Tips on consistent striking on a tight lie

Galanta Ireland

Galanta Ireland

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Ive been playing a lot more golf recently and I've improved most aspects of my game, particularly my short game, which is making the biggest difference toy score card. All this being said I am still struggling to get a good confident and consistent strike from a tight lie.

Any tips or tricks out there for improvement?
 
This is a thread I was thinking of starting as on my trip to Portugal last week my game was ruined by atrocious play around the greens.
 
louise_a said:
Not really what I was looking for, my striking of long irons is fine off tight lies its my chipping that's the problem
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Its probably not right but I found by gripping down the shaft, closing the club slightly and placing the ball slightly further back in my stance helped me with chipping. I also turn body slightly - facing the target a bit more.
 
if the issue is short shots, as with the previous post about full shots, you need rotation not sway, head needs to be a ways still until after the strike.

as it's a short shot so you're not really looking for distance you need to have quiet hands & wrists,
as there's also no need for weight shift as again you're not looking for distance, you want your weight set on the lead leg & keep it there through the whole motion.

with tight lies one of the biggest issues handicap golfers have is their AoA.
as the stroke is often times a good ways too 'wristy' both going back from the ball in a 'pick or steep lift up of the club' as the stroke is largely being controlled by the arms alone, not real good as with a steep take back & steep approach to the ball it leaves very little margin of error for solid contact.
this steep wrist set action ideal when you what to get at a ball that's sat down in the rough but not good for tight-ish lies.

what is a good ways better is to have a shallow AoA through the ball which then doesn't expose the leading edge of the club to the ground, but more brings the bounce of the sole in to play which will 'brush' through, not dig in, so then you get solid contact.

shallow swing arc happens when the motion is controlled by the rotation of the chest with the arms synced up to that 'turn back & turn through'. ball off the middle of the stance, weight on the lead leg, 'nose' over top of the ball, at address hands over the top of the front edge of the ball - so no big forwards leaning shaft at address as that just tends to promote a pick up steep takeaway & steep approach to the ball couple that with any sway off the ball & you'll tend to either hit it good & fat, or sensing that rise up into impact & flip with the hands & clear skull it.

so set up as described weight on lead leg, allow the chest rotation with linked arms to control distance, quiet head, keep the hands quiet so then they can lead the shaft through the shot, keep the handle moving through the stroke, important to that folks keep the rotation going so the chest ends up at least facing the target, stop the rotation the hands will flip.

important too when assessing the shot you carefully pick a 'landing area' & focus on that for feel of distance. the swing motion is rhythmic, speed of the back swing more mirrors the speed of the through swing, it's a balanced paced stroke 'back & through with the chest rotation thats a ways easier to achieve. hands arms more independent of the body & your a ways more likely to jerk through with a 'hit' or quit as the body isn't moving it can block the stroke.
 
surely there is no difference striking a ball from a fluffy, soft or tight lie? you hit ball then turf so why would you change anything (unless the ball is sitting 4" off the ground).

You can't get much tighter than a worn range mat.
 
people have trouble chipping off really tight lies when they swing too shallow. swinging the club around themselves. Nearly always catch it fat or skull it.
 
CMAC said:
surely there is no difference striking a ball from a fluffy, soft or tight lie? you hit ball then turf so why would you change anything (unless the ball is sitting 4" off the ground).

You can't get much tighter than a worn range mat.
Click to expand...

I disagree, on Friday I played in Portugal, very tight lies around the green, today I was back on my own course with a bit if grass under the ball.
I played very similar tee to green, general being with 20 yds of the green in regulation if not on the green, On Friday I finished with a gross 105 due to thinning and fatting the chort chips. today I was 5 over par for the 11 holes I played (it was match play).

Maybe it is a confidence thing, but either way it is a massive different.
 
louise_a said:
I disagree, on Friday I played in Portugal, very tight lies around the green, today I was back on my own course with a bit if grass under the ball.
I played very similar tee to green, general being with 20 yds of the green in regulation if not on the green, On Friday I finished with a gross 105 due to thinning and fatting the chort chips. today I was 5 over par for the 11 holes I played (it was match play).

Maybe it is a confidence thing, but either way it is a massive different.
Click to expand...

I think the confidence thing has a big part to play. I know myself, I feel much more confident on the first cut rather than the fairway. You should know this game by now. Its all between the ears.
 
During the winter I have been practicing only using as much loft as I need to get the ball to the green, then rolling out to the flag. This could be as much as a 7 iron when two or three feet off the green. My theory being, the less loft, the less chance of a fat or thin shot. I really do make a conscious effort to use as least loft as I can get away with. My scores have improved. This is fine at the moment when the greens are a tad on the slow side. Come the slickness of summer I will have to loft up according to the speed of the greens. I'm a firm believer in only giving chips enough air time to get to the green, then let the roll take over. A bit old school links style if you like.
The big flop shot looks great, but get it wrong, you could end up thinning it half way back to the tee!
 
I am using nothing buy my sand wedge around the greens. I stuck the leading edge right into the ground twice in a row last weekend. I was trying to lay the sensible chip and run.

Greenside on a par 5 in two and ended up with a 7. :o


Bounce all the way folks with the soft turf. Lesson learnt.
 
louise_a said:
I disagree, on Friday I played in Portugal, very tight lies around the green, today I was back on my own course with a bit if grass under the ball.
I played very similar tee to green, general being with 20 yds of the green in regulation if not on the green, On Friday I finished with a gross 105 due to thinning and fatting the chort chips. today I was 5 over par for the 11 holes I played (it was match play).

Maybe it is a confidence thing, but either way it is a massive different.
Click to expand...

your not hitting the ball first though. On tight lies you probably speed up and get wristy and flick at it in an attempt to get the ball airborne, hit the ball first and the loft will get it up.

Your own courses fluffier lies let the clubs leading edge go under the ball before the face makes contact.

Certainly 'raised' lies do promote confidence especially on chips
 
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