[Mike O]

Hey Rick- there is a lot of room for variability on chip shots, so I'm sure what you described could work really well- but since you asked for comments- I'll throw a few in.

1) Let's say you want to be a Golfing Machine devotee- so you really would like a Strong Single Action grip with the left wrist vertical to the ground. That's one of the references for the left hand - Vertical to the ground- like a door. So unless you're playing this shot a lowpoint with a square face- anything back of low point would result in a condition where the vertical left wrist would not "line up" with the leading edge i.e. clubface (as you had referred to it).

2) The right forearm lightly touching the right thigh would be a concern- you've got potential interference there- so that same forearm is going to lightly brush your thigh through impact?- don't hit too many balls you'll have a real chafing problem- (just kidding! - kind of)

3) "Feels like the right elbow is doing all the work- just bending and straightening out"- I've been there done that- here's the trap to avoid- you get so wired on that feel that it becomes your procedure- and your focus goes away from the clubhead feel and your hands and you focus on the wonderful feeling of the right elbow bending and straightening-

4) Just a guess- but with a the right elbow so close to the body- and your comment the hands feel higher than normal- if you move the ball further away- you may want to get a little more axis tilt to comfortably lower the right shoulder for the right forearm to remain on plane.

So, I'm sure you're a great player- and you probably don't need to change a thing- but maybe something will click (learn something) for someone else- regarding something that you posted or that I or others comment on- so thanks for taking the time to post and share your procedure.

Love your use of the spot system of alignment!

Finally, while the following is unrelated to your post- it relates to my comments of what to be careful of- in regards to Golf Machine application - as you know-there's alot more going on - even in a chip shot- than what you described or what Homer described. The term "Too Mechanical" in practice can mean that you isolated a limited number of factors to focus on and have ignored or limited other motions from happening- you've said "this is all that is required"- "I don't need to do or let anything else happen and I will hit the ball great".

Perfect doesn't mean Mechanical! Perfect doesn't mean ignore some factors and only concern yourself with a limited number of items (1-B). Perfect doesn't mean that you need to consciously control every movement! Ultimately and even at every stage you SHOULD have alot of the movement automated- i.e. outside of your conscious control i.e. memorized. It's an easy trap for Golfing Machine students to fall into- Homer wrote about the essence of the concepts and defined their basic criteria- the principles in play.

So here's the correlation- The Golfing Machine's definition of the golf swing as written in it's pages- is no different than any definition that you see in the dictionary- it defines the essence of that thing. So if one were to invalidate the Golfing Machine based on what is not there- then one would need to invalidate the definition of a Table: (as something with legs and a flat top for humans to hold objects on)- as invalid as it doesn't describe the particulars of all tables. Alternatively, there is more to the golf swing than what's written in the Golfing Machine just like there is more to a table than four legs and a flat top! Both merely provide the essence of the concept for it's definition- all the particulars of any and every swing or any and every table- still fall into that concept.

In summary, IN THE CONTEXT THAT I"M DISCUSSING HERE- if you try to limit, simplify, isolate- in application- then you might not actual play golf very well and you might walk away from the Golfing Machine concepts- as concepts that don't work in practice. Use what you got- and let some of the concepts in the Golfing Machine improve what you have. This last section that I've written is really for those perfectionists out there that the Golfing Machine likes to attract.

Thanks and I think I've rambled enough- off to work!