Chipping From a Poor Lie

I have been asked for advice on how to play a short shot to the green from a bad lie like the one below..

As usual the set-up is very important.

We should choose one of our most lofted clubs such as sand wedge and even open up the clubface slightly.

· Play the ball more back in the stance. We want to get as little grass as possible trapped between the clubface and the golf ball.

· Keep the handle of the club in front of the ball at address and make sure the majority of your weight is on your left leg. This promotes a steeper angle of attack minimising the effect of the long grass.

In the backswing we should hinge the club with our wrists a little more than normal.

Again this helps with the steeper angle of attack.

Finally,

Make sure to keep up your speed through impact. As the grass will affect the connection with the golf ball we must swing with more speed than we would normally for this length of shot.

As the swing was steeper than usual we can expect a curtailed follow through as the club impacts the grass and ground .This is ok as long as we don’t slow down before impact.

When practicing your chipping it’s a good idea to play some from poorer lies so that we are able to play them when we get to the course.

I hope these pointers help. Get out and try it.

If you have any specific questions regarding this article or any other golf swing issues you can email Eddie on info@eddietraceygolf.com and he will endeavour to address them in future articles.