When I started teaching people how to play better golf by trusting their instincts and natural learning system, I couldn’t help but test their short game. And here’s what I found.

My clients, when taught how to automate their game, had pretty good hitting and putting skills. They had a repeatable swing and were able to putt fairly well.

This is my observation by the way. If you asked them they would say they were terrible at all areas, but this is another story entirely.

What was incredible was getting them to chip some balls towards a target. This really hit home to me how important the short game is.

Where previously I saw a rhythmical golf swing or putting stroke, the chipping action was horrendous.

Golfers would flinch, duff and scull the shots all over the place. Of the hundreds of lessons I gave, I can’t remember anyone who had better chipping skills than their putting or full swing. Nobody! At my indoor teaching facility, one pupil when attempting a small chip, took this massive backswing and then one ugly swipe at the ball. Somehow, he managed to miss the net and hit the window frame at full pace. I don’t know how the large window didn’t break.

It was one of the worst attempts at a golf stroke I’ve ever seen. I was in disbelief that someone could get such a basic shot so wrong – but over the journey I’ve seen many golfers struggle with the chipping game. I’m confident in saying that chipping is by far the worst skill for most golfers.

Poor chipping leads to poor scores, a lack of confidence and no way of maximising your talent/potential. On the next few pages we’re going to go a little more deeper.

Next: Improve your chipping and you’ll improve your score