Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
PGA Teaching Professional, Oliver Brown, gives tips on how to face the hard ground lie. Regardless of where you play, you'll eventually face a tough pitch off a hard-ground lie.
This is a dicey situation, as ultra-tight lies such as bare lies make it easy for the club-head to bounce off the ground and into the top half of the golf ball, thinning it over the green. The key for pitches off hard lies is to make sure the club-head does not bounce off the ground. Knowing how to accomplish this will save you strokes not only in this situation, but in dozens of others that involve tight lies.
Here's the general rule concerning ultra-tight lies: When you rest the club on the bare lie the club will generally sit on its heel. The tighter the lie, the more the club should rest on its toe at address. When you elevate the heel of your club, you reduce the chance that it will catch the hard ground causing it to bounce. This is the first critical step in executing pitches from hard ground and also from other less-than-cushy spots. The appropriate swing from this address position can create great shots from a difficult situation.
The Technique
Let us assume you have a 30-yard shot to the green from your hard lie. Select a pitching wedge (which features less bounce than a sand wedge) and position the ball in the middle of your stance to slightly back. Lean your body towards the ball without changing the distance between your body and hands until your club head rises up on its toe. Notice that your club shaft becomes more vertical (try not to bend towards the ball) Now, position the majority of your weight into your front foot, keeping your body upright. Your upright posture and higher hand position will produce a steeper angle of attack into the golf ball and eliminate any cupping (or flick) in your top wrist.
Pull your front foot back to open your body to the target and aim your club face slightly to the right of the target. As you do this, make sure you keep the ball in the middle or slightly back of your stance.
Before you make your play, find a similar lie nearby and take a few practice swings to set the pace of your motion. Then, use your regular long pitch stroke, making sure to keep your commitment to the pace you've chosen.
Take the time to practice this shot so you feel comfortable making such an aggressive swing to hit the ball such a short distance. And experiment with various degrees of open stance and open club face combinations so you can see how much these adjustments affect the height and distance of each shot.
A final heads-up
Good pitchers off hard ground (tight lies) use very little knee action on the way back. However, on the downswing, the knees should lead the way. Just keep everything smooth on the way back and concentrate on a slight acceleration on the down swing.
