First, I know I have a video on YouTube with almost 300K views on Great Chipping but, I haven’t taught any of my students to chip for at least 5 years. Don’t get me wrong, chipping isn’t bad, it’s just that Pitching, or engaging the hips on the downswing, is MUCH MORE RELIABLE. It is much easier to keep the handle of the club, leading the club face through impact when you are turning. Also, it is the ONLY RELIABLE WAY TO GET THROUGH THICK ROUGH WITH A BURIED LIE. Learning to keep your hands out of all shots around the green will lower your score!
I really mean it. Pitching or at least engaging the hips to unwind the downswing (No matter how close) is much more reliable than chipping. Chipping, or using only the shoulders (or worse, the hands too) to execute short shots around the green, can easily lead to skulled shots (leading edge, of the club face hits center of ball sending it across the green) or flipped shots (club slides under the ball and sticks in the grass or passes the ball creating a weak short shot).
Learn to use use the front shoulder to push the club straight back while restricting the lower body… THEN, start the downswing with hips first unwinding and leading all the way to the finish. It’s like throwing a ball. This uses the Large Muscles to control the arms, hands and club. You would never throw a ball with out using your hips to unwind. Even if you throw it very short, the hips will always engage to throw the arm through. But, that is exactly what golfers try to do when they chip. They let their arms and club pass their center without using their hips and that is when things can go bad.
One more thing. You can hit the ball high, land very soft, run the ball, stop on a dime, anticipate the speed better and hit your line every time, once you learn this technique… because, the hands are not involved so THE FACE IS ALWAYS PERFECTLY SQUARE AND YOU ALWAYS HIT THE SWEET SPOT.