three simple steps you can take to conquer those tricky downhill lies:
1. Widen Your Stance
Too many golfers take their same narrow iron or wedge stance when hitting from a downhill lie. Think of what this does to your swing: if you’re taking the same stance and swing as if you’re on flat ground, but the lie is downhill, what’s going to happen? As you approach the ball, you’re going to take a big chunk out of the turf, right?
To help correct this swing flaw, step forward with your front foot a bit–maybe 6-10 inches depending on your height. This moves your entire swing “forward” so that while you hit the ball further “back” in your swing, your club will be at ground level on contact.
2. Don’t Force Yourself Upright
Another key mistake that too many weekend golfers make is to assume that their body should be straight up-and-down, no matter the terrain. If they’re on a 45 degree angle, they insist on getting their body vertical since that’s what they’re used to hitting from.
Unfortunately, combined with a narrow stance, this can prove to be disastrous when on downhill lies. It’s the same reasoning as above; if you’re “straight up-and-down” and trying to hit a ball in a downhill lie, what’s going to happen? You’re going to be even further “behind the ball” when you make contact, and chunk it even worse than you may have before.
If you tilt yourself into the lie a bit, so that your spine and upper body “give” with the lie a bit, it will help you get your swing plane back on target. As a good rule of thumb, try to make sure that your upper body is roughly perpendicular to whatever lie you’re in, unless you’ll lose your footing if you do so. If a lie is that steep, simply widen your stance as much as possible, and try to make the contact point as close to your natural swing arc as possible. The important point to take away is to try to keep your natural swing, but adjust it for the conditions so that the contact point is on the same plane.
3. Use a Club With More Loft Than You Think You’ll Need
When your stance is wider and you’re leaning forward, you’ll automatically hit the ball further “back” in your swing. Again, this is just simple physics.
What a lot of golfers forget is that as you bring the club downward, it gets more square to the ball, which brings the clubface to the desired angle. If you’re making contact further back in your swing, you probably don’t have the time (or the wrists!) to hit the ball at the usual angle for the club’s “regular” loft.
Instead of messing around with your swing, simply use a loftier club than you think you’ll need. If you’re already hitting a lob wedge, then you might have to adjust your angle to the ball, but that would have to be one heck of a bad downhill lie. Again, remember that the key is to adapt your body and setup to the terrain so that your swing stays as natural as possible.
Keep these three keys in mind the next time you find yourself in a difficult (or deceptively steep) downhill lie, and start shaving more strokes off your tough chips and approach shots.
Written by Jack Moorehouse, the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80”
