A tight lie refers to a golf ball that is resting in a spot with very little grass underneath the ball. Though some believe that a tight lie must include a harder the usual surface underneath the ball. Either way, hitting a ball from a tight lie is a difficult task. Luckily this guide is on hand to breakdown everything you need to know about tight lies in golf.
How To Chip Off Tight Lies In Golf
When chipping off a tight lie you need to be sure to utilize the bounce of your iron and minimize the shaft lean. The bounce refers to the bottom of your iron head that comes after the leading edge.
This portion of your club head is mean to bounce of the ground once contact is made. If you utilize the bounce you will be less likely to stub your club prior to hitting the ball.
Minimizing the shaft lean is another tip that will help you from hitting this chip fat. With a large shaft lean it will be much more likley the leading edge comes into contact with the ground first causing a fat chip.
By reducing the shaft lean you will be able to come at the ball with a less steep swing plane giving you a better chance to make solid contact with the ball.
Best Wedge For A Tight Lie
When hitting a chip off of a tight lie you want to be sure that you are taking a safe shot. This is a tough lie and is going to make it more difficult than usual to hit the ball effectively.
For this reason it often makes sense to use a lower loft wedge and keep the ball flight low. A simple bump and run with a lower loft wedge has a much smaller room for error than hitting a flop shot for example.
This is why we believe a lower loft wedge like a pitching wedge is best for tight lies. That being said every golfer is different and a huge part of your short game is confidence. If you have a trusty wedge you can make it work even on a tough lie so don’t rule anything out until you have experimented chipping with the clubs yourself.
How To Hit Fairway Wood On A Tight Lie
Hitting a fairway wood from a tight lie can be a tricky shot. Especially since hitting a slice or hook is likely going to end up with a lost ball. Though there are a few tips that can add some consistency to these shots.
Ball Position
The positioning of your ball in your stance is always important. But especially so when using a club you are not consistent with.
The fairway woods sits inbetween the driver and irons in length. This means you’ll have to find a ball placement inbetween where you place balls for an iron shot and a driver shot.
Typically with the driver you want the ball inside the front foot. With irons you want the ball closer to the middle of your stance.
To find that sweet spot with the fairway woods move your ball back two ball lengths from where you would tee a driver and up two ball lengths from your iron.
This should have the ball setup in the proper location for a fairway wood.
Sweeping Motion
Another important tip for hitting fairway woods out of tight lies is to swing with a sweeping motion. Though you still want to hit down on the ball you should not be taking the same sort of divots you would with an iron.
Your club should effectively sweep over the ground only making a small divot with the ball after contact is made.
In order to get this motion down start with short swings “cutting” the blades of the grass. Once you’ve consistently found this motion, increase your swing range. Continue until your are effective sweeping just above the ground with each swing.
Following these two steps should encourage proper contact with the golf ball from your fairway wood.
Conclusion Understanding Tight Lies In Golf
We hope you enjoyed our guide to understanding tight lies in golf. Please let us know you have any questions about this article. If so please be sure to reach out through our contact page or in the comments below.
If you did enjoy this guide please check out some of our others. Such as our guide to divots in golf or moi in golf.
