Hinge and Hold

A hinge and hold is a chipping technique in which the golfer hinges the wrists early in the backswing, then holds that angle through impact instead of releasing it. Phil Mickelson popularized the method, which produces crisp, spinning contact on short shots around the green.

What is a hinge and hold in golf?

The name describes the technique’s two moves. The “hinge” happens on the backswing, when the lead wrist sets the club upward at a steep angle. The “hold” happens through the strike: the golfer keeps that wrist angle intact so the hands stay ahead of the clubhead, rather than flipping or scooping at the ball.

Phil Mickelson brought the term into everyday golf vocabulary through his 2009 instructional video Secrets of the Short Game, where he called hinge and hold the only effective way to chip. Mickelson has won 45 PGA Tour events and six major championships, and the technique remains closely tied to his name.

The term matters to everyday golfers because the method exists to fix poor contact: chunked shots that dig into the turf and thinned shots that skid across the green. When a wrist flips at the ball, the club bottoms out in the wrong place. Keeping the hinge removes that variable.

How the hinge and hold works

On the backswing, the wrists set until the lead arm and club shaft form roughly a 90-degree angle, a much earlier and sharper set than in a standard chip. Coming down, that angle stays intact through the ball, so the shaft leans toward the target at impact and the clubhead strikes the ball before the turf.

That descending, ball-first strike gives the shot its character. The ball comes out on a medium, penetrating flight with backspin, lands on the green, checks (a short skid as the spin grabs), and releases toward the hole. PGA Master Professional David Wixson of Keiser University’s College of Golf notes that holding the hinge also prevents deceleration, the slowing of the club through impact that ruins so many amateur chips.

Distance comes from the length of the backswing, not from extra hand action. In Secrets of the Short Game, Mickelson demonstrates the shot with a 60-degree wedge and simply lengthens his backswing to hit it farther, keeping the same tempo throughout. A finished hinge and hold is easy to spot: the follow-through stays low and short, with the clubface still facing the target instead of swinging up high.

When golfers use the hinge and hold

Somewhere between a chip and a pitch is where this shot lives. LPGA instructor Maria Palozola of My Golf Instructor calls it a “tweener” suited to the 20-to-40-yard range, when the ball needs enough height to carry fairway or fringe, but a full, floating pitch would be overkill. Mickelson plays the same motion on shots as far as 50 yards from the green.

The flight profile is roughly half carry and half roll. That makes it a natural choice on firm or tight lies where ball-first contact matters most. When the ball must stop almost instantly, most players switch to a higher pitch or a flop shot instead.

Hinge and hold vs. bump and run vs. pitch shot

Confusion between these three shots is common, since all of them happen within about 50 yards of the green. The clearest way to separate them is by how much of the shot travels in the air versus along the ground.

Shot	Carry to roll	Trajectory	Typical club	Wrist action
Bump and run	About 1/3 carry, 2/3 roll	Low	7-iron to 9-iron	Minimal
Hinge and hold	About 1/2 carry, 1/2 roll	Medium	Sand or lob wedge	Early hinge, held through impact
Pitch shot	About 2/3 carry, 1/3 roll	High	Gap, sand, or lob wedge	Fuller hinge with a natural release

The carry-to-roll ratios come from Palozola’s teaching at My Golf Instructor. Club choice follows the same logic. A bump and run works with nearly any club because the ground does most of the work; a hinge and hold needs a lofted wedge, since the loft supplies the height that the firm wrists would otherwise take away.

Is the hinge and hold outdated?

Not every modern coach teaches it, at least not in its original form. Parker McLachlin, the PGA Tour winner known as Short Game Chef, argued in a GOLF.com lesson that a steep hinge delivers the wedge’s leading edge (the front bottom line of the clubhead) into the ground, which raises the risk of a chunk when contact is slightly off. In his view, most golfers who think they hinge and hold actually perform “a hinge, a release, and then the feel of a hold.”

His alternative uses less wrist set and a wider backswing, which shallows the angle of attack so the club’s bounce (the rounded sole that keeps a wedge from digging) glides through the turf. In his demonstration, a mishit played this way finished about two feet from the hole, while a mishit with the steep method finished about 12 feet away.

Neither camp claims the other’s shot never works. The classic hinge and hold still helps players who flip at the ball, and it remains a standard part of short game instruction; the bounce-based version trades some spin and steepness for a wider margin of error on imperfect strikes.

Related Golf Terms

Low point — The bottom of the swing arc, ideally just ahead of the ball with irons.
Kinematic sequence — The efficient order in which body segments fire during the downswing.
Spine angle — The forward tilt of the spine maintained throughout the swing.
Ground reaction force — Pushing against the ground to generate speed and power.
Swing path — The direction the clubhead travels through impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who invented the hinge and hold?

Phil Mickelson popularized the term through his 2009 video Secrets of the Short Game, though wrist-hinge chipping methods existed in golf instruction well before the name caught on.

What club is used for a hinge and hold?

A lofted wedge. Mickelson demonstrates the shot with a 60-degree wedge, and many instructors teach it with a sand wedge, which gives the ball enough height to carry and still release.

Is a hinge and hold a chip or a pitch?

It sits between the two. A chip rolls more than it flies, and a pitch flies more than it rolls; the hinge and hold splits the difference at roughly half carry, half roll.

Why does the hinge and hold create spin?

The held wrist angle produces a descending, ball-first strike. That downward contact compresses the ball against the grooves of the clubface, which is what makes the shot check on the green.

Sources

Keiser University College of Golf. “Mastering the ‘Hinge-and-Hold’ Short Game Technique in Golf.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://collegeofgolf.keiseruniversity.edu/hinge-and-hold-short-game-technique-in-golf/
GOLF.com. “This modern ‘hinge and hold’ method will make even your mishits more successful.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://golf.com/instruction/short-game/modern-hinge-and-hold-method-parker-mclachlin/
My Golf Instructor. “The Hinge and Hold.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://www.mygolfinstructor.com/instruction/chipping/the-hinge-and-hold/
RotarySwing. “Hinge And Hold in Golf: Definition, Biomechanics & Drill.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://rotaryswing.com/glossary/hinge-and-hold
Dan Bubany Golf. “Phil Mickelson’s Secrets of the Short Game.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://danbubanygolf.com/phil-mickelsons-secrets-of-the-short-game/
Lower My Handicap. “Phil Mickelson’s Hinge and Hold: Master the Art of Chipping.” Accessed July 8, 2026.
https://www.lowermyhandicap.net/post/phil-mickelson-s-hinge-and-hold-master-the-art-of-chipping