Travis Fulton: For chips, make sure your club swings left after impact

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TPC Sawgrass Tour Academy Head Instructor Todd Jones shows the how the club leans forward at impact, which ensures the down.

When teaching the golf swing at the TOUR Academies, we often start with chipping the golf ball. Chipping is a short green side-shot that calls for minimum air and maximum roll.

We do this because it teaches some key principles that students need to understand not only in chipping but also in the full swing. These principles are down and left. Every shot in golf the clubhead needs to have some degree of down, as well as left, after impact.

One of the most common mistakes we see when chipping the golf ball is a student trying to help the ball into the air or moving the club head down the target line after impact. Neither the club head moving up or down the target line are good things when teaching the proper impact zone.

Although it is true for a brief moment at impact the club head is on and traveling down the target line, it seems this is often emphasized too much. A good example of this is a chipping or a putting stroke, where it is easier to move the club down the target line for a longer period of time.

This procedure forces the lead shoulder to really elevate and move the upper body up and out of the shot. Although manageable, this technique is not the easiest, nor is it geometrically in line with how the club head and shoulders should be moving.

A better technique would allow the club head to exit left after impact. This procedure allows the shoulders to work more level through the hitting area allowing the club head to stay on the proper plane. This type of improvement will not only help your chipping motion, but should carry over to the full swing as well.

Jones' club is noticeably left of the target line after impact.