Golf Chipping in Thick Grass: Uphill Lies

Video Transcript

"Ok, we're on a pretty steep uphill lie here, and usually, you're not going to have the ball on an uphill lie, if the grass is real thin, or it will just roll down, but there's usually some decent amount of grass to hit out of. So we've got some balls here on the uphill lie, and we're going to use the pitching wedge this time. There's less loft on it, so remember when the ball is uphill, you add loft, so a pitching wedge, becomes like a sand wedge. A sand wedge becomes like a sixty degree. A sixty degree becomes like a seventy degree, so you have to take that in mind, that you're not going to get as much distance, as you normally would, because the ball is on an uphill lie. You're going to get more loft, so the secret to this shot, is I've got to get a good stance. So I want to be balanced between my back foot and my front foot, so I don't fall forward, or I don't fall backwards, off the ball, so you can see this is a relatively steep lie here. This ball won't stay still, so I'm now positioned, so I'm going to be aiming up, because I want my swing to go along the ground. See, if I swing into the ground, I'll just chunk the ball right into the ground, so I've got to get my swing contouring to the, to the slope of the hill, so I'm just going to pop this one up, with a very nice, easy swing. Just pop it up. That shot worked out pretty good, so I'm going to try that again. I'm going to do more of an open stance now, and an open face, to get the ball to go even higher, and because I put it too high, I didn't get enough forward roll on it, so what you want to think about. You've got to practice these shots, because having a two foot putt, or a six foot putt, is the difference between making that par putt to save your par, or maybe to at least avoid a double bogey, so you really have to practice these little touch shots a lot, and that way they won't frustrate you, and you'll welcome them when you get them."