Choke Down For Shorter Shots
With a short shot you always want to choke down a couple inches to shorten the club. You will have more control. Gripping at the end of the club and trying to rehearse a swing that makes the ball travel 15 yards is extremely awkward and unorthodox, and it will be difficult to judge how far the ball carries. Keep golf simple: short shot, short club.
Narrow Your Stance
No need to stand with your feet shoulder width apart. With a chip shot we are swinging for control here, not power. Narrow your stance to where you have no more than 4-6 inches between your feet. The wider you stand the more you have a tendency to slide or have too many moving parts.
Rotate Your Body
A chip or pitch shot is not an “arms only” shot; far from it. Players hear someone say “just take a putting stroke with your 8 iron” and get all screwed up. Through impact your chest should rotate to your target. In the finish position the club will be in front of your belt buckle with your chest facing the target. In order to time this properly and ensure the club bottoms out in the correct spot, you want to lead your downswing with the rotation of your lead hip. This transfers your weight forward towards the target.
Ball Position
The loft of the club you choose obviously determines the trajectory at which the ball travels, but ball position does as well. If you want to play a higher, soft-landing pitch, you want to play the ball more forward in your stance. Your hands will stay neutral and you will use the loft and bounce of the club. If you want to play something lower with some topspin, play the ball back from middle with your hands creating some forward shaft lean. This decreases the loft and ensures you lead the grip through first.
Open Stance
This is something you will need to experiment with and practice as you go, and make adjustments based on results. We always teach to pitch and chip with a slightly open stance because it creates a steeper swing arc and ensures you catch the ball first. But you want to make sure you are still swinging the club on your target line, not your feet line. Start with an open stance and adjust based on the direction your ball travels. If you notice you are pulling a lot of chips, square up your stance and try to release the club more at the hole.