Tom, I will never cease to be amazed how often I encounter challenging terrain where I must hit from a steep hill. In this post, I am looking for guidance/instruction as to what makes uneven terrain so difficult and what set up and swing changes need to be made when the feet are not level with the ball. Thanks for this opportunity to address these concerns with you and your fellow Saguto members. Tom L.
top of page
bottom of page
Tom and GLM, I read everything and can’t believe the lifetime amount of information you are willing to share. I can’t profess that I will be a practitioner of all these setup enhancements in the immediate future but I will surely try. Also I appreciate the pains you both took to make sure you addressed the root problems/concerns of hill shots. My final point, your timely response is sincerely appreciated. Wishing a happy and healthy new year to you and yours. Tom L.
Excellent points, GLM!
Also, have a look at the teeing area. Oftentimes they will have a little bit of built-in slope for drainage purposes. First of all, be cognizant of this if your are assuming that all tee boxes are supposed to be flat. Secondly, you can use the slope to your advantage since the tee box is the one place on the course where you get to choose your lie. For example, if the shot calls for a draw, tee it up where the ground is sloping towards you. If the hole sets up well for a fade, then tee it where the ground slopes away. The slopes in these "humped" teeing grounds are typically more pronounced on the outer edges, with the flattest area being more towards the middle.
I wish ranges had undulations to practice shots other than perfectly flat lies. The transition to the course and subsequent shots from uneven lies is where a lot of folks, including myself, add strokes. Like Tom said, keep in mind that when the ball is more above your feet the swing will be flatter, more below the feet, steeper. Draw/Hook vs. Fade/Slice bias. The problem is judging the severity, because even a slight angle can result in an unexpected outcome. There's a hole on my course whereby I nearly always hit a draw to the green. I thought it was "me", like I'm involuntarily hitting a draw, but I've since discovered that the area I generally hit from in the fairway is slightly tilted such that the ball is slightly above my feet. It looks "flat" but it's not. Often times the designer gets your eye to see the big slopes such that other areas look flat...optical illusion.
Aside from uneven lies there are the pesky lies in the rough. Ever get into the rough, hit the ball, and take a giant swatch of turf starting far behind the ball? The reason is the feet can be lower than the ball despite the ball appearing to be at the same level, because our weight is substantially greater (downforce) than the weight of the ball, so we're actually lower into the ground than the ball. So without any adjustment, the club head path/arc will enter the turf earlier. The adjustment for me is to maybe take more club, choke down about 1/2 inch, and put more weight on the lead side to avoid early impact (bump the lead hip forward works too). There can't be any shift to the right side on the backswing, at least for me.
It's very hard to practice for uneven lies because the variations are nearly endless. My first thought is "is this lie perfectly flat?". Most often it's not. Next, is the ball slightly more below or above my feet? If more above, then look for a more right to left shot bias, or if below, a more left to right bias...aim accordingly.
Check out your course next time in more detail. I bet you'll see the nuances in lie angles that you never really saw before. You might even say "Hmmm, THAT'S why I always seem to miss the green on the right from that area!!!
Hi Tom,
I think you may find the answers you are seeking in this comment thread.
Happy New Year!
TS