Chipping for Left Handed Golfers: Save Strokes Around the Green
Chipping for left handed golfers is one of the fastest ways to lower your scores without overhauling your entire game. The average amateur loses three to five strokes per round within 30 yards of the green, and for lefties, there are specific adjustments to stance, hand position, and club selection that can dramatically sharpen your short game. Whether you are a high handicapper struggling to get up and down or a single-digit player chasing consistency, this guide covers everything you need to chip it close from every lie.
Most chipping instruction is written from a right-handed perspective, which means the feel cues, alignment references, and drill descriptions require mental translation before a lefty can apply them. That stops here. Every tip in this article is written from the left-handed point of view so you can take it straight to the practice green.
The Basic Chip Setup for Left Handed Golfers
A solid chip starts before you ever swing the club. Your setup and alignment determine whether the ball launches on the correct trajectory with the right amount of spin. Here is how to build a reliable chipping address position as a lefty.
Stance Width and Weight Distribution
Narrow your stance so your feet are roughly hip-width apart or slightly narrower. A compact stance limits lower body movement, which is exactly what you want for a controlled chip. Position roughly 60 to 65 percent of your weight on your right foot (your lead foot as a lefty) and keep it there throughout the stroke. Shifting your weight toward the target at address pre-sets a descending strike so you make ball-first contact every time.
Ball Position and Hand Position
Place the ball slightly right of center in your stance. Your hands should be ahead of the ball, meaning they are positioned closer to your right thigh at address. This forward press naturally de-lofts the club a few degrees and promotes a downward strike. Avoid pressing so far forward that the leading edge digs into the turf. A subtle press of one to two inches ahead of the ball is plenty.
Grip Pressure
On a scale of one to ten, your grip pressure should sit around four or five. Too tight and you lose feel for the clubhead. Too loose and the club twists at impact, sending the ball off line. Many left-handed golfers grip too tightly with their left hand (the trail hand) because it is their dominant hand. Consciously soften that left hand and let your right hand guide the motion.
Club Selection for Chipping for Left Handed Golfers
One of the biggest mistakes amateur lefties make is reaching for the same club on every chip shot. The best chippers in the world vary their club selection based on the amount of green they have to work with, the lie, and the slope they need to navigate.
When to Use Each Club
- 7 or 8 iron: Use when you have a lot of green between you and the pin. The ball will come out low, land a few feet onto the green, and roll like a putt. Ideal for flat or uphill chips from the fringe.
- 9 iron or pitching wedge: A versatile middle-ground option. Good carry-to-roll ratio for chips with moderate green to work with.
- Sand wedge (54-56 degrees): Best when you need the ball to stop quickly. Use it for downhill chips, chips to tight pin positions, or shots over a bunker. For more on iron play as a lefty, check our dedicated guide.
- Lob wedge (58-60 degrees): Reserved for situations where you need maximum height and minimal roll. Requires precise execution, so use sparingly until your technique is dialed in.
The Rule of 12
A practical way to choose your chipping club is the rule of 12. Take the number 12, subtract the loft-related number of the club you are considering, and the result tells you the approximate carry-to-roll ratio. For example, a pitching wedge (counted as a 10) gives you a ratio of 2, meaning the ball rolls roughly twice as far as it carries. An 8 iron (counted as 8) gives you a ratio of 4, so it rolls about four times its carry distance. This simple formula takes the guesswork out of club selection around the green.
Chipping Technique for Left Handed Golfers: The Stroke
With setup and club selection dialed in, it is time to focus on the actual motion. Chipping for left handed golfers should feel more like a putting stroke than a full swing. The goal is to minimize moving parts and let the loft of the club do the work.
The Pendulum Motion
Think of your arms, hands, and the club as a single unit forming a lowercase letter y. Your right arm and the club shaft create one line, and your left arm is the other branch. Maintain this y-shape throughout the chip by rocking your shoulders like a pendulum. Your wrists should stay quiet, with no flipping or scooping through impact.
Controlling Distance
Distance control on chip shots comes from the length of your backswing, not from how hard you accelerate through the ball. Practice hitting chips with three backswing lengths: a quarter swing (hands go back to your right pocket), a half swing (hands reach hip height), and a three-quarter swing (hands rise to chest height). Each length produces a predictable distance with your chosen club. Map these distances on the practice green and you will develop an instinctive feel for how far back to take the club.
Acceleration Through the Ball
One of the most common errors in chipping is decelerating through impact. If your downswing slows before contact, the clubhead passes your hands and the result is a thin or fat shot. Focus on keeping the clubhead accelerating gently through the ball. A good mental image is to make your follow-through the same length as your backswing. If your hands go back to pocket height, they should finish at pocket height on the other side.
