Steep Or Shallow – What Is Best For Chipping & Pitching?

Do you struggle with duffing or thinning your chips and pitch shots? Well, good news this week we share some insights.

In the last few years, a hot coaching debate has kicked off about what causes golfers to struggle with their short game. One camp of coaches has proposed golfers need to be shallow, have a wider arc and make sure they use the bounce of the wedge to make sure they don’t duff it.

Another group of coaches have proposed golfers who struggle need to be steeper into the golf ball, ensuring they catch the golf ball before the ground.

This has been a confusing debate to follow for coaches, let alone for amateur golfers!

Well, good news. We are getting closer to some answers. In this article, we share a snapshot of data from Dr Paul Wood, VP of Engineering at Ping. This was a big data study and will give you an insight into the topic, but in the New Year we have a full podcast with Paul who covers this topic in depth.

Data For Angle of Attack on Chipping & Pitching

The graph below shows the average angle of attack data for different length shots:

• 15 yard chip (light blue)
• 30 yard pitch (dark blue)
• 60 yard pitch (red)

The data is then grouped into different levels of golfers. The lefthand group are 10 handicaps and above, then 1-9 handicaps, scratch or better and Tour Pros on the right-hand side.

The y-axis shows the angle of attack (how much the club head is travelling down or up as it reaches impact). Negative numbers mean the club is travelling down and positive numbers mean the club is travelling up.

This data shows a clear trend, on average, better golfers have a steeper angle of attack on all short-game shots.

In the table below you can see a clear trend for each length shot as we move from a 10 handicapper down to a Tour Pro.

Handicap Group	15 yds	30 yds	60 yds
10 and above	0.1	-0.6	-1.3
6 to 9	-1.7	-2.3	-3.7
0 and better	-3	-4	-5.2
Tour Pro	-5.3	-6.4	-8.3

Now, this is average data, meaning some golfers will be steeper and shallower than the average, but it is pretty strong evidence suggesting that golfers with better short games tend to be steeper with chip and pitch shots.

Adding a Layer of Complexity

This isn’t the full answer. In our full chat with Paul, we cover that there are elite golfers with shallower and very steep angles of attacks who have great short games. The data above also doesn’t cover shot-to-shot variance for each golfer. We also know elite golfers are far less variable than less elite golfers.

However, this is the first big data study on the topic so I wanted to share it with you all to give you the best insights to work on your short game this winter.

Summary

There are many ways to build a great short game, just like there are various ways you can build an effective golf swing. In science, we call this concept motor equivalence, which is a topic I’ve been fascinated about for many years.

However, golf is a deterministic game reliant on the principles of biomechanics. This data shows a clear trend that golfers with better short-game performances have a steeper angle of attack into the golf ball.

First, try to find out what your angle of attack is, then decide where you fit in the data tables. If you need to increase your angle of attack I would suggest you find a great local coach.

However, here are some pointers to help you play around and have fun. All of the principles below will increase your angle of attack, you certainly don’t need to use all of them.

• Place the ball further back in your stance.
• Set up with your hands further forward.
• Feel more weight through your front foot.
• Stand closer to the golf ball.
• Make sure you keep your weight on your front foot at impact.
• Simply try to hit down on the golf ball.

Happy golfing – Will