Taking the Threat out of Up Hills and Down Hill Lies 

     It would be nice, and make golf a simpler game to play, if
we always had the perfect level lie; like on the practice range.
Sadly, it just doesn't always happen that way. Golfers are often
confronted with side hill, up hill and down hill lies in varying
degrees. All too often the successful outcome of these shots is
in doubt because golfer's haven't been told how simple these
shots are and what to expect from them. Let's remedy that.

     As a bit of background, lets agree that for all normal shots
from level lies the legs, shoulders and arms must all work in
concert, each doing their part in sequence so that we stay in
balance. The weight will transfer slightly to behind the ball and
then back and through the ball but never in front of the hands.
The right hip sort of gets out of the way going back and the left
hip gets out of the way coming down and through. That leaves lots
of room for our shoulders to swing our arms freely.

     Any time we affect our weight transfer, shoulder turn and
arm swing the ball flight will react accordingly. If we over turn
our hips going back or restrict our forward swing (effectively
similar) our swing will flatten and be decidedly more in to out.
Our hands will roll over too soon and the result will be a hook. 

     The opposite happens when we turn our hips too fast on the
down swing. The swing steepens and cuts across the ball from out
to in, our hand action lags and the ball fades or slices right.

     This is essentially what is forced to happen when we are
confronted with up hill and down hill lies. We must understand
what the ball flight tendency is so that we may, first, plan the
shot and, second, minimize and control that effect.

     Once we decide to play the ball left to compensate for a
down hill lie and right for an up hill lie the next thought
should be to club selection. Very simply, down hill lies decrease
loft and up hill lies increase loft. From that we should select a
more lofted club for a down hill lie than the distance would
indicate from a level lie. The reverse is true for up hill lies.

     In executing shots from up hill lies we should start from an
address position that puts our shoulders as parallel to the slope
as possible. DO NOT try to stay vertical or lean into the hill.
Lean away from it instead, folding our right leg more than our
left. Most of our weight will end up on the right leg but with
our shoulders now aligned with the slope we have essentially made
our swing more like that from a level lie. We have also reduced
the chance of hitting fat into the hill.

     The set up for down hill lie shots is just the opposite. The
left leg is more folded, weight is more on the left leg but the
shoulders are again aligned with the slope. We are again leaning
away from the hill. Again we can more closely execute our normal
swing  as though the lie was level.

     Both these shots are predominantly made with the arms. If
there is a mental swing key, it is to swing the club head along
the slope. Particularly try to extend the club along the ground
line on the follow through. Body movement will, by necessity, be
held to a minimum. Even so, you will be surprised at how much
distance you'll get and how predictable these shots are.

     It's difficult to find areas to practice these shots but a
little practice will go a long way to boosting your confidence
level. If your practice range has an elevated tee you can
practice down hill shots from the front slope if you can find a
time and place to do it in assured safety. Even though you can't
hit balls to behind the practice tee you can use the same area to
make practice swings on up hill lies. With a little thought and
planning and practice before execution neither of these shots
will continue to be a problem.