The Bump and Run: A Lefty's Best Friend
The bump and run is the highest-percentage chip shot in golf, and it should be your default play whenever conditions allow it. This shot keeps the ball low, gets it rolling on the green quickly, and takes spin and trajectory variables out of the equation.
How to Execute the Bump and Run
- Club selection: Grab a 7, 8, or 9 iron. The lower the loft, the more the ball will roll.
- Setup: Narrow stance, ball right of center, weight favoring your right (lead) foot. Grip down on the club by an inch or two for added control.
- Stroke: Make a short, compact pendulum motion. The ball should pop off the face with very little air time and release toward the hole like a putt.
- Landing spot: Pick a spot one to three feet onto the green and focus on landing the ball there. Let the roll do the rest.
The bump and run works especially well from tight lies, the fringe, and fairway-length grass. It is also your safest option in windy conditions because the low trajectory keeps the ball under the wind. For more on building a complete short game as a lefty, see our full guide.
The Flop Shot: Where Left Handed Golfers Have a Natural Advantage
Few shots in golf are as spectacular as a well-executed flop, and left-handed golfers have a genuine edge when it comes to learning this shot. Phil Mickelson, the most famous left-handed golfer of all time, built his legend partly on his ability to hit impossibly high, soft-landing flop shots. As a fellow lefty, you share the same orientation and can study his technique without needing to mentally mirror anything.
When to Use the Flop Shot
The flop shot is a specialty play for situations where you need the ball to go up steeply and stop almost immediately after landing. Use it when you are short-sided to a pin with a bunker or steep slope between you and the hole, when you need to carry an obstacle and stop the ball within a few feet, or when the green slopes sharply away from you and a standard chip would run well past the pin.
Flop Shot Setup for Lefties
- Club: Your highest-lofted wedge, typically a 58 or 60 degree lob wedge.
- Stance: Open your stance significantly by aiming your feet well right of the target. The clubface should be laid wide open, pointing almost skyward.
- Ball position: Move the ball forward in your stance, positioning it even with or slightly left of center.
- Weight: Keep your weight relatively centered rather than pressing it forward like a standard chip.
Executing the Flop
Swing along the line of your feet (right of target) with a full, accelerating motion. The open clubface and loft will send the ball nearly straight up. The key is committing to the swing. Deceleration on a flop shot leads to skulled shots that fly across the green. Practice this shot extensively before using it in competition. Start from clean, fluffy lies where the margin for error is larger, then gradually move to tighter lies as your confidence grows.
Chipping for Left Handed Golfers from Different Lies
The green-side conditions you face on the course are never as clean as the practice range. Here is how to adjust your chipping technique for the most common lies you will encounter.
Tight Lies (Hard Pan or Closely Mowed Grass)
Tight lies demand precision because there is no grass cushion under the ball. Use a club with less bounce, such as your pitching wedge or gap wedge, rather than a sand wedge with heavy bounce that could skip off the firm surface. Keep your hands ahead of the ball and make a slightly steeper, more descending strike. The bump and run is your safest play from a tight lie.
Thick Rough
When the ball is sitting down in thick grass, the rough will grab the hosel and close the clubface through impact. To compensate, open the clubface at address and use a more lofted club, typically your sand or lob wedge. Make a slightly more aggressive swing than you think you need because the grass will slow the clubhead. Expect less spin and more roll after the ball lands.
Uphill Lies
On an uphill chip, the slope adds effective loft to your club, so the ball will fly higher and land softer than normal. Choose one club less lofted than you normally would. Set your shoulders parallel to the slope by dropping your left shoulder (trail shoulder for lefties) slightly. Swing along the slope rather than trying to dig into the hill.
Downhill Lies
Downhill chips are among the toughest shots in golf. The slope reduces the effective loft, producing a lower, faster-running shot. Use your most lofted wedge and play the ball slightly right of center. Lean with the slope by tilting your spine so your shoulders match the angle of the ground. Expect the ball to come out lower and roll more than usual, so plan your landing spot accordingly.
Ball Below Your Feet
When the ball sits below the level of your feet, you need to get lower to reach it. Increase your knee flex, grip the club at full length, and bend more from the hips. The ball tends to fade (move left-to-right for a lefty) from this lie, so aim slightly left of your target to compensate. Make sure you maintain your posture throughout the swing without standing up early.
Ball Above Your Feet
With the ball above your feet, grip down on the club to shorten its effective length. The ball will tend to draw (move right-to-left for a lefty) from this lie, so aim slightly right of your target. Stand a touch more upright than normal and focus on sweeping the ball off the surface rather than taking a steep divot.
