How Should My Body Position Differ When I Play A Golf Chip From A Side Hill Lie? (Video) - by Pete Styles
How Should My Body Position Differ When I Play A Golf Chip From A Side Hill Lie? (Video) - by Pete Styles

There are a huge number of times when you’re on the golf course, when you’ll see the ball just to the side of the green and it looks like quite an easy little chip shot or pitch shot back onto the green. But then when you get there you realize that due to the amount of mounds and bunkers and slopes around the side of the green, very rarely do you actually get a flat chip or pitch shot and you get up to your ball and you realize it’s on a real inclined slope maybe with the ball a long way above your feet or ball a long way down below your feet. But you’re still trying to hit the best chip shot you can to get it nice and close.

So there are a couple of areas that we need to consider about how we can play that ball nicely. Generally speaking a ball up above your feet particularly when you’re using a lofted club will probably set off further left than you expect. If you look at this pitching wedge I have here, 46 degrees of loft pointing upwards. But if I lift it to this level 46 degrees of loft point left now. This ball is going to go left. So if I have it a little bit up on that raise that loft points more left of target. Now I need to max that or compensate for that if you like by pointing my body and my swing more to the right. So if the camera was my target and this is my normal swing; if the ball is above my feet on a bank I need to aim round to the right so that when I hit it the loft points to the camera rather than pointing left of the camera. And likewise with a downhill slope the loft points right, I would aim left, the loft now points at the camera and I could straighten my golf shot out. Another consideration is to get a good contact on the ball, if the ball is above my feet, the chances are I’m going to hit this ball heavy and fatted. So I actually need to grip down lower so I hold my hand down to the base of the club. That will laterally lift the club off the floor nicely and so it’s at a better strike position. I could also then increase my spine angle so I’m standing more upright. That just gets the club nicely settled in front of me when I can chip the ball from the slope up here. Likewise if it’s down bellow me, I would grip it longer and higher up on the club so the club is a bit longer down. Then I would also tilt my spine angle over more so I’m more down towards where the ball is on the floor and I can chip down on to that. So it’s important you get a good strike by matching your spine angle and the length of the club so the slope. It’s also important that you aim to the side or the other side to understand how the loft on the golf club added to the loft on the float would make the ball go to the right or to the left. And if you bring those elements into your chipping, you will be just as good chipping from the side hill slopes as you are when the ball is on the flat. 2014-08-14

There are a huge number of times when you’re on the golf course, when you’ll see the ball just to the side of the green and it looks like quite an easy little chip shot or pitch shot back onto the green. But then when you get there you realize that due to the amount of mounds and bunkers and slopes around the side of the green, very rarely do you actually get a flat chip or pitch shot and you get up to your ball and you realize it’s on a real inclined slope maybe with the ball a long way above your feet or ball a long way down below your feet. But you’re still trying to hit the best chip shot you can to get it nice and close.

So there are a couple of areas that we need to consider about how we can play that ball nicely. Generally speaking a ball up above your feet particularly when you’re using a lofted club will probably set off further left than you expect. If you look at this pitching wedge I have here, 46 degrees of loft pointing upwards. But if I lift it to this level 46 degrees of loft point left now. This ball is going to go left. So if I have it a little bit up on that raise that loft points more left of target. Now I need to max that or compensate for that if you like by pointing my body and my swing more to the right. So if the camera was my target and this is my normal swing; if the ball is above my feet on a bank I need to aim round to the right so that when I hit it the loft points to the camera rather than pointing left of the camera. And likewise with a downhill slope the loft points right, I would aim left, the loft now points at the camera and I could straighten my golf shot out.

Another consideration is to get a good contact on the ball, if the ball is above my feet, the chances are I’m going to hit this ball heavy and fatted. So I actually need to grip down lower so I hold my hand down to the base of the club. That will laterally lift the club off the floor nicely and so it’s at a better strike position. I could also then increase my spine angle so I’m standing more upright. That just gets the club nicely settled in front of me when I can chip the ball from the slope up here. Likewise if it’s down bellow me, I would grip it longer and higher up on the club so the club is a bit longer down. Then I would also tilt my spine angle over more so I’m more down towards where the ball is on the floor and I can chip down on to that. So it’s important you get a good strike by matching your spine angle and the length of the club so the slope. It’s also important that you aim to the side or the other side to understand how the loft on the golf club added to the loft on the float would make the ball go to the right or to the left. And if you bring those elements into your chipping, you will be just as good chipping from the side hill slopes as you are when the ball is on the flat.