Golf Short Game Tip - Learn to Pitch From a Bare Lie For Duffers
Imagine your second shot has come up well short of the green.
You will need to pitch it close to save par.
Normally you can make a shot like that without worry.
You've done it many times before.
But this one becomes quite a different story when you discover your ball is on a bare lie.
No fairway grass to hold your ball up.
It will be very difficult to slide the club under the ball as you usually would.
Now what is a duffer to do? Are you thinking sand wedge with the face open like with a bunker shot? That might work but it is very risky.
No margin for error on that shot.
Catch it a little thin and you blade the ball somewhere over the green.
With most greens you'll be in deeper trouble than you started in.
Hit that shot fat and the flange on your sand wedge will cause the club to bounce off the ground and into the ball.
Net effect is you will still blade the shot.
The other popular option would be to hit a little punch or bump and run shot using a hooded sand wedge.
This shot is only slightly safer than the open wedge shot.
The leading edge of your wedge will now dig into the ground on a fat shot.
You not make contact with the ball but rather roll the dirt up between the ball and clubface.
The dirt will slow the club down and soften impact leaving the shot well short of your target.
Hit it thin and the club's leading edge will hit the top of the ball and drive it more downward that forward.
It won't go anywhere either.
As you can tell this shot is easy to screw up largely because you've chosen the wrong club.
Even though the sand wedge is the shortest club and your facing a short shot it is not designed to give you the kind of help you are looking for on this shot.
I suggest you use a 9-iron instead.
A 9-iron is engineered with a more defined leading edge.
You have a much greater margin for error with this approach.
It will cut through the back of the ball, compressing it against the ground and imparting back spin on the ball.
You'll have more control too.
Rather than swinging the club back and forth as normal, use a more up and down swing.
This nearly vertical chopping motion is similar to the swing technique used to escape a fried egg lie in the bunker.
Aim so as to pick the ball cleanly off the bare lie.
No need to make any adjustments to your stance.
Whether you have chosen to pitch, punch or bump and run execute the shot from this point as you would normally.
Practice this a bit before you try to take it to the course so you'll have confidence you make it work.
Once you're comfortable with it you'll save a handful of shots when faced with a bare lie in the future.
You will need to pitch it close to save par.
Normally you can make a shot like that without worry.
You've done it many times before.
But this one becomes quite a different story when you discover your ball is on a bare lie.
No fairway grass to hold your ball up.
It will be very difficult to slide the club under the ball as you usually would.
Now what is a duffer to do? Are you thinking sand wedge with the face open like with a bunker shot? That might work but it is very risky.
No margin for error on that shot.
Catch it a little thin and you blade the ball somewhere over the green.
With most greens you'll be in deeper trouble than you started in.
Hit that shot fat and the flange on your sand wedge will cause the club to bounce off the ground and into the ball.
Net effect is you will still blade the shot.
The other popular option would be to hit a little punch or bump and run shot using a hooded sand wedge.
This shot is only slightly safer than the open wedge shot.
The leading edge of your wedge will now dig into the ground on a fat shot.
You not make contact with the ball but rather roll the dirt up between the ball and clubface.
The dirt will slow the club down and soften impact leaving the shot well short of your target.
Hit it thin and the club's leading edge will hit the top of the ball and drive it more downward that forward.
It won't go anywhere either.
As you can tell this shot is easy to screw up largely because you've chosen the wrong club.
Even though the sand wedge is the shortest club and your facing a short shot it is not designed to give you the kind of help you are looking for on this shot.
I suggest you use a 9-iron instead.
A 9-iron is engineered with a more defined leading edge.
You have a much greater margin for error with this approach.
It will cut through the back of the ball, compressing it against the ground and imparting back spin on the ball.
You'll have more control too.
Rather than swinging the club back and forth as normal, use a more up and down swing.
This nearly vertical chopping motion is similar to the swing technique used to escape a fried egg lie in the bunker.
Aim so as to pick the ball cleanly off the bare lie.
No need to make any adjustments to your stance.
Whether you have chosen to pitch, punch or bump and run execute the shot from this point as you would normally.
Practice this a bit before you try to take it to the course so you'll have confidence you make it work.
Once you're comfortable with it you'll save a handful of shots when faced with a bare lie in the future.
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