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Q. Dear Jack, I play a course with a green that slopes steeply up from the front to the back. The green isn’t very large. If my approach shot goes over the green, I have to chip short but high so the ball lands softly on the green and doesn’t run too much downhill.

If I don’t hit the ball hard enough, it won’t make it over the hill to the green, and if I hit it too hard so it gets up in the air, it rolls across the green and off the front when it lands or else shoots across the green.

I don’t know how to hit the ball high so it lands softly and stops. Can you give me some tips on how to do this?

Thanks.
Carol Cotton

A. Thanks for the question, Carol. The type of shot you make depends on your lie and how far you are from the green. Here are three options:

1. If you’re not too far off the green and you don’t have to hit the ball too high, try a “Runyan shot.” It is named after the late Paul Runyan, who invented it. This shot hits the ball higher than a normal chip shot, but it doesn’t run as much. Here’s how to hit a Runyan shot:

1. Take your normal putting stance with front foot open
2. Stand close to the target line
3. Hold the club (a 7-iron works best) in a vertical fashion
4. Grip the club like you grip the putter
5. Position the ball in the center of your stance
6. Swing straight back and through, pendulum fashion.
7. Keep the toe of the club low to the ground

The key here is hitting the ball with the toe of the club. That deadens the ball while it rides up the face of the club, giving it some overspin so it rolls forward.

2. If you’re off the green but on the back slope, use a less elevated club and swing with the slope of the green. Just make sure you pick out a target before hitting the shot. You’ll need to put some backspin on the ball to control the roll, which you can do by hitting down on the ball.

3. If you’re farther away and have a tight lie, you have to alter the trajectory of your shot. Here’s three ways to do that:

* Move the ball forward in your stance
* Open up your clubface more
* Release your hands through the ball earlier

Again, you’ll have to add backspin to control roll. It takes practice to learn to hit the ball with different trajectories.

The first thing you must determine when your ball rolls off the back of the green is the lie. Based on that, you can decide on what shot to make.

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