ball above or below your feet

[Spidar]

as the title says...what's the adjustment? Being unable to Hit straight and/or cleanly off a slope is costing me plenty.

[sandycove]

Easy (to say...)

Above: Grip down, stand back, aim right. (This will be a quicker, more compact swing than you are accustomed to.)

Below: Grip up, stand closer, aim left. (Slower tempo.)

Both: Align yourself as parallel to the slope as reasonable (knees!), but comfortable enough to make a good pass. The greater the slope, the greater the deflection right or left. You will seldom get hurt overplaying the deflection if you swing freely, so don't fight it by manipulating the club.

[KotOD]

With the ball above your feet, your swing is flatter, so the ball is going to come out fat, short and left. Set up to the right to compensate. I tend to choke down on the club and get my center closer to vertically above the ball -- the key is staying there throughout your swing.

If it's below your feet, it's the opposite as far as the natural flight of the ball. It's going to come out thin and right, so set up left to adjust for it. Don't choke down on the club, but get more knee bend than normal and keep your weight back over your hips and ass. Stay down on the ball through your swing as much as possible.

[Spidar]

thanks guys. should I be clubbing up in this kind of spot? thinking 6+ irons specifically.

[sandycove]

Question is too situation-specific.

But, as always for a challenging shot, be conservative and just seek to made solid contact.

[JTrout]

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thanks guys. should I be clubbing up in this kind of spot? thinking 6+ irons specifically.

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Yes.
Smoother swing with attention paid to great balance.

I'll usually open the face a smidge when the ball is above my feet,
and close it slightly when it is below.

Really, it only appears this way to me. I'm really squaring the blade in both cases.

Also, the more lofted club you have in your hand, the more you need to compensate for the sidehill lie.

[esad]

This isn't about how to swing, but remembering which direction the ball will go on hilly lies.

Heard Gary Player talk about a great way to remember which way a ball will go, depending on the lie-- uphill sidehill, etc

"The ball will always follow the slope of the lie"

So, if it's an uphill lie the ball will go up, downhill then it will go down. Ball below your feet (slope is right if you stand behind ball), the ball will go right, and above ball will go left. The greater slope the greater the affect.

Helps when you stand behind the ball on an uphill sidehill to remind you that you need more club and to aim a little left or right.

Just always remember to take a normal controlled swing.

[cardsharkk04]

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Also, the more lofted club you have in your hand, the more you need to compensate for the sidehill lie.

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Really? Why is this

[thisnamedoesntfi]

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Also, the more lofted club you have in your hand, the more you need to compensate for the sidehill lie.

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Really? Why is this

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Ball above your feet de-lofts the club, ball below adds loft. The more lofted the club, the more it will affect your distance control as well as shape your shot. Having said that, a low lofted club with the ball below your feet may not lose much distance, but will curve more. Keep in mind long irons have a tendency to fade and short irons a tendency to draw(due to centre of gravity) which is exaggerated on sidehill lies.

I consciously take a flatter backswing and hit down on the ball with it above my feet. With the ball below I take a steeper back swing and try to sweep the ball. I know that might sound strange, but if you try this on even the most severe slopes I think it will help you. I'll be happy to explain my reasoning to anyone that's interested.

[JTrout]

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Also, the more lofted club you have in your hand, the more you need to compensate for the sidehill lie.

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Really? Why is this

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There is a teaching/training club that demonstrates this way better than I could explain it, but I'll give it a try.

The more loft a club has, the more wayward it is aimed, relative to the target, if the club lies flat on the ground.

A club with 0 loft, aimed properly on a flat surface, will still be aimed properly even if on a severe sidehill lie.

A wedge, with all it's loft, and the leading edge perpendicular to the target line, will be misaligned drastically if on a severe sidehill lie.

Our eye wants to align the leading edge to the target.


The (eye) training club that I referred to is a wedge with a hole in the middle of the clubface that a shaft will fit in.

Set up with the club (sidehill) then insert shaft in the hole, and it points to where the club is actually aiming.
The first time you see it, it will surprise you how poorly aligned we tend to be on a side hill.

Let's take it to extreme-
take a 9 iron, with about 45* loft, and hold it straight out in front of you, with the shaft horizontal to the ground, and the leading edge pointing staight up.

The clubface is now aimed 45* left.
Find the most severe slope you can, maybe the side of a bunker. With a Sand wedge, hit one to the hole. It's incredible how far right you must aim to get it anywhere close.
If you could hit the same shot with a 3 iron, you wouldn't need to aim nearly as far right.

Long winded, and redundant, but hopefully helpful! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]