If there’s one shot that’s super tricky for amateur golfers to hit, it’s the chip shot from a tight lie around the green.
When the ball sits on a tight lie, there’s very little room for error, so you must be precise with your club selection, setup, swing speed, and turf interaction, among other things. By messing up just one of those, you could have a fatal scorecard flaw.
Sure, many of us often want to get fancy and try to hit a flop shot by using a high-lofted wedge, but that takes lots of skill and technique, and if mishit, can lead to a chunked or skulled result.
So instead, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Trillium Rose suggests keeping things simple, avoiding lots of wrist action, and just feeling your body turn through this type of shot.
How to have more success on a tight lie
In the video above, Rose walks us through the one thing to change in order to see more success from a tight lie.
“We’re close to the flag, and we’re on a tight lie where you can’t putt it,” she says. “You can’t do anything low, so you have to send it up in the air.”
This is where she often sees a player use a flop shot — which, as mentioned, could lead to added strokes if executed improperly.
“What I see so many people do wrong is that they think they need to flop it and use a lot of wrist; but the opposite is true!”
To eliminate risk, Rose suggests the following.
“Extend your elbows, make a little triangle, and keep that intact as you go back and through [in your swing],” she adds. “So you’re not going to use your wrists at all!
“Instead, you’re going to feel your body turning — which is all you need to hit this shot perfectly.”
By playing this type of shot versus something more risky, you’ll get the height you need off such a tight lie, but allow yourself some forgiveness should you not hit this chip perfectly.
