Barry Goldstein Professional Golf Instructor		A straight-ahead, garden-variety chip should be one of the easiest shots in golf. Just choke up on the club, play the ball back in your stance with your weight and hands forward and make a short, accelerating stroke. It's as simple as that. However, so many of my students have difficulty making consistent contact on these short shots-sometimes they hit it thin, other times they chunk it.

And until you begin to make consistent contact, you'll never begin to control the distance of these shots and start getting up and down with regularity.

If you think you're using the correct technique (outlined above), but still have problems with your chipping game, chances are you're raising up out of your posture too soon-you're over-anxious to see the result.

The bad news: you'll never be a good chipper this way; the good news: it's an easy fix. When you hit a chip shot, don't look up until you hear the "thump" of the ball hitting the ground. Be disciplined about this-keep your eyes focused on the exact spot where your ball was lying until you hear that noise. If you can do this consistently, you won't even need to look up to see the result. I'll tell you right now-it's inside the leather!