How do you practice chipping when you only have 20 minutes? Pick one stock shot, a chip that carries 10 steps (or 20 if you've got the room), with your most comfortable wedge. Calibrate your hands so they move in the same direction. Then hit that same shot over and over until you can stand up to a ball and say, "Oh, I can do that." In the last few minutes, take that exact stroke to different lies, slopes and grasses and play them as they lie. One stroke, dialled in, then applied everywhere.

Because hitting a pile of balls and hoping something sticks isn't much of a plan.

How to practice chipping when you only have 20 minutes. Grab your wedge and a few balls and follow along.

Why one stock shot is the best way to practice chipping

In a short session, you get way more out of one shot than ten. Here's what it does for you:

• You get a shot you can rely on on the golf course. You're not hoping anymore.
• You learn distance control. You're watching how much backswing it takes to comfortably fly it 10 steps.
• Your hands stop fighting each other, which is where some pretty nasty yips come from.
• You've got a reset button. When a chip goes sideways, which happens often in golf, you know exactly what to go back to.
• One stroke becomes more shots. Open the face a little and it goes higher. Close it a little and it goes lower. Same swing, more trajectory control.
• It transfers to the golf course, because you finish on real lies.

How to practice chipping in 20 minutes: the routine

1. Choose your stock shot. A 10-step or 20-step shot, depending on how much room you have. A 10-step shot means the landing spot is 10 steps from the ball. Pace it off: 1, 2, 3... 10. That's your carry distance.
2. Use your most comfortable club. I've got my W3 lob wedge from Avoda Golf.
3. Calibrate your hands (below).
4. Hit the same chip over and over until you can consistently fly it 10 steps.
5. Chunk one? Go to the Spanky Flamingo drill, then come back to your shot.
6. Last few minutes: take it on the road. Same 10-step stroke, different lies and slopes.

The two chipping shots every golfer must learn: the 10-step and the 20-step shot.

Calibrate your hands to keep the chipping yips away

Every time I get to a golf course, I calibrate my hands. I don't want them fighting each other when we get to impact. Okay?

1. Lead hand only. Hold the club comfortably in your left hand (for a right-handed golfer) and swing it back and forth. Watch which direction the club moves through impact.
2. Other hand only. Switch to your other comfortable grip and make sure the club moves in that same direction.
3. Dial in the hand that's off. One of my hands comfortably swings inside to out, so I twist it around on the grip a little to straighten the path. Turn it fully forward and you'll go outside to in. Turn it fully under and you'll go inside to out. Dial it until the club comfortably goes straight back and through impact.
4. Put the two together. Now you've got a stroke you can work with.

Want more one-handed work? The hand-on-your-chest drill in How to Chip a Golf Ball cured my own chipping yips.

Chunking your chips? The Spanky Flamingo drill

If you're thinking, "I really suck at chipping and I chunk it all the time," start on one foot.

Why do you chunk it? Typically because your weight gets back. As the weight goes back, the club wants to bottom out earlier, meaning chunk. So:

1. Stand on your lead foot. Go back and through, staying balanced on that foot the whole swing. If you have to, put a foot down behind you for balance.
2. Finish pointing at the target. Club toward the target, hands nice and close in, turning around your body.
3. Set the other foot down and hit it. Once that feels comfortable, set your trail foot down and hit it the same way.

I call it the Spanky Flamingo drill, because you're standing like a flamingo and you want to spank the ground with your club. Boom. Spank it. Chunk one during your session? Go right back to it.

The Spanky Flamingo chipping drill: pressure on your lead side, turn through, spank the ground.

Skulling them instead? Read How to Stop Blading Chip Shots.

How to take your chipping practice from the range to the course

When you've got just a few minutes left before you have to go to work or get out onto the tee, this is step two:

• Put a few balls in your pocket and pick different lies, slopes, grasses and shots, using the same 10-step stroke every time.
• Play them as they lie, because that's what happens on the real golf course. I'm an old-school guy. I still drop from my shoulder when I'm practising. I don't like these knee-drop kind of things.
• Level to the slope. On an upslope or downslope, adjust your shoulders slightly to balance yourself to the slope and get your path going correctly through the ball. Then make your 10-step swing.
• Try the rough too. 10-step swing. Find out what happens.

Dial in your stock stroke, apply it over and over and over, and you're going to get a whole lot better at chipping.

What to practise next: from one stock shot to four

That 10-step shot is your foundation, not the whole house. Next questions: what about the chip that needs to carry 20? 30? 40? And how exactly do you level to that slope and get your path going correctly? That's what my Simple Chipping program is for. It's built the same way as this session. You learn the basic chip first, the simple motion that gets the club through the ball without flipping or scooping. Then you learn four stock shots: your 10, 20, 30 and 40. Then you walk up to every chip and ask: what's my lie, where does this need to land, and which of my four shots fits? No 27 little wristy tricks. Just a simple way to hit the shot over and over, even if you barely have time to practise.

Ready for the next step? Consistent Chipping in 14 Days is my Simple Chipping program: one repeatable stroke and four stock shots for everything from 50 yards and in. Start with your 10-step shot this week, then let me take you the rest of the way.

FAQ: how to practice chipping

What's the best way to practice chipping?

One stock shot, over and over, until you can rely on it. Then take that stroke to different lies and slopes.

How do you practice chipping at the range?

Pace off 10 steps from your ball to a landing spot and work on flying it exactly that far. Calibrate your hands first. Save the last few minutes for dropping balls around the green and playing them as they lie.

How can I practice chipping at home or in the backyard?

The hand calibration and the Spanky Flamingo drill don't even need a ball. In my two-shots video I mention you can even work on the 10-step shot with a ping pong ball in your living room.

How often and how long should I practice chipping?

You don't need hours. This whole routine fits in 15 to 20 minutes, so grab it whenever you can, before work or before your round. And calibrate your hands every time you get to the course.

What club should I practice chipping with?

Whatever you're most comfortable with: a 54, 56, 58, 60 or a pitching wedge. I use my Avoda W3 lob wedge, built for golfers who lean the shaft forward at impact. Not sure which sole suits you? Try Avoda's WedgeFit quiz or their free online fitting instead of picking one off the shelf and hoping. Don't guess. Go get fit. I compare the soles in W1 vs W2 vs W3.

Why do I keep chunking my chips?

Typically your weight gets back, so the club bottoms out early. Go to the Spanky Flamingo drill: lead foot only, back and through, then set the other foot down.

Learn to hit it where you want it to go. All of my courses, from ball striking to chipping, putting and bunkers, are in the Big Swing Kings store →