Every golfer misses greens. If you can't get the ball near the hole (or in it) in this situation, your scores will skyrocket. However, if you can get up and down, you'll keep those bogeys and double bogeys at bay. It's called scoring. And the key to scoring is assessing the lie, selecting the right shot, and deciding how hard to hit the ball.

Scoring is what separates players with low golf handicaps from those with high golf handicaps. It's also what separates Tiger, Phil, and Vijay from the rest of the players on the PGA tour. If you're serious about improving your game, becoming a scorer is the best—and fastest—way of doing so. Mastering three basic chip shots—the high floater, the mid-trickler, and the low runner—turns you into a scoring machine.

Three Questions
Every chip shot you face causes you to ask the same three questions:

-What type of shot do I hit?
-How hard should I hit it?
-What club do I use?

The answers to these questions depend on several factors—your distance from the pin, your lie, and your confidence in your chipping.

You can chip with any club from a 5-iron to the sand wedge. Just make sure you don't lob the ball in the air and put backspin on it. A well-stuck chip shot carries for a short distance, hits the ground, and then runs, as I tell students who take my golf lessons. Muscle memory developed from practice and taking practice swings to test the resistance of the grass tells you how hard to hit the shot. The type of shot depends on the lie and the distance from the hole.

The High Softie
The High Softie works well on a green cut close to the pin, as I've mentioned in my golf tips. Use it when you are in the rough but near the pin and there’s little room between you and the flag. The ball lands softly on the green, rolls a bit, and then stops. However, if the lie is tight, use your putter. The High Softie is a challenge to hit, so you need to practice it a lot, even with the right golf instruction.

The Mid-Trickler
The Mid-Trickler is a low-risk shot. It's best used when there's not much room to the pin, about 20-25 feet, and there's nothing between you and the hole. It requires a reasonable lie, a lie where there's some grass under the ball. (Beware of tight lies and hardpan with this shot.) It also requires practice to catch the ball just right. Effectively played, the shot hops once, checks, and then trickles toward the hole.

The key to this shot is distance control. Pick a spot where you want the ball to land, then aim for it. Leave enough room to let the ball run. It's crucial you don't add or subtract loft from the club, which reduces or increases distance, respectively.  A slight forward lean of the shaft and level shoulders at address allows you to maintain the club's true loft. Set up with the ball positioned toward the center of your stance.

The Low Runner
The low runner is the shot of choice when there's more than 25 feet between you and the pin. You can play this shot with almost any lie, including a tight one, when there's not much grass under the ball. A low-risk shot, you can expect the ball to skid, checkup, and then run toward the hole. Remember, it's easier to control distance when the ball's on the ground than in the air, as I've written in my golf tips.

The key to the low runner is the tilt of the front shoulder. Position the front shoulder lower than your back shoulder and the ball back in your stance, ensuring forward shaft lean. It reduces the loft on your club and helps you use the leading edge to "pinch" the ball crisply, creating a shallow impact and preventing the ball from climbing up the club. Tilting your shoulder also creates a forward displacement of weight, which aids your technique.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.