improve your short game Archives

How To Stop The Flippers!

by Mike Fay | Beginners, Instruction, Short Game

How To Stop The Flippers

One common problem I often see when I coach the short game is something I call the “flippers”. As I often say, Flipper lives at Sea World, not on the golf course. The flippers is a dreaded disease that sucks the life out of any good short game.

What are the flippers?

I often see the flippers on both chips and pitches. The flippers happen when you “flip” your wrist through impact and let your top hand break down, all of a sudden FLIP. This causes the club head to pass the hands, the shaft gets too vertical, and you stand up through impact causing both fat and thin shots.

What causes the flippers?

I think the biggest reason people do this is a lack of acceleration through impact. You MUST accelerate the club to get spin and control your distance. This brings me to the other reason: FEAR. The fear of hitting the ball thin or fat automatically causes the flippers.

How do you overcome these mistakes?

Well, first you must keep your hands moving in front of the club head. Not, the other way around. Next, you must “rip” your chips and pitches. I mean hit them hard. Most people that I coach don’t hit the ball hard enough around the green to make the ball spin. Once you learn to hit them solid and hard, then you can control your distance through spin and height of shot.

I hope these tips help you overcome your fears around the green. NO MORE FLIPPERS!

Mike Fay

PGA Director of Instruction

With over 30 years of teaching experience, it's easy to see why Mike has become a leader in the world of golf instruction. Everything from cutting edge social networking techniques to having his own podcast, Mike has helped to change the face of teaching golf. He currently is the Director of Instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan.

Email: [email protected]

Should I Chip or Pitch?

by Mike Fay | Instruction, Short Game, Uncategorized

Should I Chip Or Pitch?

One question that I am often asked is: what club should I use around the green for a particular shot. Which is usually followed by me asking them this: Do you think you should chip this shot or pitch this shot? The following are some tips on what you should do in certain situations:

The difference between a pitch and a chip is this: a chip is where the ball is on the ground longer than it’s in the air, a pitch is the opposite: the ball is in the air longer than on the ground.

Now, here’s the question: which do I do when? There are a number of factors that determine this:

Lie-The worse the lie the more you should pitch it. That usually means using a sand wedge or lob wedge.
Space-How much room do you have to land the ball? Pitch if there’s less room, chip if there’s more room.
Landing Area-Determining the flattest part of the green where the ball will roll straight when it lands. The closer to the pin that is, the more you should pitch, the less you should chip.

The backswing is the only difference between a chip and a pitch. The backswing in a chip has no wrist cock because you want the ball to run when it hits the green. The backswing in a pitch has wrist cock because you want to add loft to the shot.

I hope these tips help you decide what to do. Picking the right shot will get you closer to the hole and help you get up and down.