How can you achieve the perfect golf chip? You may think that it all comes down to trial and error, but there is a way that you can improve your accuracy. Most golfers have heard of the “rule of 12,” and many do not know what it actually is. The rule of 12 is a simple formula that can improve your short game by up to 100% or more. The rule of 12 can improve your game and teach you how many backswings to take.
The rule of 12 states that, if you hit the green with an 8-iron shot and the ball is 12 yards from the pin, you should aim your next shot at a place that is 2/3 of the distance between that spot and the hole.
This means you should use a good golf wedge, or slightly shorter club if necessary, to hit a shot that goes over that spot. This gives enough room to ensure you can make par (or better) when using this strategy.
What Is The Rule of 12 In Golf Chipping?
Content Summery
“The Rule of 12 is a simple rule that can help you understand how the loft of your club impacts the roll of your ball.”
As a matter of fact, you can use the Rule of 12 to understand the relationship between the loft of your club and the amount a chip or pitch will roll as it passes through the hole.
Using this system, a chip or a pitch is used to determine the number of yards you would like the ball to travel on the way to you. As soon as you use a club with a lower loft when you chip the ball, you will find that the ball stays in the air for a short period of time and then eventually falls into the hole.
A higher lofted club, on the other hand, flies further and higher and does not roll out nearly as much, resulting in more accuracy.
It is very easy to understand how chipping works with this system, and it allows beginners to grasp the essential concepts in a more tangible way. If amateurs practice enough, they can glean a good sense of the speed and distance their clubs are likely to travel, as well as the amount of roll they should expect from them as they hit them.
Many great golfers use this method when they practice chipping or putting. It allows them to create a mental image of how far away from the hole they are and helps them improve their accuracy.
How to Apply the Rule of 12 to Your Golf Chipping?
There are many ways to improve your chipping, but the best way is to simplify it. And that’s where the Rule of 12 comes in.
The Rule of 12 is a simple guideline that helps you determine how far to hit the ball when chipping on the green. It’s all about figuring out how high you need to hit the ball so it lands and stops within one club length of the hole.
Let’s say you have a 40-yard chip shot, which would normally require a 6-iron. But if you apply the Rule of 12, you might use an 8-iron instead. That’s because it gives you more control over distance and trajectory since the 8-iron has less loft than a 6-iron and gets higher in flight than any other club in your bag.
The Rule of 12 is a simple way to calculate how much your ball will roll after it hits the green. The rule states that for every 1 degree of loft, the ball will roll 12 inches.
So if you hit a chip shot with a 7-iron and it goes 20 yards before stopping, then the Rule of 12 says that it will roll another 36 inches after it stops. If you hit your chip with a 9-iron and it rolls 30 yards before stopping, then according to this rule, it will roll another 48 inches after it stops.
Is This Rule of 12 Accurate?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, it gives you a rough estimate of where your ball will land based on the distance from the ball to the hole. It’s not accurate because it doesn’t take into account any other factors that might affect distance, such as wind or elevation changes.
The rule of 12 is a popular rule of thumb that golfers use to figure out how many strokes they’ll need to chip the ball onto the green. The idea is that you can estimate how far a chip shot will roll by counting the number of times your club head crosses in front of your feet as you swing.
How Do You Calculate the Rule of 12 in Golf?
You just need a practice green, some balls, some tees, and your three favorite chipping clubs (perhaps the seven-iron, pitching wedge, and sand wedge are some of your favorites); that’s all you need to get started.
In order to hit a 12-yard shot with your lowest lofted club, your first step needs to be to look for a fairly flat area of the green where you can hit the ball from twelve yards away. Your first tee should be placed just off of the green as a place to mark your location on the course.
If there is another hole 12 yards away from where you are, then carry your next lofted club five or six yards and launch it into the hole where it can roll into the cup. Place a tee at this location to mark the spot.
As a final step, you can select a 12-yard shot in which you will need to carry the ball the majority of the way with your loftiest club. It would be a good idea to put a tee down here as well.
Having marked each spot on the field with your three different clubs, take a few minutes to practice hitting shots with each of them. In a short amount of time, you’ll begin to gain an understanding of how hard you should swing, how the ball reacts to the clubface when it hits the green, and how your swing should be adjusted.
Final Words
All in all, the Rule of 12 is a helpful guideline, but like most things in golf, it should be supplemented with other information. Check out your local course’s chipping contest rules, talk to other golfers there, and maybe even ask a course professional which technique they like best.
And the next time you find yourself in that pressure-cooker situation where low scores are on the line for your group, hit no more than 12 shots, follow your mental checklist to make sure you don’t give yourself an easy out, and see how far you can take that shot.