Last night I headed down to the the club to follow a few friends around in a match.  A junior I taught a few years ago was chipping on the practice green.  I was shocked when I saw what he was chipping with.  It wasn’t a rock or anything like that, well actually it was!  He was chipping with a driving range ball.  I was furious!  I know he wants to be a really good player and has made great strides but at his ability he should not be practicing chipping with a range ball.  No one for that matter should be doing this and here is why.

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First off every player should find a golf ball they all like and stick to it.  Each and every golf ball reacts differently when hit so this means that if you use different balls their is going to be some inconsistencies in distance control and spin.  I have played with many players who get frustrated when a ball they have just hit reacts different from what they expected.  The reason for this is because they’re playing some weird ball they have no idea how it reacts off the club face.

If you haven’t already click here to check out my post that goes into great detail what golf ball you should be using and the best place to buy them from.

So now when you find that ball perfect ball be sure to golf practice chipping with it so that you will now how it reacts when on the course.  This will help you control the distance and spin of your shots not only around the greens but also for full swings.  Another thing I will suggest is to start creating a shag bag of your ball of choice.  If your ball has been hit plenty and is looking rather tired, simply throw it in your bag and add it to a shag bag.  A shag bag is just a easy way to carry around your practice balls with.

Shag Bags look like this for those who don’t know.  Click on the picture to purchase one.

Once you have about 20 balls in your shag bag then go ahead and start to golf practice chipping with your favorite ball.