It’s the kind of moment every golfer dreads. You’ve missed the green by a few paces, the lie’s tight, and now you’ve got to get up and down just to save par. No room for error.
Most of us tense up, second-guess our technique, and chunk it halfway to the pin.
But Justin Thomas?
He’s got a chip for that.
Let’s break it down.
The Setup That Changed Everything
Funny enough, one of JT’s biggest chipping breakthroughs didn’t come from a coach — it came from Patrick Reed. During a practice round, Reed took one look at Thomas’s setup and called him out for being too open and unstable.
JT took the feedback and made two subtle but critical changes:
- Feet still slightly open for visibility, but the upper body now squared up
- Lower body rock-solid, not swaying or shifting through the shot
It might not sound dramatic, but this tweak gave Thomas way more control and consistency under pressure. Stability equals trust — and when you’re staring down a slippery chip, that trust matters.
Forget Acceleration — Feel the Flow
Most weekend golfers overthink chip shots. We decelerate, or worse, we try to “help” the ball in the air with a forced wrist flick. JT? He does the opposite.
He keeps it simple: smooth motion, no forced acceleration, and everything feels like it’s led by the hands. That’s not just a feel thing — it’s a tempo thing.
“My hands are what my feel are,” he once said, comparing it to putting. “How much I move them, how fast I move them.”
The result? A lazy-looking, effortless swing that somehow spins the ball like it’s angry at the cup.
JT’s Secret Weapon: The “Nippy Scooter”
Yep, it even has a name.
One of JT’s favorite pressure-proof chip shots is something he and Jordan Spieth both love: a low, spinny shot that checks hard and stops dead near the hole. He calls it the “nippy scooter” or “late check.”
To pull it off:
- He closes his stance slightly
- Keeps the clubface square (no exaggerated opening)
- Uses a figure-eight motion to “cover” the ball through impact
And most importantly — he focuses on contact. Not magic. Not mystery. Just pure, clean, center-face contact.
“If you don’t hit it good, it’s not gonna spin,” Thomas said. “If you’re a 10 handicap, don’t worry about spin. Just focus on contact.”
Seriously. Read that again.
Club Choice? It’s All About Options
JT doesn’t mess around with one wedge for everything. His bag includes:
- Vokey SM10 46.10F (bumped to 47.5°)
- SM10 52.12F (set at 52.5°)
- SM10 56.14F (adjusted to 57°)
- WedgeWorks 60K (set at 60.5°)
That means he’s not guessing what club to use around the green — he’s selecting tools based on the lie, the slope, and the shot shape he needs. High flier? Go 60°. Low checker? Maybe the 52° with a stronger left-hand grip.
He even swaps to a putting grip on some bump-and-runs.
Why does this matter to the rest of us? Because having more tools (and knowing how to use them) gives you options when pressure’s on. One wedge can only do so much.
The Practice That Makes It Work
It’s not magic — it’s practice. JT’s favorite drill is almost comically simple, but brutally effective:
He lines up three balls:
- One in his usual position
- One just behind and inside the target line
- One just ahead and outside the line
Then he tries to hit only the middle one — cleanly.
Why? It helps him groove a slight outside-in path that keeps the face square and the contact crisp. If he clips either of the other two balls, the feedback is immediate.
And when things aren’t feeling right? He runs through every chip variation — high, low, spinner, deadweight — just to see what’s working that day. That kind of self-awareness doesn’t come from guessing. It comes from reps.
Under Pressure, Creativity Wins
Thomas’s short game is more than mechanics. It’s instinct and imagination.
Aaron Dill (Vokey’s wedge guru) said it best: “He has a creative vision of shots.” And that creativity shows up when it matters most — like when he went from 129th in scrambling to T23rd at the RBC Heritage.
That kind of bounce-back isn’t just about stats. It’s about trusting your game when the heat is on — and having that one chip shot you know you can hit.