Side Hill Golf Shots
Successfully hitting side hill golf shots when the ball is above your feet is easy when you make a few adjustments at address. When the ball is above your feet it is necessary to choke down on the club effectively making it shorter. This “shorter” club will eliminate hitting the club into the ground behind the ball….popularly known as hitting a “fat” shot. How much you choke down on the club depends upon the severity of the side hill lie. With a side hill lie of 45 degrees or more it will be necessary to choke down to the bottom of the grip. You will have to experiment a little to learn what is appropriate for each situation.
The second adjustment is alignment. When the ball is above your feet it is necessary to line up to the right of your target. This is necessary because whenever the toe of the club is in an upright position at impact it pulls the ball to the left, for a right handed golfer. The more severe the side hill lies the more the toe is upright and the further the ball will be pulled to the left. Simply line up your stance and club to the right similar to the way you would line up for a breaking putt. It will take some practice to determine how much you should line up to the right. Using these two simple adjustments at address will make hitting golf shots from a side hill lie easy.