Do I Change My Technique to Chip From a Fluffy Lie? (Video) - by Pete Styles
Do I Change My Technique to Chip From a Fluffy Lie? (Video) - by Pete Styles

Should you change your chipping technique when you’re playing from a fluffy lie? Simple answer to this is yes slightly. Not a massive change but a slight change. What we have to consider when the ball is sitting in a fluffy lie is it might be sitting quite a long way above the level of your feet or of the floor. So, I’ve set the ball up here which is actually on small tee peg. Now imagine that was a nice long fluffy grass, you know, it’s a little bit around the side of the green. But instead of the ball sitting in the grass, it’s actually sitting up on the grass, like US Open kind of shot but sitting on top of the grass. So, it’s lifted off the surface.

Now if I have to go and play this with an open face lob wedge and try and slide underneath the ball, you have to consider the actual depth of the face there is very narrow. It might only be half-an-inch deep particularly if I open the face. So, there’s a risk here that this club could slide straight underneath the ball if it was played at fluffy grass and I was then to swing down and take a divot. So, we’ve opened the face, we’re going to swing down and I can almost go straight underneath the ball and it barely leaves the end of the bay. So, playing from a fluffy lie like that could be quite awkward. I could leave the ball short of the green. So, it would be better of actually using a club that has a slightly deeper face. It’s going to change over now to my 52-degree club. Now my 52, still plenty of height from around the side of the green but that face is not much deeper. So, even if I had the ball back on the tee and I hit the ground, the top end of the golf club would still have quite a large influence in terms of hitting the ball. So, when you’re chipping from the fluffy lie around the side of the green, try and keep plenty of loft but don’t then open the face flatting the club out and let it slide completely under the ball. Try and play with a little straight to face so the face is deeper, make a nice setup, swing back and through without flicking your hands underneath it because you don’t need the extra height. The balls are already sitting up nicely. A little push through and the straight to face will make sure it makes better, cleaner contact with that ball from the fluffy lie and just get that ball nicely on the green rather than going straight underneath it and leaving it short of the green. I hope that helps next time you’re chipping from a fluffy lie. 2014-05-06

Should you change your chipping technique when you’re playing from a fluffy lie? Simple answer to this is yes slightly. Not a massive change but a slight change. What we have to consider when the ball is sitting in a fluffy lie is it might be sitting quite a long way above the level of your feet or of the floor. So, I’ve set the ball up here which is actually on small tee peg. Now imagine that was a nice long fluffy grass, you know, it’s a little bit around the side of the green. But instead of the ball sitting in the grass, it’s actually sitting up on the grass, like US Open kind of shot but sitting on top of the grass. So, it’s lifted off the surface.

Now if I have to go and play this with an open face lob wedge and try and slide underneath the ball, you have to consider the actual depth of the face there is very narrow. It might only be half-an-inch deep particularly if I open the face. So, there’s a risk here that this club could slide straight underneath the ball if it was played at fluffy grass and I was then to swing down and take a divot. So, we’ve opened the face, we’re going to swing down and I can almost go straight underneath the ball and it barely leaves the end of the bay. So, playing from a fluffy lie like that could be quite awkward. I could leave the ball short of the green.

So, it would be better of actually using a club that has a slightly deeper face. It’s going to change over now to my 52-degree club. Now my 52, still plenty of height from around the side of the green but that face is not much deeper. So, even if I had the ball back on the tee and I hit the ground, the top end of the golf club would still have quite a large influence in terms of hitting the ball. So, when you’re chipping from the fluffy lie around the side of the green, try and keep plenty of loft but don’t then open the face flatting the club out and let it slide completely under the ball. Try and play with a little straight to face so the face is deeper, make a nice setup, swing back and through without flicking your hands underneath it because you don’t need the extra height. The balls are already sitting up nicely. A little push through and the straight to face will make sure it makes better, cleaner contact with that ball from the fluffy lie and just get that ball nicely on the green rather than going straight underneath it and leaving it short of the green. I hope that helps next time you’re chipping from a fluffy lie.