The Sleeping Policeman Shot with Paul Waring

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HOW DO YOU CHIP TO A TIGHT PIN? 

Sometimes you have a tight pin and there just isn't a lot of room to chip onto the green. While one answer might be to add some loft and try to gently plop and drop your shot, depending upon the situation and lie, sometimes you can use the "sleeping policeman" shot to knock some speed off of the chip by using the fringe as a speed bump.  The advantage of this modified bump and run shot is that it's a lot more like a putt in the setup and stroke mechanics, which for many golfers will be a lot more comfortable and produce a higher potential for success.

PROPER SETUP FOR "SLEEPING POLICEMAN" BUMP AND RUN SHOT / CHIPPING INTO THE FRINGE

The sleeping policemen bump and run shot or chipping into the fringe all begins with proper setup. The setup for this chip shot includes four very important elements at address - 1) Ball will be located further back in your stance to just inside the heel of your target side foot.  2) Deloft the club by leaning the shaft forward so that the shaft is pointing at your target side hip or pants pocket. 3) Your stroke will be similar to all chip shots where it is an elongated putting stroke 4) You will be aiming to have the ball hit the fringe before entering the green.

KNOCKDOWN THE SPEED

The purpose of having the ball strike the fringe before rolling onto the green is to slow it down.  Just like the traffic speed bumps or "sleeping policeman", we want the speed of the ball to rapidly decelerate before the ball enters the green.  For a tight pin location, now the ball can enter the green more slowly and hopefully stop closer to the pin.

When faced with a tight pin placement, while facing a slight embankment between you and the pin, you do have an alternative shot to the classic high loft drop shot.  You can use the embankment at the fringe of the green to serve as your natural speed bump or decelerator.  For many players this modified bump and run shot will produce a much higher degree of accuracy and consistency.  


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