The Double Chip was made famous by T.C. Chen in the 1985 US Open (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76QRludSXgo) which unfortunately gave him the nickname of ‘Two Chip Chen’!
There is nothing more embarrassing than putting all your energy and focus into a chip shot just to double hit it. You’ll see in this video that you can make it look fun, but that’s simply not the case when you do it on accident! So how does it happen?
Speaking strictly of the club head, it must be moving faster than the ball after impact. The conditions that create this almost always come from decelerating the club head just prior to impact which creates slow ball speed off the face. The club head must then accelerate quickly upward into the ball.
Does this happen purely from a mechanical standpoint or are there some brain factors at play here? Most of the time the deceleration of the club can be linked to a fear of poor contact which creates an intention of trying to be careful and thus slowing down. The acceleration can then be attributed to the desire of helping the ball into the air… and we now have a double chip!
One of my favorite drills that can help people become less mechanical and more reactive is the 5 Ball Drill (see the video below). This drill forces the player to swing in rhythm and makes it almost impossible to become consumed with fear of impact and the desire to help the ball. It will allow the stroke to occur with a consistent pace and rhythm. You will be amazed at how great you hit some of these balls!