How to Chip from Uneven Lies
By Steve Silverman
Learning how to chip effectively is one of the best ways to improve your score. Normally, you would like to chip from the fairway or the first cut of the rough because it always is better to have a smooth and relatively easy lie at your disposal. But chipping from a divot, heavy rough or any other kind of uneven lie is not as difficult as it seems.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Assess your lie. Are you in a divot? Do you have heavy vegetation surrounding your ball? Are you in a footprint? You have to figure out if you can play your chip or if the impediment is so tough that you have to just get it back in the fairway.
Hit down on the ball if it is in any kind of depression. If you are in a bit of a gully or a ravine but it is not too steep, your can chip the ball out of trouble by coming down with a relatively forceful stroke. Hitting down on the ball will help you get the ball up in the air.
Take a firm grip if you are surrounded by high grass or vegetation. You do not want the club to slip out of your hand once you start bringing your club through the dense grass. You need to hold it tighter than normal just to make sure your club makes it through the grass.
Hit the ball on the upswing if you have an uphill lie. Remember, you want the ball to bounce and roll to the green. That holds even when you have an uphill lie. If you wanted the ball to fly, you would hit down on it. But in this case, you want to get a good bounce and roll going.
Go to the driving range and work on your chipping because you will use this shot throughout your next round. Learning to chip is a great way to take five strokes off your next round of golf.
Tips & Warnings
Have confidence when you chip even if you don't have a great lie. This is one of the easiest shots to learn.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
