Ball Below The Feet

Ball Below the Feet

Last month I spoke about an uphill lie and changes you must make to your set up to play this shot. On the course you will face all sorts of awkward lies and you must make the necessary changes to your set up to play each shot. A ball below your feet is a difficult shot especially if you are setting up incorrectly to play it. It is a very tricky shot to play and the typical scenario is the ball drifting right of the target and you lose your balance. The lie of the land affects the shot very much, what you have to do is aim further left than you would normally. Aim for a target further left than you normally would, set the clubface up pointing at that and set your body alignment feet, hips, shoulders parallel with the clubface to the target. With the slope your weight will naturally be more on the front of your feet. To counteract this feel like your weight is back more on the balls of your feet. Try this the next time you are practicing to get the feel and you will notice a better contact with more control.

Uphill Lies

UPHILL LIES

The course here in Santo da Serra is in magnificent shape after the recent rain and should be in great condition for the Madeira Islands Open in May 16th to 20th. This month I am going to help you prepare for those difficult uphill lies which is a feature of the sloping fairways at the club. Many of my lessons ask me to help them with this shot. They find it hard to hit the ball sweetly and usually come up short of the green with their approach, this is usually due mainly to a poor set up and it is essential to alter your set up when you are playing this shot. You must remember that when playing from an uphill lie the slope will add more loft to the club so you need to take more club to reach the distance to your target. The ball will travel from left to right (draw) because it is more difficult to get on to your left side to finish your swing with the slope. It is therefore important that you aim to the right of the target. Place the ball further forward and try and get your shoulders parallel with the slope feeling like you are leaning away from the target. If you lean into the slope it will create alot of mishits you need to feel that your set up will allow you to swing with the slope. If you think of it posture like a camera tripod and how you would have to adjust it for this slope, this is what you are trying to achieve with your stance. Try this when you are out on the course and you will notice an improvement in your balance and strike.