There are plenty of uphill lies to be found in the short game, as greens are often elevated slightly as compared to the rest of the surrounding turf. That means that if you miss just off to the side of the green with your approach shot, there is a pretty good chance you will wind up with an uphill lie. Fortunately, that is actually good news when it comes to producing a short game shot.

One of the same characteristics that makes these shots difficult from the fairway will actually benefit you greatly around the greens. Since the ball is going to take off higher than usual when chipping from an uphill lie, you should be able to stop the ball relatively quickly after it lands. You can use this to your advantage. When chipping from an upslope, plan to land the ball closer to the hole than you would have if you were chipping from flat ground. The exact landing spot you should use will depend on a number of factors, including the lie of the ball in the grass, the distance of the shot, the conditions of the turf, and more.

It is important to remember when chipping on an uphill lie that you will need to hit the ball a little bit harder than you might expect. Since the shot is going to fly higher, it will need more speed to cover the same carry distance as a shot which flies shorter. So, for example, if you are comfortable with how hard you need to swing your sand wedge in order to carry the ball 10 yards, you’ll need to add just a bit of pace to that swing when playing from an upslope.

Mastering your distance control while chipping on an uphill lie comes down to nothing more than practice. When you set out to practice your chipping, make sure you do more than just chip the ball from flat ground over and over again. There is nothing wrong with hitting shots from flat turf, but also work on playing from many different slopes, including upslopes. The experience you gain working on this shot in practice can go a long way toward helping you perform better when this shot comes up on the course. As you practice, take note of how the ball reacts with each of your various short game clubs, both when it is coming off the face and after it lands on the green. Gather as much information as possible in practice and use all of that info to your advantage on the links.

Golf is more fun due to the presence of uphill lies. Sure, they are challenging, but how much fun would it be to play a perfectly flat course over and over again? The hills and valleys that are featured on most golf courses make the game more interesting, even if they might add strokes to your score from time to time. We hope the ideas presented in this article will help you perform at a higher level when your ball comes to rest on an upslope. Good luck!