Short downhill chip from rough

I have had a shot a few times and I mess it up every time. I am sitting about 1-5 feet off of the fringe in the rough with a downhill lie and the green sloping fairly strongly away from me and a pin that is only about 15-20 feet from my side of the green.

I try opening the clubface a lot and swinging across the ball, I cock my hands straight back and then almost let the club fall into the ball. I have had luck hitting this shot out of rough before but I have had trouble with it lately. How are you supposed to hit this shot?

I really like using my lob wedge for shots like you describe.  You just have to be careful to not swing under your ball.

This. I have trouble with this type of shot too. My miss being an actual miss of the ball

This is a nightmare shot for me and one that I practice constantly at the pitching green.  I use a 60* lob as well, play it off my front foot to bring it out of the rough, and just try to gently pop it out.  I find my biggest mishits come when, on my backswing, I panic and think I'm going to hit too hard so I end up dramatically decelerating and duffing the shot.  When I fight that thought and keep my hands moving forward I usually make good contact and drop the ball nice and soft.

really the only way to hit the shot when you've short sided yourself(15-20 feet shouldn't be much problem for a normal chip, though)

For your shot, I'd open the face up slightly, get my body set with the slope and try to land it on the fringe and hope it trickles out..unless I've tried that and find that the ball is sticking in the fringe that day.  Then I'd open the face a little more and try to land it on the green as close to the fringe as possible.

On a severe downhill lie, you pretty much just have to open the face and MAKE SURE your shoulders stay parallel to the slope.  You're trying to hit a mini-flop(my mental image).  Not a whole lot of wrist break but you have to make sure you keep your levels and accelerate through the ball.  If you are short sided, it becomes even more critical to control the flight distance so practice will give you the feel you need.

Sometimes, you just have to take your medicine and realize you're not gonna get every shot close.

the downhill shot from around the green or out of the bunker gives me fits too, its just plain difficult to master and takes a lot of nerve, most important thing for me is to accelerate through the ball, and practice, practice, practice

I think the problem for me is the nerves. It is so easy to blast it down further than the whole with a green sloping away from you when you are in rough, and I usually just end up a few feet further on the fringe. Even if the lie isn't severely downhill if i'm in rough and the green slopes away i am screwed.

if you figure it out let me know.  i had this shot today and hit under it and it went about 2 feet.  i threw down another ball to practice it and bladed it across the green.  not my finest moment.

This is a very tough shot, no doubt.  You MUST make sure you are aligned parallel to the slope, or you can count on either a chunk or a blade.  Play the ball middle to back of your stance, never toward the front.  Analyze your lie, which will determine how to play the shot. Pick out a spot on the green (not the fringe) to land the ball.  Take enough practice swings to internalize the exact swing feeling you need to make to land the ball on that spot.  Once you have that feeling, step up and make your swing without delay. You can't be timid.

Probably goes without saying that this shot requires a lot of practice to overcome the fear factor.  And to evaluate which club will work best for you (Hint: it probably won't initially be your lob wedge).

You really have to pay attention to how the ball is lying to know how to hit this shot:

For a very fluffy lie, you can't rely on the bounce to keep you from hitting under it, and so you can't open the club face as much and you kind of have to sweep more than chop.

When the ball's sitting down at ground level, deep within the rough, you have to chop down through the rough, and it may not be realistic to shoot at the hole; you may have to focus on a clean hit of the ball, and accept that you're not going to get as soft a landing as a flop shot would give, and just make sure you give yourself a putt coming back up the hill.

Then there's that in-between lie, where you can open the face, use the bounce against the ground, and apply as much touch as you can muster.

In all cases, the advice to set your shoulders with the slope is good, and I would add that forward shaft lean is your best defense against blading the ball across the green.

-Andrew

I would say work on your ballstriking so you miss in the right spots.  This would be an example of the wrong side to miss.  As far as the shot goes, however:

1.  Set realistic expectations and plan for a long putt.  It's a tough shot that no one can reliably get close because of differences in the lie.

2.  Analyze the thickness of the grass and the height of the ball off the ground.  You need to pick a club with less bounce if the ball is sitting up and more bounce if

it is sitting down.  I'll repeat that in case anyone objects:  less bounce if the ball is sitting up in the grass, more bounce if it is sitting down.

