Everyone loves to crush their drive off the tee. However, it’s really the short game that matters most.

Improving your shots from 100 yards and in will do a lot more for your game than hitting your drive twenty or thirty yards further.

You’ll shoot much lower scores with an improved short game and better chip shots than you will with a pumped up drive.

So if you want to lower your score instead of satisfy your ego, check out these five chipping tips and watch your golf score plummet.

Chipping is an extremely important part of your golf game. And yet it’s not practiced all that much. Most weekend golf warriors spend a lot of time hitting their driver when they go to the driving range.

Let’s face it, it’s a lot more fun to blast long drives than to practice your chipping, right?

But if you really do want to lower your score, you should focus on improving your short game (the area within 100 yards of the green) and that includes your chipping.

Let’s take a look at the basic chipping techniques and ball address so you can be sure your hitting your chip shots properly.

1) Your stance should be rather narrow.

2) Use a slightly open stance. This allows you to see the hole and your target line more clearly. It also helps to prevent you from taking the club head low and too far inside.

3) Your shoulders should be pretty close to parallel to your target line. If they aren’t, you may find yourself pulling the club across the ball during impact. This will cause you to pull the chip shot to the left of the target.

4) You should play the ball further back in your stance. This means playing it closer to your back foot. This allows your hands to start a few inches in front of the ball, which will help you to make a descending hit on the ball.

5) Play the ball close to your body.

If you practice these basic golf chipping techniques with consistency while at the driving range you’ll find your chip shots improving rather quickly. And a better short game leads to a lower golf score.