This is a guest post by Adam Young, author of the best-selling book The Practice Manual

So many mid-high handicap golfers I see are unnecessarily struggling with their chip shots.

When I ask them what they are thinking, they usually respond with a checklist of 20 points they are going through, from set up cues to swing cues.

• Weight on left side
• Handle forwards
• Keep weight still
• Rotate back and through
• Don’t use wrists
• Bla bla bla

While all those things may be well and good, we can’t possibly perform great under pressure with all those thoughts going on.

MY THREE CENTS

If I put a small coin on top of the grass and told you to sweep it off the grass towards the hole, do you think you could do this?

Of course you could, that’s not difficult.

I’m sure you wouldn’t need a 20 point checklist to sweep this coin out of the grass towards the target

Well, what if I were to tell you that chipping is as simple as this?

TRY THIS DRILL

Line up 3 coins in a row – place a ball on top of the last coin. Brush the first and second coin towards the target, making sure you hear a nice ‘ping’ as your club strike the coin. Be instinctive about it; forget mechanics and set up for a moment – do what feels comfortable.

Walk into the third coin (the one with the ball on top) and simply repeat the same action, with the intention of sweeping the coin forwards towards the target. Listen out for that crisp clean ‘Ping’ again.

The third coin will have a ball place on top, but just imagine it isn’t there. Clip the coin away like you did the previous two.

STAY INSTINCTIVE

When you get to the coin with the ball on top, every bone in your body will want to go through that procedural checklist again – refuse to do it. Just step in and sweep that coin towards the target like a child would.

You will find that, as your action becomes more natural and similar to the swing you use when sweeping the coin, your results will get better and better too.

SCIENCE SUPPORTS IT

I rarely do blog posts on things this simple, but it just kills me when I see someone paralyzed by analysis on something as simple as a chip shot.

The majority of golfers I see are completely bound up by not only by internal focuses (body movements etc), but too many declarative thoughts.

The science shows that too much attention to technique under high pressure situations can cause choking. Science also shows internal focuses not only increase the likelihood of choking, but they can slow down skill learning and retention.

In my book “The Practice Manual – The Ultimate Guide for golfers”, I discuss ideas behind where you place your focus and how it can affect both performance and learning.