Take a Contrarian Stance with Your Short Game

Why complicate things by changing your setup on chips and pitches?

Alex Fisher, PGA | Photographs by Chris Duthie

If you've ever taken a chipping lesson, you’ve probably been told to open your stance; play the ball back in your stance; place more weight on your lead foot; and tilt the shaft of the club towards your target. So what’s wrong with doing it that way?

Well, let’s start off with the open stance. When you open the stance you tend to place the ball too far back in your stance without realizing it. This causes your upper body to tilt away from the target and shift weight on your back foot. If you’re already playing the ball back in your stance, opening it will exacerbate the problem.

Next, if you tilt the shaft forward towards the target you are going to cause two different problems. One, you will de-loft the club to the point where it becomes a 9 or 7 iron. Two, you will expose too much of the club head’s leading edge to the ground. That’s not an issue if you’re making an aggressive pass at the ball; but with a small swing, the club tends to get stuck in the ground.

I teach all short game shots with a square stance. I believe the fewer changes you make to the setup, the easier the game will become. Try this simple approach and you’ll see the results immediately.

1. Stand with a narrow stance and let your hands hang naturally. With your lead hand, have your middle finger tap your kneecap so that you are placing the majority of your weight on your front foot. Raise your back foot onto its toe to get the sensation that your weight is distributed correctly.

2.Make sure that the handle of the club remains in the middle of your body and pointing towards your sternum, which prevents the clubface from de-lofting.

3. Position the ball in the center or slightly forward in your stance.

4. Swing back the club with your arms and keep your chest pointing towards the ball. Resist the temptation of allowing your chest to rotate away from the ball, because that will cause your weight to shift to your back foot.

5. On your downswing, make sure you bounce the club into the ground while rotating your body through impact. Your body has to keep up with the golf club in order for your weight to stay on your lead foot.

6.Finish balanced on your front foot. Once you have executed the shot you should be able to raise your back foot off the ground and hold your finish position.

Originally from England, Alex Fisher is the PGA director of instruction at the Glacier Club in Durango. For four straight years, Golf Digest has named him to the list of “Best Young Teachers in America.” During the winter, he instructs at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.