Follow these tips and you won’t need to be afraid of these tricky shots anymore.
Golf is a game of unpredictability, and part of the challenge – and joy – is to play it as it lies. Very often, we find ourselves where our balls are not sitting up nicely on flat, even ground – a situation not uncommon to those who frequently tee it up on our tough Tampines Course.
But you needn’t be afraid of these shots, and here, I’ll give you a few simple tips to help you manage your game if you ever find yourself in these situations.
Ball Above Your Feet
When your ball is above your feet (Pic 1), one thing to note is the tendency to hit it to the left (if you’re right-handed) of your intended target. One of the reasons why this happens is that while the leading edge of your club seems to be aimed at the correct direction, the face of the club – because of the loft – often faces to the left of this target (Pic 2). This in technical parlance is called ‘face-plane tilt’.
In order to compensate for this, you will need to aim a little more right of your target in order to get the ball heading towards your aim.
Note that the more lofted the club (Pic 3), the further left of the target the clubface faces. You will have to adjust your aim accordingly when selecting different clubs for the shot. Follow this simple rule: more loft, aim more right of the target; less loft, aim less right of the target. A good rule of thumb to use is the 6-iron where you aim more or less at the target.
In this situation, your ball is also closer to your body. Some adjustments need to be made to the golf swing. First, you will need to hold the club further down the grip. You will also need to swing on a shallower plane (Pic 4a). And the last thing is to remember that this is a trouble shot so swing at 75% of your maximum effort, and make sure you don’t follow an error with another.
Ball Below Your Feet
In this converse situation (Pic 5), the ball is now further away from your body.
Make sure you aim the clubface at the intended direction (Pic 6), which in this case means that you need to aim the leading edge of the club to the left of the target as the tendency is for the ball to move left to right on the shot.
Position the ball towards the back of your stance (Pic 7), and make sure you have enough flex in your knees to lower your body towards the ball (Pic 8). It is imperative that you maintain this flex through the swing to make solid contact. Grip the club towards the end of the grip as you will need the entire length of the club to hit the ball (Pic 9).
Opposite from the previous scenario, you will now need to make a more upright swing (Pic 10). Make a few practice swings to ensure that your club bottoms out in front of the ball (Pic 11). Stay confident and make the shot.
Follow these tips and you’ll be hitting them sweetly off side hill lies in no time.
