Chipping Ratios
One of the questions I am often asked in golf is how do I know what club to use when I am chipping. I am going to share with you a ratio system that hopefully will answer that question. In chipping what you want to do is land the ball on the front of the green and allow the ball to roll to the hole.
It is easier to hit a target closer to you than further away, and the sooner you get the ball on the ground the sooner it will roll like a putt and you will have more control over it.
Now as far as club selection goes, what you have to know is that there are two different distance factors: from the golf ball to your landing area is one distance, and then from your landing area to the hole is your second distance. A sand wedge is one to one ratio, meaning one part carry in the air one part roll on the ground. A pitching wedge is a one-to-two ratio, 9-iron is one-to-three, 8-iron is one-to-four and all the way up. So all you have to know is from the golf ball to your landing area, that distance, and then from the landing area to the hole as your second distance.
Starting from the ball you have four steps to the landing area. Now from my landing area to the hole you have eight steps, so if you divide four into eight you have a one to two ratio, and a one to two ratio is a pitching wedge. What you want to do is set up with your pitching wedge and land the ball on the front of the green and let it roll to the hole. A good way to remember what club to use, always subtract the ratio from the number twelve and it will give you the right golf club. If you have a one to five ration, five from twelve would be a 7-iron. The only adjustment you will make is if you have slow greens or fast greens, uphill or downhill you will adjust your ratio system. So if you had a one to four ratio, which is an 8-iron, and your are going uphill, you would use a 7-iron.
