run
• Sitting down in thick grass: this is a rescue shot - the goal is anywhere on the green, not close

Australian courses add a specific wrinkle here. Kikuyu and couch grasses, which are common through much of the country, are grabby and grow with a strong grain, so a chip played into the grain behaves very differently from one played down it. A child who learns to chip only on a manicured practice green will be surprised the first time they play a shot out of thick couch.

When the ball is in a bunker instead

Greenside bunkers use a related but genuinely different technique - the club is designed to enter the sand rather than strike the ball, which feels wrong until it is explained. See bunker play basics for junior golfers.

Practising chipping without a practice green

Most families do not have easy access to a short-game green, and chipping is the skill that suffers for it. It is also the easiest skill to practise at home, with some care.

• Foam or plastic practice balls make backyard chipping safe and are close enough in flight for short shots
• A washing basket, a towel or a hoop makes a target - landing on the target is the score, not distance to a hole
• A patch of lawn is fine; the strike and the landing-spot habit transfer directly to a real green
• If you are hitting real balls, hit away from windows, fences and anything with a neighbour behind it, and stop when other people come outside

Ten minutes of chipping at a basket in the backyard, a few times a week, will do more for a junior's scoring than the same time spent hitting drivers at a range.

More home-practice ideas that work in a small space are in indoor golf practice ideas.

Should a junior learn several different chip shots?

Not straight away. Mastering one simple reliable technique with one or two clubs is far more valuable for a beginner than trying to learn flop shots, bump-and-runs and every variation at once. Variety can be added gradually as fundamentals and confidence develop.

The order that works for most juniors: one club and one stroke, then the landing-spot idea with a second club, then the putt-from-off-the-green option, and only then the higher shots that need a lob wedge and a lot of practice.

Because the stroke is so close to a putting stroke, the two skills reinforce each other - see how to teach a child to putt.