It doesn't matter how much you biff and bash on the fairways, sooner or later, assuming you haven't lost all your balls, you're going to get close to the green and then you're going to be faced with some tricky decisions on the kind of shot to make and which club to use.
There are very many different situations which can arise here so we'll deal with just one or two of the obvious ones.
Some will disagree, but we are going to suggest you use the sand wedge for virtually all your chip shots around the green.
Using this club so frequently you will gain complete mastery over it in time and you will develop instinctive confidence in how the ball will behave.
Further, we would suggest you consider using two sand wedges, one with standard loft and one with a few degrees more loft.
If necessary, leave one of your long clubs behind.
Most club golfers probably carry too many anyway! For a LONG CHIP AND RUN shot or a SHORT CHIP OVER THE FRINGE, take a stance with the ball nearer the centre of your body; i.
e.
towards the rearmost position used, and, keeping you hands forward and using a firm wristed action, strike downwards on the ball.
By keeping your hands forward you will take some of the loft off the club and the ball will rise enough to clear the hazard but stay low enough to run on after landing, rather than stopping short.
SHORT PITCH For some reason, when facing a pitch from c.
45m, many golfers seem to get struck by fear - so much so that they cannot decide what course of action to take.
What is required is a shot with some height so the ball stops fairly quickly on landing.
Use your sand wedge.
Take a slightly open stance and position yourself so the ball is further back than usual.
This will ensure you hit down onto the ball.
As we said, there is an infinite number of variations of conditions you can meet on approach to the green and only experience will equip you with the shot armoury to deal with each of them.
So - practice.
Take a some balls and play shots to the same hole, using different clubs.
Experiment with your ball/body position as well.
Remember that the high pitch over a hazard is a difficult shot to get right so you should perhaps avoid it if you can.
If there's no hazard in your path take a low shot which will run on.
To cover all the variables would take volumes and we don't have time here but we will probably revisit some of these subjects in later articles so keep looking.
For now, all we can say is that this is one area where, although there are some basic measures you can adopt, only practice and experience will really make the difference.