I can't hit this shot

[Leftygolfer]

I say just practice. Club choice can help, but you need to work on this shot to get a good feel of how to hit it. I can use either my 58 or 64 and depending on the shot need I will play with a square face, open face, hands way ahead of the ball at impact, hands equal with the ball at impact. I've just recently been working on hit it higher and to do this, I feel like I let the club pass my hands early but holding it off so the club doesn't turn over. This is probably the most difficult way to play short pitches but if you don't have much green to work with I can really hit it really high with either wedge and stop it in less than a yard after landing.

But again, I think you need to practice this shot. I've practiced my short game for years and if my short game was as bad as my long game, I wouldn't be able to break 90. Its free and fun (to me). I only use a few balls and just go around the green with one club figuring out how to get the trajectory I need for the particular shot I have.

[mdl]

I just use my 54˚, same as for every shot 105 and in, but do a pretty standard chip. The keys for me are feet still perpendicular to target line but front foot dropped back a bit, hands at center but ball just forward of the back big toe, and FREEZE the wrists (so yeah, basically modified putting stroke). The freezing the wrists is the key for me. With practice you can find exactly where your natural bottom point of the swing is with no movement of anything below the shoulder, and for me at least there's so few moving parts that I almost never hit it thin or fat off the fairway grass with this shot. Aim is pretty easy for me too (to a good amateur, no Phil style level or anything). This is my best short game shot.

[ezmorningrebel]

if hitting a wedge the key for me is to get my weight on my front foot. lots of times though i'll just pull my 7 iron out and use a putting stroke.

[imtomtomim]

Forget the bump and run, just putt! If you've got trouble with the chip, don't chip! hit the easiest shot possible for you

[shortstop20]

Slight wrist cock, rock the shoulders, keep the flying wedge past impact.

That's all I do.

[acegolfer]

I'm not OP but I used to lose 4 shots because of the same issue around green. So I think I know what he's going through.

I'm going to assume the pin is 10 yards from the green edge. So the OP is facing 15-20 yard shot, which is 45-60 feet. I always try to execute the perfect shot so that I can get up and down from this distance. I don't have a good short game (OP probably doesn't, either) and the percentage of getting up and down is very slim. But to execute a perfect shot brings in awful shots resulting in another stroke.

Instead of trying to hit in a 3 feet circle for up and down, I try to get the ball on green first (hopefully within 20 feet, where I can 2 putt 95% of the time). I know it's lame to leave 20 feet from 45 feet distance. But at least it's much better than hitting a chunk shot.

In short, if your short game is as awful as mine, play for the green not the pin.

[Wiley]

I have an old SW that I use to practice this shot off of my concrete patio. Hit ball after ball and your ball stringing off of tight lies will improve. It's nice to have other options like putting, or hitting a bump and run with an eight iron, but if you really want to improve learn to hit all these shots.

[saevel25]

Tight lie + high bounce = bad mojo

Take a pitching wedge or nine iron, with low bounce and make a chip like you are putting. No wrist at all, just sweep the ball off the ground.

[c. lassiter]

Thanks to all who responded.

[double_j]

What is with all this bump&run; advice, what if he has to play to a tight pin, to an uphill green, to a bunkered green, where he cant just bump & run it all the way, what if the fairway is crappy and he cant put 10 yards through fairway? Not everybody plays on St. Andrews fairways or can pull a texas wegde from 50 yards...

Tight pin: Even more reason to hit a bump and runner with something a bit lower lofted. Land it in front of the green and let it trickle on. Think of it this way, assuming that the pin is 6 ft. from the front, you effectively have a 6 foot window in which to land a flop or a chip that will stop short. With a bump and run, you effectively have a 3 foot margin of error to get into the 6 foot window. It's generally a more forgiving and consistent shot for most players.

The other situations are clearly ones where you'd probably want to think about a standard chip instead of a bump and runner, but they weren't posed in the original question. I think most of the responses are assuming a fairly straightforward situation. And I agree that a standard chip isn't going high in the air. That said, you'll rarely take a full swing for a standard chip from 10 yards. Those are the shots to which I was referring (the high handicapper 'flop' syndrome). I don't argue the benefits of being able to hit a shot that hits and checks but for most of us I would argue that learning how to play a runner can be just as effective (and more reliable due to the lack of excessive wrist action, to boot).

[ks8829]

I had this problem and still do on occasion. What I learned that works the best is to focus on the backswing. The backswing should be circular image a circle and the contact is at the bottom of the circle so when you visualize the circle you know that on the backswing you need to pick the club up visualizing the back half of the circle as the motion of your backswing.

When you do this no matter what ball position you will hit it solid.

if that does not work for you try this:

1) play the ball behind your rear foot
2) set your hands in a forward press
3) you will be forced to hit the ball first
4) expect the ball to hit low and roll out

[Zeph]

if that does not work for you try this:

Perhaps, but I would not recommend it. Move it forward instead, and move the weight forward as well, meaning knees and hips. I like to put the ball forward of center, because I preset my hips forward. The middle of my stance seems too far back. Moving it behind your back foot may work, but it won't teach you anything about the relationship between the bottom of the swing and weight transfer.

The wrists are also one thing to do some work on. Many players add some amount of wrist cock on the backswing when chipping. The problem with this is that you have to uncock them again as you come down. If you don't, you won't even hit the ball. This also means you have to time it perfectly, and with the right speed to get the right distance. If you lock the wrists with a preset forward press, and make sure you don't add any wrist cock, things get a whole lot easier. From there, it is just a shoulder turn back, and then down again. The hips don't move, the wrists don't move, the spine don't move. Which means you have not changed anything and should hit the ball cleanly. Moving the ball around nad changing the amount of forward press can make you hit a variety of shots. If you try, you can even chip with the hands behind the club head and still hit it properly. Just make sure you preset the hands behind and keep the wrists locked all the way. Not that I would recommend it, but it is possible. Lastly, as I've mentioned before, check your grip pressure. Gripping it hard can make the swing stabby and out of rhythm. A weaker grip pressure also makes distance control easier, at least for me it does. Edit: One more thing. Your head, make sure you don't lift it up as you come down on the ball. Practice keeping the head where it is and focus on the ball. As soon as you start looking up, arms can start lifting and you'll hit it thin. It is of course possible to look up without pulling the arms along, but it takes some practice. Let the arms get all the way to the finish before you lift your head up when practicing to get the feeling of it.

[WUTiger]

Sand wedges tend to have a lot of bounce in their clubhead design. A SW off the fairway works best if you have plush grass underneath.

From a tight lie, a heavier SW can bounce off the turf and cause you to skull the ball or otherwise miss the shot.

Trick would be to take a lower-bounce club (PW maybe), and make sure you hit the ball first on your swing. Or, you could hit a chip-and-run with an 8i, or maybe even putt it.

[Fat Slice]

Go to the practice green and try and bunch of clubs, setups, strokes, until you find a combination that works reliably. For me, it would depend on the length/condition of the fairway grass. That shot you describe is going to be different if you have a tight flat path to the hole vs. something shaggy or bumpy.