The short game in golf: chipping, pitching and bunker shots explained

Your card is decided inside 100 metres. The difference between a chip and a pitch, the flight-to-roll rule, how to escape a bunker without fear, and four drills that work.

Teeup Golf Team

September 02, 2026 / 7 min read

The short game in golf: chipping, pitching and bunker shots

If a 20-handicapper shoots 92, more than 40 of those shots come from inside 100 metres. That is where a card is decided — and precisely where nobody practises.

The good news: the short game is the fastest-improving part of golf. You don't need speed, flexibility or a perfect swing. You need to understand three shots and repeat them.

Chip and pitch: the difference in one line

Chip = little flight, lots of roll. Pitch = lots of flight, little roll.

	Chip	Pitch
Typical distance	5-25 m	25-80 m
Swing	Short, almost like a long putt	Medium, with wrists
Usual club	7, 8, 9-iron or pitching wedge	Sand or gap wedge
Trajectory	Low, the ball runs	High, the ball stops
When to use it	Clear ground between you and the pin	A bunker, rough or slope in the way

The golden rule everyone ignores: chip whenever you can. A low shot that rolls is infinitely more reliable than a high one that has to land on an exact spot. The pitch is the exception, not the default.

The flight-to-roll rule

This is what separates a player who "hits it and hopes" from one who decides.

Every club has an approximate ratio between how far the ball flies and how far it rolls afterwards:

Club	Flight : roll
7-iron	1 : 3
9-iron	1 : 2
Pitching wedge	1 : 1.5
Sand wedge	1 : 1

How to use it. You are 20 metres from the hole and the edge of the green is 5 metres away. You want the ball to land just past the edge and roll the remaining 15. That is a 1:3 ratio → 7-iron.

Stop asking "which club reaches?" and start asking "where do I want it to land?". It changes the entire short game.

Chipping technique in four points

Narrow, slightly open stance. Feet a hand's width apart, body aimed a little left of target (for right-handers).
Weight on the front foot and it stays there. About 60-70 %. The classic error is trying to "lift" the ball by leaning back; the result is a fat shot or a thinned one.
Hands ahead of the ball. The grip points at your left hip. This guarantees a descending strike, which is what makes the ball rise.
No wrists. The movement comes from shoulders and torso, like a long putt. Active wrists are the number one cause of ruined chips.

The ball goes up because the club goes down. It sounds counter-intuitive and it is the key to the whole short game.

How to get out of a bunker

The most feared shot in golf, and the only one where you don't hit the ball.

In a greenside bunker the club enters the sand about 5 centimetres behind the ball, and it is the sand that lifts it out. The ball rides out on a scoop of sand. Hit the ball directly and it rockets across the green.

The setup:

Dig your feet in a couple of centimetres for a firm base.
Open stance and open clubface. Open the face before you take your grip, not after.
Weight forward, ball forward in the stance.
Aim at a point in the sand 5 cm behind the ball. Look at that point, not the ball.

And most important: accelerate. Ninety per cent of balls left in bunkers are the result of decelerating through impact. You need a long, committed swing because sand slows the club dramatically. A 10-metre bunker shot needs the swing of a 30-metre pitch.

The bounce on a sand wedge (that curve on the sole) is designed precisely so the club skids through the sand rather than digging in. That is why a sand wedge is essential from day one and a pitching wedge is not a substitute.

Four drills that actually work

(01) The landing circle. Put down a towel or mark a 1-metre circle 10 metres away and hit 10 chips trying to land inside it. Score how many succeed. It trains the landing spot, which is the thing you actually control.

(02) One target, three clubs. To the same target, three chips with a 7-iron, three with a 9 and three with a sand wedge. Watch where each lands and where each finishes. One session teaches you the flight-to-roll table better than reading it.

(03) Circle of confidence. Ten chips from different positions around the green. Count how many finish within a metre and a half. That metric converts directly into shots saved.

(04) Bunker without a ball. Draw a line in the sand and make ten swings trying to enter exactly on the line and take an even slab of sand. No ball, no pressure. Once you control the entry point, the ball is a detail.

The Teeup Academy has these drills with scoring and targets by level, so every session leaves a number behind instead of a feeling.

The five most common mistakes

(01) Trying to lift the ball. The club already has loft. Your job is to hit down.

(02) Decelerating. Especially in bunkers. A short committed swing beats a long hesitant one.

(03) Always using the same wedge. The sand wedge is not the short-game club: it is one of them.

(04) Looking up before you strike. Lifting your head half a second early destroys the contact.

(05) Not practising it. Ninety per cent of range time goes on full swings that account for 30 % of your shots.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a chip and a pitch? A chip flies little and rolls a lot, with a short wristless swing. A pitch flies high and rolls little, with a fuller swing. Chip whenever the route to the hole is clear.

Which club do you use for a chip? It depends how much roll you want: 7-iron for lots, sand wedge for very little. Choose the club by landing spot, not by total distance.

Why can't I get out of a bunker? Almost always because you decelerate, or because you hit the ball instead of the sand. Aim 5 cm behind the ball and accelerate all the way through.

How much time should I spend on the short game? At least half your practice time. It is close to half your shots.

Do I need a lob wedge? Not to start. A pitching and a sand wedge cover almost everything. The lob wedge is a specialist club and hard to use well.

The short game is where an ordinary player can find five shots in a month. No swing change gives you that.

The Teeup Academy has the structured, scored drills, and the app has the course network to test what you have trained.

Download the Teeup app and book your next round.