Playing great golf shots from tight lies is not as difficult as it may initially appear.

Tight lie or bare lies occur in various areas on golf courses, wherever there is no or little grass under the ball, especially during the summer. Links courses have fairways throughout the year with short, cut grass and this provides plenty of run, helping you to achieve increased distance. Learning to play well from tight lies will really improve your golf game in many situations.

Here we are going to focus on how to play your second shot well from a tight lie, using an iron, hybrid or fairway wood.

Whichever of the clubs you are using, it is crucial to strike the ball first and cleanly. To achieve this, alter your set up slightly. Play the ball slightly further back in your stance than you would for a shot with more grass under the ball. With your irons or hybrid, play the ball just to the left of the centre of your stance (for right handed golfers) and if you are playing your fairway woods, play the ball half way between your left heel and the centre of your stance. Keep your weight slightly more on your left side, 60% of your weight on your left foot and keep your hands forward of the club head – create a straight line from your left shoulder, down to your left hand and then down to the club head. Having this set up will help you to create a slightly steeper swing and help you to hit down at the ball as you strike through the shot.
Hold slightly lower down on the handle than usual as again shortening the distance between your shoulders and the club head will encourage you to strike the ball cleanly from a tight lie.

Make a swing from this set up position, ball further back in your stance, hands forward of the club head, weight slightly more on your left foot and work on striking down into the back of the ball, striking the ball cleanly.

These tips will have you playing great golf shots from tight lies and you should find that you are able to achieve accurate, consistent and long results from this type of situation.