What shot do I use?

[FLFINS-N-SKINS]

Sometimes my approach finds me downhill off to the side of the green a bit too far for the standard chip shot. What type of shot should I use. Im usually in the rough so im hitting down on the ball with no follow through and I can get it out but I have little control. Should I be hitting a high flying short shot and if so how should I do it.

[mr3856a]

Re: What shot do I use?

You should always chip if it's a downhill lie - to pitch is to beg to blade it.

Chipping downhill increases the lof on your club, so a PW will act more like a gap wedge. Chip with an 8. If it's really downhill, I'll sometimes chip with a 6. Goal is, get it on the green, even if it's 30 feet past the cup. Don't leave yourself another chip.

On the other hand, if it's not really downhill, if you've got a bit of grass beneath your ball, ie it's sitting up a little, try making a very verticle back swing to where your hands are about waist hight and the club is pointing straight up in the air, and swing through by releasing your hands really dramatically. You want it to feel like the clubface is passing your hands before it hits the ball.

This will give you a very high, soft-landing pitch.

[FLFINS-N-SKINS]

Re: What shot do I use?

Actually what I mean is that my ball is lower than the green and ive got to go uphill to get there

[mr3856a]

Re: What shot do I use?

Ah, uphill. Try taking a more lofted club, say a 52 or 56* wedge, open your stance a bit, feet angled forward about 45 degrees (place your feet like this if your were hitting hitting the ball to the left of this page: \ \ ).

Take a couple practice swings to see where the club bottoms out - it should be towards the back of your stance, somewhere around your right toe. Play the ball there.

Your weight should be 60/40 on your left side. Match the angle of your shoulders to the angle of the hill and hit down at the back of the ball. No need to release the clubface - you can keep it looking at the target the whole way. Also, follow through - backswing and followthrough should be about the same length, which is just around knee high.

Sounds like a lot to do, but if you get the setup right, you'll get the feel for hitting the shot.

[pinyo8]

Re: What shot do I use?

What I am about to say will contradict a little bit on what mr3856a wrote (unless I am getting the wording mixed up as well).

Generally, if you are on an uphill lie(for a right handed golf swing, left foot is higher than the right), the ball will go up higher. The ball will shoot much lower for a downhill lie. In order to make sure of this, you adjust your weight so that it goes with the slope. I usually try to do this if the lie is decent.

Now for uphill lie and if your ball is in heavy rough and is sitting quite deep or high up in the grass, then you would need to ensure that you dont catch too much grass behind the ball. You are most likely to either flub it or goes straight underneath the ball. To avoid this, you would now lean into the slope so that you can come down on the ball steeper and the ball will shoot at a much lower trajectory. My swing for this would be more like a small pitch shot.

For a downhill lie, you would always lean with the slope, otherwise you will definitely flub it. By doing this, you are already delofting your club hence the ball will shoot much lower. A PW will probably fly out more like an 8I. In this case, play the ball like a chip and run (1/3 air, 2/3 roll).

One more thing, Always follow through even if in heavy rough. If you dont, you wont actually get any control and the ball will most likely to shoot through the green. The only few times where you wouldnt follow through is e.g. when your ball is in the bunker and you almost cant see the ball.

It is difficult to describe what you should do for all situation as it will really depends on the lie of the ball. If you have any questions, feel free to ask (or not and you can totally ignore what I wrote).

Phew...that was long...

[FLFINS-N-SKINS]

Re: What shot do I use?

Thanks, Ill give the stuff a try!

[pgmetcalf]

Re: What shot do I use?

I support what pinyo says. Uphill shots increase the loft so select a longer club - downhill shots decrease the loft so select a shorter club.

For longer downhill shots grip down the club a little and select a shorter club say maybe a 5 iron becomes an 8 iron. If the ball is in a tight lie, say a divot, turn in (close) the clubhead just a fraction. Be prepared for a lower ball flight and more role.