How to Hit Off Hardpan: 6 Tips for Clean Strikes on Bare Lies
You don’t have to be a veteran golfer to know that you’ll face many uncomfortable lies throughout a round of golf. A hardpan lie is one of the lies that gives all types of players difficulty.
Whether you’re faced with a full swing from hardpan or a delicate chip shot, a hardpan lie must be addressed accordingly.
Use the tips and drills below to educate yourself while also eliminating the fear that comes with most hardpan shots.
How to Hit Golf Shots Off Hardpan (Key Takeaways)
For golfers who are short on time and just need the basics, here are key takeaways on how to hit from hardpan:
- Choke up on your club to prevent chunk shots.
- Create a steeper swing by standing closer to the ball.
- Keep weight forward and ball slightly back in your stance.
- Set your wrist hinge early and maintain throughout the swing using Hackmotion.
- Stabilize the lower body for chips and pitches so you have better low-point control.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
How to Hit Solid Shots from Hardpan
Here are some of the best tips for hitting golf shots from hardpan.
Compare your current technique to these below and see if there are adjustments you can make to hit better shots from hardpan.
Choke Up
When hitting from these lies, your priority is to hit the ball first, and choking up on the clubs gives you the best chance to do so.
Choking up by only a half-inch to an inch is all you need to prevent your clubhead from bottoming out too early. When choking up, you may hit a few thin shots at first, but thin shots are much more welcome than the alternative.
Be sure to maintain your posture through impact for a split second longer than usual to allow your club to reach the bottom of the ball. Doing this when choking up will help your body adjust to the new length of the club and keep you from hitting too many thin shots.
Move Closer to the Ball
Moving closer is the best option for golfers who are not comfortable choking up and want to maintain consistent yardages for all their clubs off hardpan. This creates a steeper swing to hit the ball first, lowering the risk of hitting fat shots.
If you have a naturally flat swing, hardpan lies could present an issue. You may hit shots too thin or even see the dreaded topped shot occasionally.
- To fix a flat golf swing, you first want to bend a bit more at the hips and let your arms hang under your shoulders. Bending over more will promote a feeling of picking up the club rather than rotating it around you.
- Next, keep a compact backswing. Focus less on a wide arc and more on getting the club high. Use Hackmotion to maintain the correct wrist hinge so no distance is lost.
- Lastly, rotate your body a bit earlier than you normally would. This helps with distance but also prevents common chunked shots when trying to steepen a swing plane.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Play the Ball Back with Weight Forward
Moving the ball back in your stance (more toward the middle) will help encourage ball-first contact. However, most amateurs move the ball back and then allow their weight and center of gravity to drift back, which defeats the purpose.
You cannot move the ball back in your stance unless you’re keeping your weight centered or more forward.
This technique works especially well with mid-short irons but can also work with long irons. Be careful not to move the ball back too far with long irons. It will cause pushes or chunks as you must restrict your downswing and follow through just to make contact.
Take More Loft
If the shot allows, choose a club with the most loft. When you are between the 7-iron and the 8-iron, take the 8-iron.
More loft makes it easier to hit the shot and leaves you a little room should you not strike the ball well. The other benefit of a club with more loft is the shorter length of the club which can help discourage fat shots from the hardpan lie.
Set Wrists Early (Full Swing Only)
More advanced players will tell you to set your wrists early, but this can be tricky for novice and intermediate players.
Hinging your wrists at the start of the swing only works if you know how to square your clubface.
Here’s how to properly set your wrists early:
- Push down with your top hand – As you take the club away from the ball, feel like you are pushing down on the top of the grip. Don’t lower your shoulders or alter your posture; just create the sensation that your top hand is pushing down rather than pulling the club away.
- Point the toe to the sky – During your takeaway, the toe of your club should point straight up when the shaft is parallel to the ground. Many amateurs swing around their bodies, so the toe never actually points up. This is a great checkpoint to monitor and can be done at home in the mirror.
- Forward shaft lean – At address, tilt your shaft slightly forward; this gives your wrists a head start and lets them know they will be hinging early. Hackmotion can identify this immediately and help all golfers get early wrist hinging and optimal wrist flexion for longer and more accurate shots off all lies.
Stable Lower Body (Chipping and Pitching Only)
Chipping and pitching off hardpan is easier than most amateurs think. You can utilize the tips above, but also be sure to stabilize your lower body.
