Hilly lies

[kafka01]

Hey there,

sorry if this is more a basic question but i couldnt figure it out yet and hadnt time to ask a pro so maybe you can help me out.

On my new home course which i play since a week, most of the fairways are very hilly so you often have to hit down or uphill at the ball - short and long distances.

I noticed that i often hit a extrem deep divot or top it slightly if i have to hit it from such lies. How do you adjust to it, what clubs can i actually use - can i hit a 3 iron like i normally would do from a flat fairway or is this just to risky?

Thanks for the help

[bSd]

Well, personally, I wouldn't change a thing about your swing. The set-up is the most important when it comes to awkward lies, like hills. There is obviously 4 scenarios with hills.

1) Downhill - In my opinion the most difficult, which people usually end up topping the ball. You want to align your shoulders with the hill (since the hill is downward, you want your shoulders to be "higher" on the right and "lower" on the left shoulder. This is assuming if you're a righty) After aligning your shoulders, you want to focus on "chasing" the ball after impact with your clubhead, extending your arms as far as possible after impact. By doing so, you will eliminate the dreaded "top" and get a more solid impact. Take .5 to 1 club down from what you would normally hit because the flight will be lower because you're essentially lowering the loft on the club.

2) Uphill - The exact opposite. Only you don't need to focus on "chasing" the ball as much because you're uphill. You normally want to take .5 to 1 club up because most likely the ball is going to fly shorter/higher unless you compensate via another route.

3) Sidehill/Downhill - Ok, I lied. This is even more difficult than straight downhill. If the ball is BELOW your feet you want to be ABSOLUTELY sure that your body is stable throughout the swing because people tend to lose their balance at some point with this type of lie. Also, you want to guard against slicing because the set-up BEGS for an open clubface. Fight it!

4) Sidehill/Uphill - Same as before, stay stable, yet guard against big draws or flat out hooks with this lie. You might want to make your posture a bit erect for this too.

Bottom Line: With funky lies, you have to be 100% sure that your body is balanced and stable because these awkward lies will magnify any mistake a normal lie/shot would produce. In addition, it's even more imperative to commit to your shot because the second you "flake out", you're in the trees.

Hope it helped.