Short Game

Fix Your Chipping Yips Forever

By Hank Haney Photos by Dom Furore
June 20, 2007
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In tennis, the ball is coming over the net, and your reaction to it is almost instinctive. To get some of that feel in your chipping stroke, set up 10 tees in a row, about six inches apart. Leave the first four tees empty, and alternate balls on the last six. Set up to the first tee and make a chipping stroke, brushing the grass and clipping the tee. Immediately step up to the second tee and do the same. Clip each of the first four tees, then step up to the fifth tee and make the same swing as for the first four. Do the same for the last two balls, making the swings on the actual balls as reactive and instinctive as the swings on the tees.

If you're pressed for time...

If you have only 10 minutes before you tee off, try this quick version. Stick a tee deep in the grass and swing so you clip the tee out of the ground. There's no ball, so you'll find you get really good at clipping the tee. Your mind is on the stroke and rhythm, not on the ball.