Tight lies can be especially troublesome around the green. Catch a little turf on one of these delicate finesse shots and it’s goodbye par. Yet time and again I see weekend players set up for these chips with their weight almost entirely on their lead leg and the shaft leaning steeply toward the target. This eliminates the bounce you need to play these shots properly and, worse yet, exposes more of the leading edge to the turf (stub).
Your solution? Hit a hook shot. Play the ball in the middle of your stance and choke down an inch or two. Close your stance to the ball and aim a little right of your target.
Next, simply brush the grass on an arc around your toes and clip the ball along the way.
Feel the clubface release, as if you were drawing an iron from the fairway.
The ball will come out low and run left — all the way to the hole.
