How to Hit the Ball Well from Uneven Lies

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Before I go any further, I am going to first give you the definition of the 4 uneven lies in golf.

Uphill Lie – The easiest of the four uneven lies. The ball is level with your feet but the slope is up-hill, we refer to this as an “uphill lie”.

Downhill Lie – A ball that is level to your feet but the slope is down hill, probably the second most difficult shot in golf.

Ball Below Feet – The most difficult shot in golf is when the ball is below your feet.

Ball Above Feet – The fourth uneven lie is when the ball is above your feet.

Don’t get confused between an uphill lie, and when the golf ball is simply above your feet. These are two different lies, & should be addressed separately. Also, don’t get confused w/ the downhill lie, and the golf ball being below your feet. Again, these are 2 different lies.

Uphill Lie

1. Let’s start with the easiest shot in golf, the up-hill lie. If you struggle with this shot, you probably swing the golf club to vertical into the ground and hit a fat shot. Before you prepare for an uphill lie, you need to think of a few other important items first. Make sure you take a less lofted golf club. When you have an uphill lie, it will cause the ball tgo HIGHER and SHORTER.
2. The ball will have a tendency to hook to the left, so aim a little to the right.
3. To avoid hitting the shot fat, check your shoulder alignment and make sure they are parallel to the ground you are standing on. If you are on an uphill lie, your back shoulder needs to be a little lower than your leading shoulder.
4. The golf ball should be positioned according to what club you are using, as though you were on a level lie. (A bit forward for longer golf clubs.)
5. You want to make sure you follow through HIGH after impact.

Downhill Lie

Now we can move on to one of the hardest shots in golf, the down hill lie. If you have a tendency to struggle with this golf shot, the miss hit is usually a top. Follow the steps below and you will notice a huge change in your down hill shots.

1. Because the ball will fly lower, you can take a more lofted club to help the ball go a little higher.
2. The ball will have a tendency to curve to the right, aim a little to the left.
3. If you have your shoulders at address tilted level to the down slope of your lie, this will encourage the club to swing DOWN into the ball (correct) and not up in the down swing. Thus, you’ll hit the bottom of the ball and not the top.
4. Play the ball in your stance according to the club you are using (again, a little forward for a longer golf club).
5. You want to make sure you follow through LOW to the ground after impact.

Ball Below Feet

THE HARDEST SHOT IN GOLF. The dreaded, (why did this always happen to me) BALL BELOW YOUR FEET golf shot. You have come to the right place, the answer is below.

1. When the golf ball is below your feet, you have the tendency to top it to the right, whiff the ball, or shank it.
2. The address is the absolute most important part of this shot. Bend the knees and bend WAY over at address. You ALMOST can’t bend TOO much.
3. The ball will have a tendency to go to the right, aim farther left.
4. The golf club wants to swing down and up, NOT around. LET IT…It will feel like a lob swing, this is correct. IF you make your normal swing, you gonna whiff the ball completely.

Ball Above Feet

Now we are back to an easy shot, the ball above our feet. If you follow the steps below, you will not hit the ground behind the ball anymore, and the ball above your feet will become your absolute favorite shot in golf

1. If you struggle with hitting the ball fat in these shots, make sure you are standing taller than your normal stance.
2. The ball will have a tendency to fly to the left, aim a little farther to the right.
3. DO NOT BEND YOUR KNEES
4. This is the main point, the golf club wants to swing more AROUND your body, let it…DO NOT TRY TO MAKE A NORMAL SWING…let the club swing around you.

Now, drop everything you knew about uneven lies and give this a try. I KNOW IT WILL HELP!

For more golf instruction like this, check out our golf videos and our online golf lessons program at http://www.purepointgolf.com

Your Chance to Improve Your Fitness for Playing Golf

Playing golf can be a really demanding sport both mentally and physically. Finishing eighteen holes of golf oftentimes means spending four hours or more of walking, swinging, and occasionally seeking through the wilderness. This is why physical fitness is significant to those who wish to do well each time they play golf. It includes the stamina to walk the course for a lot of people. Yet those who sit in golf carts must to do several walking on the course to find to their balls. To be fit for playing golf also takes strength for functioning to let the ball go farther down the fairway. To be fit also takes on flexibility for every swing means a movement that demand to improve the golf swing fundamentals.

golfers don’t concern about golf fitness since they are by nature, physically fit. Others must go on their fitness so they can enjoy their time on the golf course. Every golf player must have staying power to through 18 rounds of golf. Part of this stamina can be reached while on the golf course. Playing those 18 rounds brings to the stamina of each player. Those golf players who travel in golf carts may walk the course each time, and this would establish up their staying power. The walk on the field will be a great benefit to the golf fitness of each player who walks the whole course.

Golfers intent on bettering their fitness will be delighted to know that there are some tools to help them improve their golf fitness. There are golf swing aidsavailable that give many hints on bettering golf fitness. Most of these books often provide examples of workouts that will amend golf fitness. Many of these guides offer workouts that will mark specific movements of the game for improvement. Some workouts will target the movements of the swing and follow through to better them. Those that implies the workouts would improve their movements.

There are also a great number of video intros that golfers can view to improve their fitness. These videos always display stretching techniques that will improve the physical fitness of each player so their game will be better. The golf swing guide comes with programs that show specific exercises that will amend a golfer’s flexibility that is so essential to the movements of the game. Other guides are available that demonstrate weight-lift proficiencies that will amend the effectiveness of the golfer. Several of these materials are for older golf players who require to amend their golf games. These videos target problems that are standard in old golf players who still wish to play a great round of golf.

