Although most practice shots in golf are hit on a range from a perfectly flat lie, the reality of golf is that lies vary throughout a round of golf from the slope of the ground to how the ball is sitting in the grass. This means that to properly practice golf a golfer should practice uneven lies on a regular basis. Let’s review one of the four basics uneven lies and how to properly adjust for it.
When the ball is above your feet, the ball will tend to go to the left for a right handed golfer. The reason for this is that the clubface is actually pointed to the left at setup. If you setup to your pitching wedge you will see the angle of the clubface which we refer to as loft. If you hold the wedge up in front of you with the shaft parallel to the ground the loft of the club is now pointed to the left. That means that the approximate 46 degrees of loft is now pointed 46 degrees to the left. So the more the ball is above your feet the more the clubface is pointed to the left at setup. This also means that the more loft you have the more the clubface is pointed to the left in terms of degrees.
How do you compensate for this? Obviously by aiming to the right, but how much? Based on Trackman’s data one degree left at impact will equate to the ball going about 5 feet to the left at 100 yards. If you are hitting off a slope of 10 degrees then the clubface will be about 5 degrees to the left with a pitching wedge which equates to 25 feet to the left at 100 yards. The simple adjustment then is to aim 25 feet to the right. This could mean that you are now aiming outside of the green to get the ball to end up where you want it.
Go out and find a place to practice this and get a feel for the adjustment required. With a little bit of practice you will be able to handle those tough lies with the ball above your feet.
