Chipping, pitching and bunkers: bounce, landing spot, low point

01 One setup, three shots

A chip, a pitch and a greenside bunker shot are not three techniques. They are one setup with three different amounts of loft, speed and sand. The setup is narrow, the weight favours the lead foot, the hands sit just ahead of the ball but not so far ahead that the leading edge digs, and the chest turns through rather than the hands flipping.

What changes between them is the job. A chip is mostly roll: it lands early and runs. A pitch is mostly carry: it lands late and stops. A bunker shot is neither, because the club never meets the ball, only the sand underneath it.

02 What bounce actually is

Bounce angle is the angle between the leading edge of the club and the lowest point of the sole when the club is soled on flat ground. In plain terms, the leading edge sits slightly above the turf, and the trailing part of the sole touches first. That angle is what stops the edge from burying itself in the ground.

Wedges are usually built somewhere between about four and fourteen degrees of bounce, and the grind, the material shaped away from the sole, changes how the club behaves when the face is opened. The rule is simple: soft, lush turf and fluffy sand want more bounce; firm, tight lies and coarse packed sand want less. A steep attack angle wants more bounce; a shallow, sweeping delivery wants less.

Leading edge

The front edge of the club face where it meets the sole. The part that digs when the bounce is not used.

Bounce angle

The angle between that leading edge and the lowest point of the sole, measured with the club soled flat.

Grind

Material removed from the sole to change how the club sits, particularly when the face is opened.

Effective bounce

The bounce you actually present at impact. Leaning the shaft forward reduces it; opening the face increases it.

This last term matters more than the number stamped on the club. A golfer with a fourteen degree sand wedge who leans the shaft heavily forward has removed most of that bounce and will dig. A golfer who opens the face of a low bounce wedge on firm ground has added bounce that was not there and will thin it across the green. The club is a starting point; the delivery decides what actually touches the turf.

03 Choosing a landing spot

Good short game players aim at a spot on the green the size of a hat, not at the hole. They choose the club afterwards, based on how much roll they need. That order is the whole method: the landing spot is the thing you can control, the roll is the thing the club decides.

The ratios below are the teaching estimates in common use, not measured constants. They assume a flat green of medium pace and a standard chipping motion. Treat them as a starting point, then spend one practice session finding your own numbers on your own greens, because a fast green and a soft green will move every row.

04 The low point, and why thin follows fat

The low point of the swing is the deepest place the club head reaches. On a good chip it sits at the ball or just ahead of it, so the club catches the ball first and brushes the turf afterwards. When weight hangs back on the trail foot, the low point moves behind the ball, the club hits the ground first, and the shot comes out fat and short.

The thin shot that follows is not a separate fault. It is a correction. After a fat chip, most golfers instinctively lift through impact to avoid hitting the ground again, the low point moves up, and the leading edge catches the equator of the ball. Fat and thin are the same error with two different endings, which is why working on the low point fixes both at once.

1. Set about sixty per cent of your weight on the lead foot and leave it there through the shot.
2. Place a tee an inch ahead of the ball and try to brush it after contact, never before.
3. Let the chest keep turning to the target; hands that stop turning force the club to flip.

05 Bunkers: the club misses the ball

A standard greenside bunker shot is the only shot in golf where the club is not supposed to touch the ball. The club enters the sand a couple of inches behind it, and a cushion of sand throws the ball out. Everything about the technique follows from that one fact.

• Open the face before taking your grip, so the bounce can work through the sand.
• Aim the entry point, not the ball. Draw a line in the sand at practice and hit that line.
• Accelerate. Because sand absorbs energy, a bunker shot needs a longer and faster swing than the same distance from grass, which is the opposite of what nerves suggest.
• Take a consistent amount of sand. The size of the sand divot governs the distance far more than how hard you swing.

Two rules points are worth knowing before you step in. You may remove loose impediments such as leaves or stones in a bunker, but you may not test the sand or ground the club right behind the ball. And if the lie is hopeless, an unplayable ball in a bunker has its own options, including one that lets you get out of the sand entirely for two penalty strokes, explained in the relief and penalties chapter.

06 Three drills that need one wedge

Twenty minutes, one wedge, one towel. These three drills train the landing spot, the low point and the sand divot, which between them account for most short game strokes.

• The towel target. Lay a towel on the green as the landing spot and hit ten balls trying to land on it, ignoring where they finish. Then move the towel and repeat with a different club, so the same landing spot produces a different result.
• The line in the sand. Draw a straight line in a practice bunker, take your stance so the line sits where the ball would be, and take ten swings entering the sand on the line every time. No ball at all until the entry point is repeatable.
• The ladder. Three balls to a target ten paces away, three to twenty, three to thirty, without changing club. This trains the length of the swing as the distance control, which is the same skill you will use on the greens in the putting chapter.