A Comprehensive Tutorial On How To Deal With Uphill Lies

Playing an uphill lie doesn’t have to be intimidating. There are a few things you can do to ensure positive results. Such plays may include making changes to your setup and even the club you use. The goal is to remember to hit the ball first instead of the grass. Keep your body in line with the slope when playing the ball to help guide it in the right direction and maintain balance. Here are some tips on how to deal with uphill lies.

• Have proper setup paying attention to placement of your shoulders, torso and hips. Body should be in line with the slope. Good setup helps to setup your shot and how you will address the ball. If parts of your setup is off this will come through when you make the play. Meaning, you may not get the result intended and you need to make an adjustment.
• Club down. You may need to take your club down one or two due to hitting the ball higher when playing with the slope. This can give you more control of the shot and the direction the ball should go.
• Ensure there is even distribution of weight with roughly 50 to 60 toward your leading side. This is in part to getting your body in line with angle of slope. This is likely a natural element of setting up for the shot. Your body should be in line with the slope but knowing this element gives an idea of how body placement plays an important role in establishing balance and accuracy.
• When you swing your hands should lead the club to make solid contact. The contact should occur with the ball before the green. When you swing work to hit the ball before hitting the ground. Because of the slope many amateurs make the mistake of hitting the turf first before establishing contact with the ball. This could cause the club head to slow down and the ball may not travel as far or it could pop up (something you may not want).
• When you swing do so smoothly all the way through. Keep swing motion smooth and consistent all the way through. This could be challenging when standing at an angle but when you are comfortable it will make a big difference and lead to a smooth hit.