Even when your golf ball is in the middle of the fairway you can still find yourself in a tricky situation if the ground beneath the ball is particularly firm or bare. Indeed, especially for golfers that are beginners a tight lie is particularly fearsome because it requires a very precise strike at the ball since the luxury of a nice grassy cushion is absent.
Review the following for tips on how to hit from a tight lie.
Key Objective:
Hitting the ball first, otherwise club could bounce off the ground or dig into it.
Ball Position Should be Center or a Little Back
Whenever you are hitting from a firm lie you need to be careful not to position the ball too much forward in your stance.
Indeed, it is crucial that your club hits the ball first. This is in contrast to a clubhead that touches the ground first before making contact with the ball, which could lead to the clubhead bouncing off or digging into the ground.
A ball located in the center or a little back in your stance will help you make good contact with the ball and will help shield you from skulled or fat shots that could come out of trying to scoop the ball.
Press Hands Forward
Another way your golf setup can promote good contact with the ball is to press your hands forward at address.
Doing so will put your hands in a position when you will essentially trap the ball at impact.
So make sure to lean your shaft forward at address and try to maintain the lag while you come down during the downswing and into impact with the ball.
Move your Weight Towards your Front Foot a Little
The final golf setup adjustment you can make whenever hitting from a bare lie is to move your weight forward a little.
Indeed, rather than splitting your weight 50/50 across your two feet try to tilt your weight forward a little.
At all cost, you don’t want your weight to get stuck on your back foot at impact which could lead to your clubhead bouncing off the ground and hitting the ball with the leading edge.
Trap the Ball
As far as swing thoughts are concerned and as was alluded previously the one you want to use is to “trap the ball”.
The idea here is to focus on trying to capture the ball in between your clubface and the ground at the moment of impact.
Rather than dig into the ground doing so will promote a very good contact with the ball and a pure ball flight. And it will help fight the urge to try and scoop the ball.