Use your hands to take your hands out of the chipping stroke. Wait, what?

One of the big differentiators between pros and average golfers is chipping. The best player on the PGA Tour in scrambling, which means hitting a short-game shot onto the green and making the putt, is Xander Schauffele. Want to know how often he does it? Seven out of 10 attempts. The worst player in this stat category (I won't mention his name) still gets up and down half the time.

There's no question in my mind that if you got even a little better at chipping, it would have a noticeable impact on your handicap. So if this is an area of concern, there are probably a few things holding you back—and I'll touch on them all—but I'd bet your hands are the issue.

First, let's briefly discuss the mental aspects of chipping. Where amateurs often go awry is in their thought process. They do things like restrict their backswing, in fear of hitting too far, and then jab at the ball when they sense they don't have enough swing to get it to the hole. Crisp contact is the No. 1 goal in chipping—and that sort of stroke won't produce it.

The second factor is setup. They stand too wide, like they're about to make a full swing, then hang back on their trail foot and try to "help" the ball up. Both mistakes hinder the ability to put the center of the clubface on the ball. A narrow stance—feet close together, weight favoring the front foot—is what you need. You also can stand a touch open to help your body pivot. It's a short shot, so you don't have a lot of time to rotate, and an open stance gives you a head start.

Speaking of this notion of "help," we've arrived at the main issue golfers have when chipping: They get too handsy through the ball. Typically, it's a flick of the wrists as the clubhead moves through the grass; they're trying to scoop the ball out of its lie. It looks like this (below).

If you hit a lot of fat and thin shots around the green, and generally your contact with the ball doesn't feel very good, I have a couple of drills for you to help get a better feel for how you should swing through impact. It's kind of funny, but I'm going to teach you to stop being so handsy with two drills that rely a lot on your hands. Curious?

Good chippers blend their arm swing with their body rotation. There's no fear of hitting the ball too far because they know the clubhead will glide along the turf and pop the ball up softly. They don't jerk the club down into the ball and either stop short or try to power through it when the backswing doesn't match the shot they want to hit. In short, the motion is coordinated.

You can get a feel for this by alternating between left-hand-only shots (below) and right-hand-only shots. Using just one hand prevents you from trying to overcontrol the outcome with your hands. Why? The club is too heavy to manipulate once the momentum gets going. One-handed swings put some flow back into the stroke. It's graceful, unhurried and smooth.

You'll especially feel how the club should interact with the ball and turf when you do dominant-hand-only swings (below). You won't be believe how big a swing you can make on either side of the ball and still not hit it very far. Plus, it will have some backspin once it lands, allowing you to get the ball closer to the hole. Final thought here: You've got to keep your body pivoting toward the target, which is why I'm holding my chest with my left hand in this photo. It reminds me to keep my torso turning. The body, arms and club work together in an effective chip shot.