A tight lie in golf is when a ball is on a small amount of grass or sitting on a bare patch of dirt. For handicap golfers, a shot from a tight lie is one of the most difficult to execute.
Playing the golf ball from a tight lie requires a bit of thought and precise execution of the golf shot. From tight lies it's easy to hit a thin shot, where the leading edge of the golf club strikes the ball instead of the club face.
Playing a burnt course with lots of tight lies in South Africa
How to Identify a Tight Lie
A tight lie is usually found when there are hard ground conditions on the golf course. They are very common during the summer or warmer months when golf courses dry out. You may have seen a tight lie when playing a links style course as the ground is naturally much firmer.
In reality we see tight lies every time we play golf - when the golf ball sits on the green! The difference is that you aren't taking a full shot with an iron or wood from the green (or I hope not) and using a putter off such a tight lie is much easier.
Experienced golfers are fully aware of the potential issues that come from a tight lie. To the unseasoned eye, it might look like the ball is sitting up, just asking to be hit.
But as you take a closer look, you see you have a tight lie and realize it's going to take a different club and type of swing to play the ball effectively.
To make matters worse, your margin for error has narrowed considerably! Nothing less than a perfect strike is going to make the ball behave in a way you can predict. Sounding fun? Read on to learn how to get out of this situation.
Where can you find a tight lie?
- Burnt out areas with very little grass
- Parts of the course without good irrigation
- Hardpan surfaces
- Bald areas without any grass at all
- Fairways and fringe where the grass was cut too low
These are some of the most common places you might find a tight lie, and hopefully you can adjust your game to avoid them.
You will also find a tight lie on a tee boxes. As you'll be using a tee to raise the ball in the air, it won't really matter.
If you're playing in frozen conditions in the winter months, everything will be a tight lie due to the hard surface, and the club will bounce off the ground making it tough to make solid contact with the golf ball.
It might look like there's grass here, but this ball is on a very tight lie and will require a perfect strike.
How to Play from a Tight Lie
The toughest thing about a shot from a tight lie is that it requires a precise strike. If you catch the ball slightly fat or heavy, you will thin the golf ball. If you try to hit up on the ball to "scoop" it off the tight surface, you can blade or top the ball. Either way, the ball will not go where you intended. So what can you do?
Hitting Irons From Tight Lies
Compressing the back off the golf ball pretty much eliminates a tight lie. Taking a divot can be difficult, so you want to feel like you're bruising the turf with your irons. This will lead you to "pick" the ball from the surface.
Making contact at the very bottom of your swing prevents a tight lie from being too much of a problem. Just look at a pro golfer, they have no issue hitting from a super tight lie like a cart path, in some ways they'd prefer it!
Pitching tight lies
Hitting pitch shots from awkward distances within 75 yards is hard enough, but add in a tight lie and things start to get that little bit tougher. I think that there are a couple of options available to you and one it something you might not have considered!
First option - take a low bounce wedge, and play the shot as your normally would. Yes, you'll need a good strike off a bare lie, but the low bounce will help you by preventing the club from digging in.
Second option - use fairway woods and "putt" the ball to the hole. This will require the ground between you and the green to be dry with very little grass underneath, but it could be the secret to success from a bare lie! You will need a lot of feel to play this shot as you won't be making a full swing, but the wide sole of the fairway wood will make it way easier to strike the ball. Play the golf ball from off your front foot and be confident hitting the shot.
Chipping from tight lies
If you find a tight lie greenside, then I suggest playing a bump and run chip shot. Take a club like a 7 or 8 iron and have the ball at the back of your stance, nearer your back foot. The reason I recommend using an iron over a sand wedge for example, is that all we want to do is get the ball rolling forward and remove the need for an absolutely perfect strike.
If you have a high skill level, you might be able to use your lob or sand wedge to get the ball airborne quickly, but I would play the percentages and bump the ball all day.
Hybrid from tight lies
My personal favorite club to use on a tight lie is a hybrid. With a hybrid, you can sweep the ground without a divot, elevate the ball, and get some distance.
The important thing to remember here is not to come down steep as that will cause too much club-turf interaction.
Unsurprisingly, I'm also a big fan of the 15-yard hybrid chip shot that runs up the fairway and onto the green.
Tight lie vs bare lie
A tight lie will most likely have some grass between the ball and the turf, but not much. A bare lie is when there is nothing but dirt under the ball. Both are tough to play from!
Adams golf Tight lies fairway woods
Adams golf are famous for making super forgiving fairway clubs, and their tight lies models have been helping golfers find the sweet spot for years. I have a Tight lies Ti+ 3 wood and it's a rocket launcher. The sole of the club is shaped specifically to be hit from tight lies and it really lives up to its name. It's also really good from a fluffy lie where the ball is sitting up. I'm yet to find something it can't do! If you see the adverts on the Golf channel, get one, you won't regret it.
Final thoughts on what is a tight lie in golf?
A tight lie is less than ideal for most handicap golfers, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world. I hope that this guide has give you a few tips and tricks to make the most of these tricky lies on the golf course.