Golf Lies!

Wouldn’t be nice if all our golf ball lies were as level as they are on the driving range? Unfortunately they are not...and golf would not be as interesting if they were!

We often find ourselves in situations where the ball is above of below our feet, or we are hitting from an up or down hill lie. All of these lies affect the way the shot is played and how the ball will fly. So how should you play these shots?

Uphill Lies
When you are hitting from an uphill lie, the ball will fly higher than normal. The slope you are hitting up effectively adds loft to the club. So take an extra club to compensate. Always try and align yourself perpendicular to the slope. This will stop you coming in too steep on the shot.

Downhill Lies
When you are hitting from a downhill lie, the ball will fly lower than normal. The slope you are hitting up effectively removes loft from the club. So take less club to compensate. Again, always try and align yourself perpendicular to the slope. Play the ball slightly back in your stance to reduce the chance of hitting the ground first.

Ball above feet
When the ball is above your feet, you are standing more upright and therefore the swing becomes flatter. A flat swing will encourage a draw or hook, and the ball will tend to have a lower trajectory, flying further. To play this shot take less club and align yourself slightly right of target to allow for the draw/hook effect.

Ball below feet
This could be the hardest shot in golf! The ball is easily caught thin as you are “reaching” for it. The ball will also have a tendency to fly to the right of the target because of the fade/slice spin applied by coming in to the ball from a slightly steeper angle. To play this shot well you need to make sure you “sit” in your stance a bit more and align a touch left of target.


One Final Tip

Most important in all these shots is to maintain balance.

Next time you are practicing, try and find an area to play from that is not level so you can learn to play uneven lies.

Relax. Load. Release. Hit it Further!

Every golfer would like to hit their golf ball further. However, hitting the golf ball a long way isn't everything in golf. It won't guarantee lower scores, but... if you can hit the golf ball further you can make the game a whole lot easier!

Just being able to add an extra 20 yards off the tee can mean the difference between an 8 iron and a wedge into the green. When you can use shorter irons for your approach shots, you can get nearer the pin, and your putts get easier. Result: your score should drop!

Take a look at the tour pros. Granted they may not all have the all-round game of Tiger Woods, but they can all hit it a long way, and many of them can out drive Tiger by quite some distance.

Pros are also able to hit the ball these long distances with what appears to be comparative ease. Ernie Els looks incredibly relaxed when he swings, but still averages around 300yards with a driver.

So, how do the pros hit it so far and how do they seem to do it with so little effort?

It really is quite simple: They generate much higher club head speed and they do that primarily with the use of their hands .

Here is how you can do it too....

1) Relax your grip

You cannot swing the club fast if you are gripping it too tightly as your muscles in the hands and arms will be too tense. So grip it "lightly".

2) Load the club

Make sure you cock the wrists fully at the top of the swing.This will "load" the club into a position where it can be released later in the swing. If you do not cock the wrist fully the club is only going to swing basically as fast as you can swing your arms.

3) Release the club at impact

Make sure you maintain that wrist cock until as late as possible in the down swing then just before your hands reach the bottom of the swing you "release" the club i.e. you un-cock the wrists.

Delaying the release as long as possible gives you time to accelerate the arms and then the extra acceleration during the release generates a huge speed increase in the club head.

More club head speed equals more distance.


So, relax, load and release...and watch the ball fly!