Dan Grieve's 5 Best Chipping Drills (And A Bonus Tip To Practice At Home)

Dan Grieve has built a reputation as one of the world's leading short game coaches, so we are very excited to be able to share his wisdom with you.

It doesn't matter if you are a scratch golfer or a 20-handicapper, everyone should strive to improve their short game.

Whether it's diagnosing the 7 most common mistakes made by amateurs or sharing his favorite drill, Dan Grieve has helped countless amateurs to do just that.

You don't even have to be on the golf course, either. Dan's expert advice extends to a great bonus tip that you can practice in the comfort of your own home or at your desk in the office - so there really is no excuse.

If you want to shoot lower scores and cut your handicap in 2026, a focus on your performances around the green could be the perfect starting point - and Dan's 5 best chipping drills should be your first port of call...

Dan Grieve's 5 Best Chipping Drills

1. Thumbs Off

The first one, which I call the ‘thumbs off’ drill, is designed to improve your touch and feel, while also helping to create more spin around the green.

The reason I call it the thumbs off drill is because most golfers get very anxious around the green. They get a little bit tight and tense towards the top of the backswing… and that’s where the thumbs tend to squeeze.

The pads squeeze and you will see in the video that it creates this drag or lag, which really creates too much of a hit. The ball starts to jump and I've thrown my hands at it because of tension.

Now, if you take your thumbs completely off the grip and make some swings, perhaps for the first time in your golfing career, you might actually feel the weight of the club head.

This drill lets the club swing almost on its own momentum, which creates so much more control and spin on the golf ball because you start to collect it versus hitting.

If you want to, you can actually hit some balls with the thumbs off totally and see how you get on. Then, when you put the thumbs back on the grip, make sure they're very lightly placed. This will help to increase your feel, control and spin around the green.

2. Lead Arm Only

This is a great drill if you're a bit of a flipper. If you use too much of the bottom hand and it comes off the blade thin or heavy - give this a try. I call it the ‘one arm only’ drill.

The benefit of using your lead arm only is it takes away the trail hand, which is the one that generally wants to flip. Start by making some swings.

The goal is to make sure that the shaft extends through the arm into the follow through. The butt of the grip for a chip and run low shot should really be pointing at that lead hip when in the finish position. I call that release number one.

Start without the ball and when you feel comfortable you can hit some with the ball. If everything matches up you should achieve a strong strike.

This drill teaches you to keep the leading edge down and, while it might feel a bit strange if you've not done this before, it shows you how to get the shaft into the right position without the interference of that dominant trail hand.

Once you've hit a few doing that, put your trail hand back on and then hit some chip shots. Aim to finish in that same manner, with the butt of the grip on that lead hip. That's how you get real consistency on those low basic chip shots.

3. Trail Foot Backwards

Another short game fault I see a lot is where the player leans back to try and help the ball up into the air.

It's human nature, in a way, and I understand why players do it. But, when you're trying to go over something and you lean back, you usually hit the ground way before and the club can either dig or it can hit the ground and kick - depending on the time of the year.

To fix this, we need to control our low point. What I mean by that is the golf swing has an arc, so we need to move the lowest point of the arc forward. One way we can do that is with the trail foot backwards drill.

In the video, you will see I have pulled my right foot backwards and placed all my weight on my left foot. I’m up on my toes on the back foot, which forces me to shift the pressure forwards onto the lead leg.

The goal with this drill is to maintain this stance throughout the strike. Do some practice swings first with your trail foot backwards and on the toes.

If the weight moves backwards, you will become unstable or put your trail foot flat on the ground. This instant feedback is great.

Then, hit some shots and really feel that left leg loaded. You will notice straight away how that strike really firms up and it gets so much stronger and crisper straight away. This really is the drill that you'll see instant results with if you're hitting that heavy shot.

4. Trail Arm Only

Sometimes, you’ve got to go in the air… and it requires more of a swing of the club head and a little more release of the club. Try the trail arm only drill for this one.

Place a ball positioned in line with the heel of the lead foot. You need to have lie that allows the club to slide under the ball, so bare that in mind when setting this one up.

Place your lead hand on your trail shoulder and grip the club with your trail hand only. If you clamp that shoulder in, so that it doesn’t disconnect from the torso, you get a lovely feeling as the club moves through impact.

In the video, you can see how the butt of the grip is swinging towards my belt buckle. I call that a release two. It provides the feeling of how the club should be releasing when you're looking for that higher shot.

5. On-Plane Alignment

Here's a drill if you suffer with what I think is perhaps the most common short game fault - where the player gets under plane.

When I take it away, as demonstrated in the video, you can see it rolls inside. This is a real killer because from there you've got to manipulate it.

If you practice a lot, you might hit some decent ones like that. But, you're never far away from a really bad one if you're rolling it inside.

So, it's quite a tough change to make if you've been doing it for a long time. What you require when you're making swing changes is feedback.

Set up to the ball you're intending to hit. Place the clubhead of another wedge under your trail heel and stand on it.

Now, If I roll the club and go under, you can see in the video that I'm going to hit the club.

That’s the instant feedback you need. If you hit the shaft of the club under your trail foot in the backswing, you’ve rolled inside. I know I'm offline.

In order to get on plane, you need to bring the club back without making contact with the wedge under your foot. The shaft will be running through your arm and the clubhead is outside the hands.

Hit a few and very quickly you will teach yourself that really nice swing plane to get quality strikes. This is a simple exercise to get that strike and improve your swing plane.

Bonus Tip To Try At Home

Put your thumbs together and spread your fingers out wide with flat palms that face the ground. Tuck your elbows into your body and get into golf posture. I want you to really feel like your triceps are connected to your torso.

From that position, simply make a little turn towards the trail side and the same to the target side.

This practice drill stops you getting too handsy and promotes keeping that connection. You don't need a club, so you can do that in your living room or in the office, and it'll just keep you on top of the basics.