Golf is not always played from perfect, flat lies and often requires us to think a little bit more about the shot we have to play and what we need to alter to produce a good shot. When I am teaching I often find that the shots people struggle with the most are when the ball is either on an uphill or downhill lie or when the ball is above or below their feet. Below I have described what will happen to the ball on each shot and how you can make some simple changes to your set up to allow for these factors and still have the ball finish where you want it to.
Uphill lie
Ball will fly higher in the air
Ball will move from right to left
Distance will be reduced
How to correct
Use a lower lofted club
Aim the body and club further right of where you want the ball to land
Move the ball further back in your stance and have the weight more of the front foot
Keep the body as still as possible, don’t sway off the ball
Downhill lie
Ball will fly lower in the air
Ball will move from left to right
Distance will be increased
Less lofted clubs, ball will carry less than usual but roll further
More lofted clubs, ball will carry further and roll out further too
How to correct
Use a higher lofted club
Aim the body and club further left of where you want the ball to land
Move the ball further forward in your stance and have the weight more on the back foot
Keep the body as still as possible, don’t sway off the ball
Ball above the feet
Ball will fly lower in the air
Ball will move from right to left
Distance will be increased
Less lofted clubs, ball will carry less than usual but roll further
More lofted clubs, ball will carry further and roll out further too
How to correct
Use a higher lofted club
Aim the body and club further right of where you want the ball to land
Have the ball slightly further back in your stance
Hold the club further down the grip
Keep the body as still as possible, don’t sway off the ball
Ball below your feet
Ball will fly higher in the air
Ball will move from left to right
Distance will be reduced
How to correct
Use a lower lofted club
Aim the body and club further left of where you want the ball to land
Have your hands as close to the top of the grip as possible
Widen your stance a little to get down to the ball a bit more
Bend more from your knees and hips
Keep the body as still as possible, don’t sway off the ball
One thing that you need to make sure remains constant when playing all of these shots is to keep the body nice and still, it is very common when you are nervous about hitting a shot to sway more and come up more on the follow through, but if you remain centred then it will help to promote a better strike and therefore better end result as well.
When you are next out on the course and are faced with any of these shots, take your time and have a think about what you need to do before you hit the shot. You can always make a few notes and keep it in a book in your golf bag and get it out before you have to hit the shot to remind yourself. Over time you will need to rely on this less and less as it will become second nature to you and you won’t always need the notes to remind you of what to do. I hope this will help everyone and happy golfing!