Best Way to Play Long Chip-And-Run Shot in Golf

When you are some 30-40 yds/m from the front edge of a long green with the flag well at the back, or if the green is double-tiered, your best bet could well be a long chip shot. The ball should fly fairly low, land well on the green and roll up to the flag. A high-trajectory ball flight is not only more difficult to judge when playing into a long green, but is more difficult to execute than the simple chip.

The choice of club

Even if the ball has a perfect lie, experience is the only thing that will help you here, as the distance to the green, compared to the distance to the flag, must be considered. A No. 8 or a No. 9 iron could be correct considering the distance the ball must travel in the air, compared to the distance it must cover on the ground.

Grip

Place your hands on the shaft as for the short chip-and-run shot, but higher up on the grip, because more movement is now needed to create the added distance required. About 1-1/2 in (4 cm) from the top is usually sufficient.

Stance

Take your stance only after you have visualised the shot and then seen a successful result with your practice swings. As always, the routine should be the same, the club placed behind the ball first, with the club face pointing directly at the intermediate target before you take your stance. As the distance you want the ball to travel increases, so does the distance between your feet. Keep your stance slightly open, with the weight favouring the left foot and more towards the balls of the feet. The ball should be back in the stance and the left arm and club shaft should be in a straight line.

Remember that it is only the lower part of the body that is open (turned to the left), not the shoulders or eyeline; otherwise the ball will very likely follow the shoulder line and finish considerably to the left of the target.

Posture

The head should be over the ball and the hands well in front of it. Flex the knees because the increased movement on the backswing will cause a slight weight trans­ference from left to right on the backswing and from right to left (but more so) on the downswing.

Movement

Although the swing is taken with the arms, the weight of the club head may cause the wrists to break slightly if the backswing is long enough. But the long chip is primarily an arm swing, distinct and robust, sending the ball fairly low before it lands on the putting surface, its trajectory and forward momentum sending it after two or three bounces rolling up to the flag. The amount of forward swing encourages the knees to follow, so that even more weight is on the left foot at the finish of the swing than at the address, and your right heel is slightly raised at the finish position.