Beating Uneven Lies Saves Strokes

If you want to save strokes—and lower your golf handicap simultaneously—learn how to ht from uneven lies. They cost you more strokes than you probably realize. Hitting from an uphill or downhill lie may not seem too challenging, but it can be the difference between hitting or missing a green in regulation. Or, it can be the difference between making a par or a bogey.

Basically, there are four uneven lies you must deal with—an uphill lie, a downhill lie, a lie with the ball above the feet, and a lie with a ball below your feet. The key to hitting each of these tricky lies is to know how to sole the club, set your body, and swing at the ball. If you know how to do all of these three things on each of the four lies mentioned above, you’re more than halfway home. With experience—and some practice, hitting from these tricky lies will become second nature.

Uphill Lies

Hitting from an uphill lie maybe the easiest of all uneven lies to hit from. Most golfers in our golf lessons learn to hit from this lie quickly. The biggest mistake golfers with high golf handicaps make is pushing the club to far forward to avoid hitting the ball too high. Instead, sole your club so that the back edge of the club’s sole is on the ground.

With the club correctly soled, you can now address the ball. At address, you want the butt end of the grip pointing between your zipper and your left hip (right hip, for left-handers). This is the same position you would have your club on a normal shot with the ball forward. Now swing up the slope. Since uphill shots fly high—and shorter—and go left, remember to aim right for the shot.

Downhill Lies

If the uphill lie is among the easiest to hit from, the downhill lie is probably the hardest, judging at least from the golfers in our golf instruction sessions. The tendency here is to do the opposite of what you do on an uphill lie—drop the handle back to make sure the loft to the clubface. Instead, make sure the club’s leading edge is flush to the ground. That will set your club position up perfectly for this shot no matter how steep the slope.

With the club correctly soled, you can now address the ball. In this case, the butt of the club’s grip should point between your zipper and your left hip. Also, play the ball father back in your stance than normal. Swing down the slope. Shots from downhill lies fly lower and go right, so take less club and aim left. Above all, don’t try to lift the ball in the air. That usually ends in disaster.

Ball Above Your Feet

Soling the club correctly is critical to hitting this shot well. With this shot, golfers will tend to have the clubhead sitting on its toe. That’s asking for trouble. Instead, make sure the club’s heel touches the ground. Otherwise, you’ll hit the ball of the toe.

Since the angle of the club in this position makes the club slightly longer, you need to stand a little taller in your address position. To compensate, grip down an inch or two on the handle. That will set the handle at a more horizontal position. With the ball above your feet, the club will move around your body more than normally. This creates more of a clubface rotation and can cause you to hit the ball right to left, if you’re right handed. Aim farther right to make up for this. Expect a lower flight and more roll.

Ball Below Your Feet

To a ball below your feet, you basically have to do the opposite of what you do when hitting a ball above your feet. Here, the club head will tend to rest on its heel, instead of its toe. To compensate, raise the clubhead so the toe is on the ground. That will help level out the lie for you a bit.

Since the angle of the club in this position makes it slightly longer, you must shorten it to hit from this lie successfully. To do that, you need to bend from your hips a bit more than usual. You also need to tilt a bit more forward to reach the ball. These two moves position the shaft a bit more vertically. With this type of lie, the club will move more up and down, with less face rotation. This can produce a right-to-left shot for right-handed golfers. Aim farther left to compensate. Expect a higher ball flight and less roll.

Uneven lies can cost you strokes. But the golf tips above can help you play it like a flat lie. To do that, make sure you first sole the club properly, than take your address position. Depending on the lie, you’ll need adjustments to make up for the lie, including aiming more left or right depending on the lie. Swing at 75 percent to make sure your hit the ball solidly. Mastering uneven lies will not only build more confidence in your game, it will also help chop strokes off your golf handicap.