Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
Missing the green with your approach shot is never fun. The only thing worse is walking up to your ball and realizing you have a bad lie.
Many recreational players will opt to fluff up their lie when they find the ball in a spot of trouble. But if you’re playing in a tournament or money game, that’s not an option.
Getting the ball close to the cup when it’s sitting down in a tough lie can feel impossible — but it doesn’t have to be. All you need to do to roll the ball close is make a few key adjustments. In today’s edition of Play Smart, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joe Hallett shows us how.
How to chip from a tough lie
When Hallett finds his ball in a poor lie, he has a saying he likes to employ: “Don’t get up tight, get upright,” with “upright” referring to the angle of the shaft at address.
“Take your setup and literally raise the club to where you feel it’s almost in a vertical position,” Hallett says. “It forces the bounce to stay engaged in the shot and helps the club want to work under the ball.”
When you get the shaft so far upright, you’ll need to stand a bit closer to the ball as well. It should almost feel like you’re holding a putter when you get over the ball.
“It’s almost like a putt but you can go ahead and use a putting stroke or a chipping stroke,” Hallett says.
Once you make these setup adjustments, all you’ve got to do is rock your shoulders and pop the ball out of the bad lie. When you do it correctly, the ball will escape the bad lie and roll right at the hole.