Crisp contact is key for all hardpan lies, especially when dealing with a delicate shot around the green.
Since creating maximum distance is not an issue with short shots, we can remove certain aspects of the swing, like lower body rotation.
The concept is simple: the fewer moving parts, the less chance of anything going wrong.
Whenever you’re faced with a chip or pitch, keep your lower body still, your weight forward, and concentrate on the other tips for clean contact from hardpan lies.
Drills to Practice Bare Lies
Use these drills to improve your ball striking off hardpan lies. The good news is that these drills will also improve your contact from any lie as they are designed to optimize your swing without making too many technical changes.
Line Drill
Knowing where your club strikes the ball (or turf) is the most important aspect of hitting off hardpan lies effectively. For amateurs who aren’t experienced enough to feel this after each shot, use the line drill.
This drill gives you instant feedback and hard evidence about where you’re making contact.
- Video timestamp – 0:50 – 5:18
Line Drill – Step by Step:
- On a grass practice tee, spray a line with paint or chalk about 1 foot long perpendicular to your target.
- Place a ball on the target side of the line, but just barely touching the line.
- Take your normal swing and hit the ball.
- Evaluate the condition of the line. If it’s damaged, you hit the ground before the ball; if not, then you hit the ball first, which is good.
- Continue this drill with about 5 balls per line until you can hit 5 shots without disturbing the line at all.
HackMotion Casting Drill
“Casting” is a major reason why so many golfers struggle to hit off tight lies. When you cast, you lose power and can return the club to the correct impact zone.
The best way to prevent casting is with Hackmotion because it tells you whether or not you’re losing your wrist hinge.
This drill comes preloaded in the HackMotion app and is used by thousands of students to improve their overall ball striking, not just off hardpan lies.
Fix Your Casting with HackMotion
Train to fix casting by generating power with your core and lower body.
HackMotion Casting Drill – Step by Step:
- Set up for a practice swing, no ball.
- Take your normal backswing, but stop at the top.
- From the top, in slow motion, start your downswing with your body rotation, not your hands and arms.
- Doing this will encourage your arms to be pulled by your body and keep the wrist hinge all the way to the ball.
- Once comfortable, hit balls with this drill but still pause at the top as a cue to maintain wrist hinge (if you don’t have Hackmotion).
HackMotion Tip: If your trail wrist extension “straightens” too soon in the downswing graph, you’re casting.
Towel Drill
The towel drill can be used with Hackmotion for the best results, but if you’re only using a towel, make it a small and thin one.
The goal is not to hit the towel and become a better ball striker.
- Video timestamp – 7:21 – 10:15
Towel Drill – Step by Step:
- Fold the towel into a square or rectangular shape that’s about the size of a dinner plate.
- Lay down towel about six inches behind your ball.
- Hit the ball without disturbing the towel.
- Start with small swings and work your way up to no more than a 5-iron.
- For even better results, try to find a hardpan lie somewhere on the practice tee.
Head on Wall Drill
This drill is excellent for beginners who need help improving their consistency and also for experienced players who may need to revisit the fundamentals of ball striking.
No matter your skill level, it will help you hit off hardpan lies much better.
- Video timestamp – 0:20
Head on Wall Drill – Step by Step:
- If you’re doing this at home, simply find a wall that allows you to have an arm’s length of space on both sides. This drill does not require a club.
- Take your usual setup, with the top of your forehead just barely touching the wall.
- Mimic your backswing slowly, and while doing so, ensure your head is always touching the wall.
- On the downswing, ensure your arms are fully extended, but your wrists are still hinged until impact.
- Use Hackmotion to ensure wrists are hinging and unhinging at the right time, all while keeping your head against the wall.
Final Thoughts
With a few minor adjustments, hitting off hardpan shouldn’t be something to fear. While it’s not an ideal lie, there’s no reason for it to ruin your hole, and you should be able to navigate your ball back onto more lush surfaces fearlessly.
Even if you don’t encounter hardpan often, the tips and drills above are meant to improve your ball striking. If you use them in conjunction with Hackmotion, you will see results much faster.
Having the immediate feedback is something skilled golfers require, so whether you’re hitting off hardpan lies, deep rough, or pinestraw, a hackmotion will identify your mistakes and suggest solutions.
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