Common Chipping Mistakes Left Handed Golfers Make
Even experienced lefties fall into these traps. Identify which ones affect your game and focus your practice time on correcting them.
1. Scooping the Ball
Trying to help the ball into the air by flipping your wrists through impact is the most destructive habit in chipping. It produces fat shots, thin shots, and inconsistent contact. Trust the loft of the club and keep your hands ahead of the clubhead through impact. If you struggle with scooping, practice chipping with your left hand (trail hand) off the club entirely. Hit one-handed chips with just your right hand to feel the proper descending strike.
2. Looking Up Too Early
The urge to watch where the ball goes is powerful, but lifting your head before impact pulls your body up and out of the shot. Keep your eyes fixed on the ball until well after contact. You will hear the ball land before you see it, and that is perfectly fine. Your playing partners will tell you how close it finishes.
3. Using the Same Club Every Time
Reaching for your 56-degree wedge on every chip, regardless of the situation, limits your scoring potential. Develop confidence with at least three different clubs around the green. The best chippers treat club selection like putting green reads: every shot gets its own assessment.
4. Ignoring the Grain
On Bermuda grass and other coarse-bladed surfaces, the grain direction affects how your chip rolls after landing. Chipping into the grain slows the ball and adds effective friction, while chipping with the grain produces more release and roll. Look at the grass between your ball and the hole. If it appears shiny, you are chipping with the grain. If it looks dark and dull, you are chipping into it.
5. Standing Too Far from the Ball
Many lefties stand too far from the ball at address, which forces an overly flat swing path and inconsistent contact. At setup, your eyes should be roughly over the ball or just inside it. Let your arms hang naturally from your shoulders without reaching. If you feel tension in your shoulders or arms, you are probably too far away.
5 Chipping Drills for Left Handed Golfers
Consistent practice is the only path to a reliable short game. These five drills, all designed from the left-handed perspective, will sharpen your chipping faster than mindless range sessions.
Drill 1: The Towel Drill
Place a towel on the ground roughly two inches behind the ball. If you hit fat, your club will catch the towel before striking the ball, giving you instant feedback. This drill trains ball-first contact by forcing you to bottom out the club in front of the ball rather than behind it. Hit 20 chips in a row without touching the towel and your contact quality will transform.
Drill 2: The Gate Drill
Set two tees in the ground just wider than your clubhead, creating a gate around the ball. Chip through the gate without hitting either tee. This drill improves your swing path accuracy and forces you to deliver the club on a consistent line. Start with the tees spaced an inch wider than the clubhead, then gradually narrow the gap as you improve.
Drill 3: The Ladder Drill
Place five towels or alignment sticks at intervals of five feet starting from the fringe, going outward at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 feet. Using the same club, try to land a chip on each towel in sequence, working from closest to farthest. This drill builds distance control and teaches you to calibrate backswing length to distance. Switch clubs and repeat the ladder to develop a full distance map for each wedge.
Drill 4: The One-Hand Chip
Hit chip shots using only your right hand (your lead hand as a lefty). Grip a pitching wedge or 9 iron at the bottom of the grip and make small, controlled chips from 10 to 15 feet off the green. This drill strengthens your lead hand control, trains proper descending contact, and eliminates the scooping motion caused by an overactive left hand. Hit 15 to 20 one-handed chips at the start of every practice session.
Drill 5: The Par-18 Game
Drop nine balls in different spots around the practice green, each at varying distances and lies. Your goal is to get up and down in two shots (one chip plus one putt) on each ball. Par for the game is 18. Track your score every session. This drill simulates real course pressure and forces you to read lies, select clubs, and execute under a scoring framework. When you can consistently shoot 18 or better, your chipping is ready for tournament play.
Bringing It All Together
Chipping for left handed golfers does not have to be a weakness. With the right setup, smart club selection, and dedicated practice, your short game can become the strongest part of your scorecard. Start with the bump and run as your default shot, add the standard chip with varying clubs for different distances, and develop the flop shot as a specialty weapon for the tightest situations.
Remember that Phil Mickelson, one of the greatest short game artists in golf history, does everything from the left side. His creativity and touch around the greens prove that being a lefty is no disadvantage when it comes to chipping. Study his approach, practice the drills in this guide, and watch your up-and-down percentage climb. Want to learn more about the players who paved the way? Read about famous left-handed golfers who dominated with elite short games.
The fastest way to lower your handicap is not by adding 20 yards to your driver. It is by saving two or three strokes per round with sharp chipping. Get to the practice green, work through these drills, and make your short game your secret weapon.