uneven lies....

[bjwestner]

Since I started golfing last June, many parts of my game have improved.  One of the most improved areas has been ball striking.  When I first started I could not even hit the ball consistently from a level lie at the range.  As time has gone by, I have hit thousands of balls on the range and playing rounds.  I find that going to the range a few times a week is good but the problem with the range (aside from the fact that most of them have mats versus grass) is that it's very hard to practice on the range for lies that I end up getting during the round.

Shots that I hit from uneven lies are the worst and have the highest potential of becoming a horrible shot.  I know that I am not the only one that has or has had this problem.  For the golfers with lower hc's, what did you do to improve your ball striking from uneven lies?

I play most of my rounds at my country club which is not killer, but it's also much harder than most of the muni's around (slope of ~130).  There are not many lies on my club course that is even so this means that I am hitting many shots from uneven lies.

[TourSpoon]

Good topic. The best way to handle uneven lies is to practice them until they become second nature. At a course I used to work at I would find places on the range that had uneven lies. Uphill, downhill, and side hill were shots I would practice. Even years later, I have very little problem drawing on this practice. The toughest shot has to be the downhill with the ball below your feet shot. You have to stay with it and not bail.

My biggest tip is that you have to have solid contact. So make sure your stance is appropriate for the lie and put a nice smooth swing on the ball allowing the club to do the work. I see a lot of people getting nervous and anxious and they end up swing too fast with disastrous results.

[boogielicious]

That is what I do too, practice the odd lies at the range.  I will sneak to the side and get sidehill, uphill or downhill lies to hit off.  Some are from the rough.  Most of the ranges near me don't have flat lies either.  you can go the the end of the area and find sidehill lies.

[bjwestner]

Originally Posted by boogielicious

That is what I do too, practice the odd lies at the range.  I will sneak to the side and get sidehill, uphill or downhill lies to hit off.  Some are from the rough.  Most of the ranges near me don't have flat lies either.  you can go the the end of the area and find sidehill lies.

I've tried this and been doing this as much as I can....I guess I have to find a better range to do this at.  The range at my country club is nice and because it's winter, we can only hit off mats.  Even when the grass is available though, it's pretty flat.  Thus it's hard to find uneven lies near the range where I can do this.  There is another golf course near my house that is a muni though and I think that it may have a slope on the side of the range where I may be able to do this.

Regarding downhill lies.....those in my opinion are the worst of them all.  I cannot hit a wood at all of that lie and even with an iron or wedge it's hard.  I've been attacking it like this:  have my set up with this slope (i.e., downhill slope so I keep my left shoulder lower than my right shoulder).  I also put the ball as far back in my stance as I can, sometimes even having it slightly behind my right foot.  Is this the right way to play this kind of shot?

[TourSpoon]

Ouch, an iron behind your right foot is too severe. It should be closer to middle just slightly back of normal.  Remember to keep in your stance as much as possible and hit a higher lofted club since the trajectory is lower than normal. Woods on a downslope are really hard, maybe you could hit a hybrid with a decent amount of loft. If you try to get too much out of this shot you are likely to pull out and top the ball.

[bjwestner]

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Ouch, an iron behind your right foot is too severe. It should be closer to middle just slightly back of normal.  Remember to keep in your stance as much as possible and hit a higher lofted club since the trajectory is lower than normal. Woods on a downslope are really hard, maybe you could hit a hybrid with a decent amount of loft. If you try to get too much out of this shot you are likely to pull out and top the ball.

Thanks for the advice. I just seem to have so much trouble with downhill lies and I'm talking about ones that are very slight. Usually it's a fairway lie on a par 5 or something and if it's even just a little bit downhill then it creates problems when I go to hit a wood or hybrid.

There are also some really steep downhill portions on my course.  They are close to the greens though so I am usually hitting a 9 iron at the most if not a wedge.  I started to put the ball back to my right foot because it seemed to me that I was making better contact with it versus keeping it just back of middle in my stance.  I guess I just need to practice these shots a lot more to get to a point where I feel more comfortable.