Other than that, I'd play it either like a bunker shot or a flop shot.  Plan on catching a lot of grass and swinging harder.  Also plan on playing more roll than normal for a high shot.  If the ball is up, you want your weight centered, otherwise you'll whiff it under the grass.  The trick is, since you are downhill, you need to find out what centered means because it will basically mean some version of more weight left than on a flat surface.  If the ball is down, you can plant your weight into your left foot and just hit down on it.  That's the most reliable way to hit high shots.  Now you'll realize why I said you need less bounce if the ball is up.  Your weight is more centered so the trailing edge will contact first.  You don't want to skip it into the ball.

Let me be the first to object.  If the ball is sitting down, why would you want to raise the leading edge, which is what happens when you add bounce? You will increase the chances of blading the ball.  And taking away bounce on a ball that is sitting up will increase the chances of slipping under the ball, and possibly whiffing it completely.

Also, you are asking a lot of a 13 handicapper to have him play a flop shot for only 6 feet of carry.  That's the kind of shot that is low percentage for even the best players.

Well, anyway, the OP has two completely opposite ways to hit the shot.  I'd advise a good practice session for him to determine which method works best for him.

I like downhill lies because its easier to get onto your front foot.

My setup, ball in the middle of my stance, my stance is usually a foot wide for this shot. I make sure my shoulders are inline with the slope. Most of the time i just hit a normal chip shot from here. If i have to get loft on it, i will put the ball more forward in my stance, open the clubface up a bit, and make sure to keep the clubhead low through the shot and make sure i rotate my body and pivot around my left foot. This keeps the clubhead from stopping, or comming up. The ball usually pops up pretty nice for a downhill lie.

If you cannot hit a reliable flop shot, there is little sense in trying to hit one on a difficult downhill lie.  The natural tendency will be to suddenly feel like you are going to blade the shot resulting in dipping the back shoulder and catching too much grass or sliding under the ball or even bouncing and blading.  This is the type of shot that requires a lot of practice and in the meantime, you are typically better off using your normal chipping technique, pick a spot to land, knowing it will run out and play for a 15-20 foot uphill putt coming back.  In other words, don't try to be a hero.

Once upon a time, this was a stock shot for me.  Unfortunately, despite the fact that I know "how" to hit it, my hands are no longer soft enough to execute consistently so I typically just take my medicine in an effort to avoid a double or triple.  That said, if you are going to go practice, I suggest the following tips:

1 - slightly open stance, ball will prbably be middle, back of your stance.  Good deep athletic knee bend and wider stance.

2 - shoulders must stay parallel to the slope

3 - club selection is probably going to be a 56/60, I will pancake the face.  Wide open, with my hands well in front of the ball at address.

4 - just like a flop, I will immediatly cock the wrist in the back swing to ensure a steep angle coming back through.

5 - not like a flop, I shorten my follow through so as to avoid a double hit.  It's like a flop/stab.

After hitting about 1000 of these shots with the same technique you will develop a feel for how to deaden your hands.  Its hard to explain how this feels, but for me it will almost feel like I am decelerating to the ball, which isn't really true but it feels like it.  On the really delicate shots I just let gravity drop the club to impact and will finish one handed sometimes.  This is very very hard however and requires a TON of practice.  Find a slope to practice on and pick a target 20 yards away that you want the ball to fly to, once you have mastered, pull it into 15 yards, 10 yards and then 5 yards and 1 yard.  Allow your mind to explore ways to make your hands softer.  Develop your golf creativity.  This is type of shot turns a golfer into an artist and makes practice really fun.

Good luck!

I LOVE these shots.  I wouldn't say i'm good at them, but i think they are fun.

I use a 60, open it up, play the ball forward, and bend more at the knees than normal to help me keep my hands low.  Then I try to swing with the slope--just gliding the club down and under the ball.

It takes a half swing to get it to more than a few feet.

Is that to "normalize" the amount of drag through the grass?

I owned this shot today en route to shooting a nice little 82 (44/38). Second hole par 5 I had the exact shot that caused me to create this post. Opened my 60 degree up cocked my hands straight back and turned by body through the shot almost just dropping the club into the grass. The ball popped up landed softly on the fringe and trickled down to the hole for a tap in birdie putt.