Hitting the Ball with Accuracy, Confidence, and Consistency

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“Driving the Golf Ball with Confidence, Accuracy, and Consistency”

The three most important elements to the game of golf is:

1. Driving the golf ball in play.
2. Putting the golf ball with consistent speed control (distance).
3. Pitching the golf ball with loft.

Let’s concentrate on what I consider the MOST important aspect to the game of golf, DRIVING THE GOLF BALL IN PLAY. This aspect of the game is the number one confidence builder in our sport. As you probably know and have experienced, your score adds up quickly if you hit your tee shots out of play.

Here is a bold proclomation for you -if you read this article/special report every time, just before you play a round, your friends will think they are playing with Joe Durant. Joe has led the PGA Tour in driving accuracies for the past two years. So far this year, he is averaging 79% of the fairways every time he plays 18 holes of golf.

If you are going to change the way you drive the golf ball you will need to implement the following four fundamentals:

1. THE PICTURE
2. PROPER DRIVER
3. CORRECT TEE HEIGHT
4. CORRECT SWING PLANE

1. THE PICTURE

If you can see it, you can have it. Before you take your driver, or any club for that matter, out of your golf bag, you better start seeing what you want the golf ball to look like during its trip down the fairway. Of the millions of words my mother (the first female to teach at a golf school in the United States) passed on to me, the one phrase that has stayed with me all of these years is THE PICTURE. You should have a mental picture of how you want the ball to fly through the air and where you want it to wind up. When you have a driver in your hands, you have to pick out an exact area you want the ball to land on. IF YOU DON’T SEE THE PICTURE, YOU ARE HEADED FOR TROUBLE.

Important Tip: During the course of a round of golf, you can find yourself driving the ball well, but all of the sudden you are faced with a difficult driving hole. Just after I turned professional, I played a practice round with Tommy Bolt the 1958 U.S. Open Champion. We came to great par four, 435 yards long, water down the right side of the fairway from the tee to the green, out of bounds markers down the entire left side of the fairway from the tee to the green. After I teed my golf ball up I turned to Tommy and said, “What do you do here with O.B. left and water right?” Tommy looked me straight in the eye and said “Son, if you see the water and the O.B. markers, you better go find another line of work.”

That stuck with me to this day, and I wanted to pass it on to you. Don’t worry about the challenges, just think about what you want the ball to do. I have benefited immensely during my golf career, and I want you to gain the same benefit from this as well.

2. PROPER DRIVER

Now that you can see the picture, let’s see if you brought the correct brush to paint with. If you are still trying to buy 25 more yards every time you walk into a golf shop. It is time to stop-NOW! If you own a driver where the grip is new, has a graphite shaft, and is metal then you own what it takes to send the golf ball straight down the fairway.

Let’s back up a foot or two. The loft on the golf club will play a major role in how accurate you are. If you are struggling with your driver you might consider buying a driver with at least 10-12 degrees of loft. The less loft a driver has the more you are apt to slice and hook the ball. If you are driving the ball well you can buy a driver with less loft.

An important side note: If you are driving the golf ball short, low and to the right the shaft might be too stiff. If you are driving the golf ball too high and to the left the shaft might be too weak.

Another item to consider if you have small hands, have the club repair shop regrip all of your grips with either a junior grip or a small grip. If your hands are large, have the shop regrip you clubs with oversize grips.

Bottom Line – think about getting the ball in the fairway first, and then focus on distance generation. The chances are, you already own the equipment, that will give you the fairway shots you’re looking for. Remember – It’s the swing, not the equipment. The equipment helps once you have a good swing, but you’ll never FIX your swing with just an equipment upgrade.

3.CORRECT TEE HEIGHT

The tee height does not seem like such a big deal, but it plays a huge roll in whether or not you drive the golf ball consistently down the fairway. Something so simple can often be the biggest challenge.

The two major mistakes are teeing the golf ball too low or teeing the golf ball too high. You may have heard that golf is a game of opposites. This is a fantastic example. Let me explain why. If you are constantly swinging your driver too vertical into the ground in the downswing, you probably tee the golf ball to low. Most golfers with a vertical driver swing fear swinging underneath the golf ball so they tee the ball low in hopes of catching it square. For those of you with this challenge, the next time you are on the golf course, tee the golf ball up a little higher and sit back a little bit more on your heels and keep your weight there in the downswing. After your shot has landed, look down to see if your tee is still in the ground. If you are always conscience of leaving the tee in the ground, you will not pop your tee shots up anymore.

If you are topping your tee shots to the right you might have the ball teed too high because you are trying to hit the ball on the upswing. The next time you go out to play, tee the ball down a little. After the golf ball has landed, make sure your weight is on your left foot and meaning you have transferred your weight correctly.

4. CORRECT SWING PLANE

With this final tip I feel confident you will be on your way to driving the golf ball straighter and with more consistency. The golf club in your bag that swings the most vertical, (up and down) is your sand wedge. The golf club that swings the most horizontal (around you-baseball swing) is your driver. The mistake I have seen most amateur golfers make is that they swing their driver like their sand wedge and they swing their sand wedge like their driver.

A couple of things to remember when you are addressing the driver:

1. Chin up
2. Turn your right shoulder in the back swing level
3. Swing the golf club around you/not up and down
4. Leave the tee in the ground after you hit the ball

When you are ready to begin your backswing, keep your swing thoughts to a minimum. Just think about swinging more horizontal.

At the beginning of this article I promised you would drive the ball more with more consistenency, accuracy, and more confidence if you read this article every time before you tee it up this summer. This stuff seems simple, but give it a whirl and let us knwo your results. You’ll get some really good results.

If you would like to get more indepth golf instruction via golf videos then be sure to follow one of our links in this article.

Happy Golfing-

Bobby Eldridge

Head Professional-PurePoint Golf

Click Here to see The PurePoint Golf Full Swing DVD