The Skulled Chip: How to Tame Those Greenside Line Drives

The skull is a shot that can destroy a scorecard. It's caused by the leading edge of the wedge hitting the ball's equator, rather than the face sliding under the ball. Your swing arc is too high, and you're failing to get the clubhead down to the bottom of the ball.

Interestingly, the skull is often caused by the fear of its ugly twin, the chunk.

Why do skulls keep showing up around the green?

• The Fear of the Chunk: This is the number one cause. A player who has been chunking chips becomes terrified of hitting the ground. So, as they swing, they make an instinctive, protective move: they lift their head and chest up and pull their arms in. This action raises the entire swing arc, and the only thing the club can hit is the middle of the ball. It's a classic over-correction.
• The "Scoop" Motion Strikes Again: That same scooping motion that causes chunks can also cause skulls. If the club bottoms out behind the ball and starts travelling upwards too early, the leading edge can catch the ball's equator on the upswing. The intention is to lift the ball, but the result is a bladed shot.
• Too Much Tension: Tension is the enemy of a delicate touch. When you grip the club tightly and your arms are rigid, you lose the ability for the club to swing freely. Tense muscles tend to pull in and shorten, which again raises the low point of the swing.
• Trying to "Dig" it Out: Some players try to hit their chips like a buried bunker shot, with a huge amount of forward shaft lean and a steep, digging motion. If the sharp, leading edge digs into the turf-even a little-it can cause the club to bounce abruptly up and into the middle of the ball.

How to Use the Club the Way It Was Designed

To stop skulling your chips, you need to learn to trust the design of the club, specifically the "bounce." The bounce is the rounded sole of the wedge, and it's designed to glide along the turf, not dig.

• Engage the Bounce: To use the bounce, you need to deliver the club with less forward shaft lean. At address, set the shaft in a more neutral, vertical position. During the swing, feel like you are "thumping" the sole of the club against the ground. This "thump" uses the bounce and prevents both digging (chunks) and thinning (skulls).
• Stay in Your Posture: To fight the instinct to lift your body, you must commit to staying down. A great thought is to watch the patch of grass where your ball was for a full two seconds after you've hit the chip. Keep your chest pointing down at the ground. This forces you to stay in your posture and lets the club get all the way down to the ball.
• Soften Everything: Relax your grip pressure. Relax your arms. A soft setup allows the club to swing like a pendulum and release naturally. You can't have a delicate touch with a death grip.
• The Towel Drill: This is a fantastic drill for building confidence. Place a towel on the ground about a foot behind your ball. To hit a solid chip, you have to miss the towel on your downswing and brush the grass where the ball is. This simple drill eliminates the chunk by forcing you to control your low point, which in turn frees you up from the fear of chunking, thereby eliminating the skull.

Trust the loft of your club to get the ball up. Trust the bounce to interact with the turf. Stay down, stay relaxed, and you'll trade those terrifying line drives for soft, controlled chips that settle next to the hole.

Need the companion pieces? The Chunked Chip: How to Stop Duffing It Around the Greens keeps the low point ahead, and The Chip and Run: Your Most Reliable Shot Around the Green gives you the safer option when you can keep the ball low.

What are the quick questions golfers keep asking?

Q: Why do skulled chips come in bunches?
A: Tension creeps in. You get scared of fatting it, lean back, and the leading edge rockets across the equator.

Q: What's the feel that softens the strike again?
A: Lighten the grip pressure and let the bounce brush the turf. Soft hands equal soft strike.