Breaking down Viktor Hovland’s chipping technique.
In 2023, Viktor Hovland had an unbelievable run, one which started at the Memorial Tournament. One of the keys to his impressive season was a marked improvement in his short game. In this tutorial, we’ll discuss Hovland’s short-game technique, which made him so successful around the greens.
Common faults
One of the things you see when amateur golfers struggle with the short game is the bottom of the swing occurs behind the ball, or in other words, the low point is at the back of the ball.What commonly happens when you swing the club down, it gets shallow [photo 1] and the upper body moves down and back [photo 2], which causes the club to hit behind the ball (a fat shot) or if it misses the ground as the club is coming up, a ‘skull’ (top) the ball across the green.Typically, these mistakes happens because the bottom of the swing is behind the ball because the right shoulder is too low and with the weight too much on the back foot.
Simple remedies
Hovland made changes to his short-game technique with a few simple fixes. As he takes the club back, he is now taking his head and upper body and moving them forward [photo 3], which then moves the low point in front of the ball and steepens the angle of attack [photo 4]. This way, he will strike the ball first with more solid contact and then the ground, as opposed to the ground and then the ball.
You will also notice he is getting ‘taller’ through the ball to avoid sticking the club into the ground [photo 5]. As the club is now coming down steeper and his arms are extending, Hovland’s body pushes up to create room [photo 6] as he comes through the ball to shallow out the divot.
If you’re struggling around the greens, try to implement what Victor did – get your upper body moving forward, promote a steeper angle of attack and feel taller as you hit through the ball. This should help you strike the ball first with solid contact and chip it closer to the hole.
Todd Anderson is the director of instruction at the PGA Tour Performance Centre at TPC Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship. The 2010 PGA of America Teacher of the Year has seen his students amass more than 50 victories across the PGA and Korn Ferry tours, including two FedEx Cup titles. He is currently rated by Golf Digest as one of the top 20 golf instructors in the United States. In this tutorial, Anderson breaks down reigning FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland’s chipping technique, which helped him win the Memorial Tournament 12 months ago en route to two other victories at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship.
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Getty images: Michael Reaves
