[12 piece bucket]

hypothetically, if we had a flat green, completely flat...and we hit 2 chip shots, both w the exact same velocity and hit pure as possible, and w the same club...but one was hit more on a steep angle so it went out lower, and one was hit more evenly so it came out higher...


but would they both END UP in the same spot? or stop in the same spot? keeping in mind that they both LANDED on the green and rolled out on the green, no hill or anything to offset the spins...

interesting question . . . .

This is one thing that I've had to adjust in my short game as a result of the emphasis on wedges. One of the big things about learning the Machine and particularly the flying wedges is getting the shaft to lean on the ball. That works great for short irons with full shots because you have "residual loft." But a whole lotta shaft lean doesn't necessarily translate well for high long irons and soft chips.

So to answer your question . . . my chipping was suffering due to having too much lean. The ball came out too "drivey" and hot. My angle of attack was too steep. So I had to learn to hit low SOFT spinny chips/pitches by manipulating the angle of attack and corresponding amount of shaft lean . . . so again to answer . . . depends . . . if you "deloft" the club a bunch and the AOA is steep the low shot is going to shoot out and roll farther/hotter. So you can manipulate the lean and the AOA by where you put the ball in your stance . . . how much #2 you use in your chipping/pitching . . . the how much the handle is forward or back . . . . how much the handle is down or up (#3 angle). How much you employ layback through the ball . . . . the rate at which you allow the overtaking to happen. Lots of fun variables to deal with . . . .

It'd be really neat to see some high speed video of Brian Gay hitting various short shots . . . that dude is a MASTER at that stuff . . . . you'll notice that the pros don't take a lot of turf generally on the little chips and pitches . . . so it may not be about a steep AOA unless the shot calls for it.

Short game is as much about the launch conditions as the driver