Trouble with downhill, short-sided chips from rough.

[NevinW]

I've been hitting a lot of good iron shots lately and I find myself more frequently going slightly long.  I end up in the rough beyond the collar with a downhill lie (right foot higher than left) and not a lot of green to work with.  I'm struggling with hitting these solid and I'm either leaving them short or going way long.  I'm looking for ideas and techniques to improve these shots.  Thoughts?

[glk]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJXGgnhlqRM/

[ezpz]

Either learn to hit them with an open face or accept that you made a course management mistake, chip it out and take 2 putts with the occasional 1 putt. The only thing that will really kill your scores here is if you leave it in the long stuff.

[SNIPERBBB]

If you're not confident with the mini flop type shots, you're better off just committing to hitting the chips long. 

[scooterhd2]

what is your current technique? What club are you using in these situations?

[Barfolomew]

Unconventional nugget I found...... Ive learned to hit these with my right hand only, both hands on the clubs but top left hand is just along for the ride and to stabilize obviously.  It's not conventional but its a little nugget I've learned on very short fast chips or even very fast downhill putts when touch is everything.  It proved itself to me as I can do it well when not even warmed up vs when you go even power in both hands it takes a sec to warm up as you gotta get sinked up.  I can go locked wrists or even get wristy for super soft touch, the but the right hand is the boss and doing all the power.  I found it cause I was practicing on course from just on the fringe with a very fast 15 foot down hiller and learned I just need to get it on with as little power as possible and tried right hand only and was a piece of cake but luckily I kept practicing it on different greens waiting to not like it like we do with all things we experiment with and never happened lol.... do you dare go to the dark side of the unconventional

[TheDominator273]

Make a putting stroke with your wedge, blading the ball just below the equator.  Ball gets just enough lift to get out of the thick stuff and will run out like a putt. Doesn't take too much practice to get decent feel for how hard to hit it.

[moptop]

Isn't this shot supposed to be hard?  Its like saying I have trouble going on dates with supermodels.  

[dvq9654]

1 minute ago, moptop said:

Isn't this shot supposed to be hard?  Its like saying I have trouble going on dates with supermodels.  

 

Haha, my exact thoughts when I read the title. I think you just need to take your medicine on these, to some extent. 

 

I've gained some distance on my irons lately and am finding myself long more regularly. I tend to try and slide the club under the ball with a lofted wedge / open club face, but the reality is you're going to end up in 2 putt range more often than not, even when you hit a good chip. If you aren't consistent with a flop / open wedge type shot, you may just need to resign yourself to being quite far below the hole after the chip and work on not going long in the first place. 

[NevinW]

9 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

what is your current technique? What club are you using in these situations?

My current technique is to use my 60 degree wedge, open the club face, try to make my body perpendicular to the slope, and try to slide the club under the ball to pop it out onto the collar so it rolls down to the hole.  Occasionally it actually works as planned.   There has to be some some extra technique or nuggets to make it somewhat easier to pull off.  

Edited May 28, 2021 by NevinW

[davep043]

6 minutes ago, NevinW said:

My current technique is to use my 60 degree wedge, open the club face, try to make my body perpendicular to the slope, and try to slide the club under the ball to pop it out onto the collar so it rolls down to the whole.  Occasionally it actually works as planned.   There has to be some some extra technique or nuggets to make it somewhat easier to pull off.  

There is.  Miss it on the green, not on the short side in the rough.  A 50-foot putt is almost always better than a 20-foot downhill chip from the rough.

[scooterhd2]

10 minutes ago, NevinW said:

My current technique is to use my 60 degree wedge, open the club face, try to make my body perpendicular to the slope, and try to slide the club under the ball to pop it out onto the collar so it rolls down to the whole.  Occasionally it actually works as planned.   There has to be some some extra technique or nuggets to make it somewhat easier to pull off.  

 

You ever try to stand the club up a little more? Get a bit closer and put the toe down, heel up. Still lob wedge, still face open, but with the ground effectively being closer to you behind the ball the added heel relief helps with contact. 

[Barfolomew]

1 hour ago, moptop said:

Isn't this shot supposed to be hard?  Its like saying I have trouble going on dates with supermodels.  

 

Hahaha I got no trouble dating supermodels.... it's them with the trouble 🤣

 

It's often a 3 shot issue so the LAST thing you want to do is leave it short in the fringe again for the same 3 shot issue cause now you're lookin at 4 strokes from the original shot.... cause so easy on a down hiller for it to run by for a long putt. 

 

So at least make the green BUT all you gotta do is make the green cause often that sucker will take off.  Many play the flag and not just try and make the green and end up 20 feet by...

[Obee]

13 hours ago, NevinW said:

I've been hitting a lot of good iron shots lately and I find myself more frequently going slightly long.  I end up in the rough beyond the collar with a downhill lie (right foot higher than left) and not a lot of green to work with.  I'm struggling with hitting these solid and I'm either leaving them short or going way long.  I'm looking for ideas and techniques to improve these shots.  Thoughts?

 

What is your current playing level?

[NevinW]

13 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

What is your current playing level?

65 year retired physician currently a 2 from the member's tees.  4.8 index.  Played for 55 years, always a good ball striker, always problems with the short game.  I've been playing in senior series tournaments and managing to come in second a number of times, but the short game is holding me back.  

[getitdaily]

Stop hitting it long. That's your technique change.

 

Downhill, short sided, out of the rough...basically the hardest chip shot there is. 

 

There is no technique that will save you. You're not getting that shot up and down often. 

[xmanhockey7]

If you have these shots all the time you’re short siding yourself too often. If it’s occasional don’t worry about it. You’re a 5 handicap. Get the ball on the green. Try to make the putt from there. Go to your short game area and play around with some stuff. When you’re short sided is usually not the time to compound things.  

[b.helts]

This shot requires two things. 
1. Open club face

2. Nerve

 

 

Open the club face, more than you think. Lean down the hill and don’t set up way open. This is the shot where I like to feel the Jason Day or Steve Stricker kind of straight arm, stiff wrist shot. 
 

So with the club face wide open, hands low, arms extended and relaxed just rock your shoulders and scythe the wide open club face under the ball. This is where nerve comes in. You’ll have to hit it more aggressively than you think to get it to pop out of the rough and onto the fringe/green. 
 

Keep hitting those iron shots crisp and playing aggressively. Go get em chief. 

[Hawkeye77]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:35 PM, moptop said:

Isn't this shot supposed to be hard?  Its like saying I have trouble going on dates with supermodels.  

I can honestly say I have never received a single complaint from a supermodel!

[Qegurezi]

Get the hands low, open the face a little and go wide back and thru with little wrist action. Ball will pop up softly.  

[MPAndreassi]

3 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

I can honestly say I have never received a single complaint from a supermodel!

Hard to get a complaint when you’ve never met one 😂

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, MPAndreassi said:

Hard to get a complaint when you’ve never met one 😂

Exactly!